I have tried to getto rig a trailer harness to an 88 XJ it works not so good.

The Wiring back there is rediculous.  You can get tail lights or breaklights, but then the turn signals don't work or the breaklights won't work when the turn signals are on.  I eventually gave up and just settled for Break lights.  I know that on the Driver's side right behind the panel that the spare tire is mounted on there is a harness of some kind.  You might be able to buy a harness that would just plug into that seeing as how you have a 96, not an 88.  Let me do some looking around for ya.

Ya that was the part that I was talking.  That should plug into the harness that I was talking about behind the plastic by the spare tire.  It should just plug and play and you should be good.  Def. worth the coin.

If im remembering it right, the XJs have separate turn signals. You really need that little converter box... another option is the change up the wiring a little, but then you'll never be able to use another trailer with your wiring, it will be dedicated to the trailer you pull. And the trailer will need custom wiring. If you are up for this i can talk some ideas over with you, if not...no problem.

When reading this, keep in mind I have no idea how the converter does its job...

I was thinking wiring it along the lines of a semi. The tail lights of a semi have separate brake and turn lights. The 7-pin (pins, not blades like a 7way on a pickup...) socket has the following functions (provided i remember it correctly):
-12V power
-Ground
-Brake lights
-Taillights (markers)
-Left turn
-Right turn
-?unsure?

The brakes are pneumatic so there is no brake power wire. I assume you are using electric brakes on your trailers...

My suggestion, wire the 7-way connector with the following functions:
-12V power
-Ground
-Brake lights
-Taillights (markers)
-Left turn light
-Right turn light
-Brake power (from your controller)

(For reference, the 7 functions of a normal 7-blade(RV) connector are:
1. 12V power
2. Ground
3. Left turn
4. Right turn
5. Brake power
6. Taillights
7. Reverse light

The brake light function is covered by applying power to both turnlights)

You can decide the order to put the wires in the connector(s).

To your trailer you will need to add/change:
-Dedicated turn lights and needed wiring for both sides
-Wire BOTH brake lights together (this can be accomplished by combining the 2 wires at the plug)

I will attach a suggested wiring and lighting diagram. I don't know the size of your trailer, but since you're towing it with your Jeep, the trailer in the diagram will be required lighting for a trailer under 80" wide and less than 30' long. If your trailer(s) is(are) over those dimentions, you may need to make the following additions: (NOTE: unless you are building your own trailer, these lights will already be in place)
Over 80" wide:
-you will need to add a RED light at the outermost corner (taillight in brake light will do)
-you will need 3 RED lights at the back of trailer for ID lights (one in the center of the trailer and one either side of that one, spaced not more then 6" on center)
-if a cargo trailer 5 AMBER lights on the front of the trailer (same placement as RED lights from back)

Over 30' long:
-1 AMBER light each side in center of trailer (double function: turn light and marker)

Notes for diagram:
-The text function of MS paint wont work, so i hope you can figure it out...
-I numbered the wires and pins to make it less confusing, just match the numbers
-View of the plug is from the BACK(the side the wires go into)
-The only difference in this and a normal 7-way is one pin(the center), so if you do hook to another trailer, nothing will be damaged, but you WILL NOT have brake lights. Another reason i am doing it this way is so if you decide to one day use the converter, the wiring change is very minimal. If you decide to do that and need help, i'll be gald to help you out...

Pin ID (trailer side):
1. 12V + power
2. Taillights
3. Left turn light
4. Ground
5. Brake power (from controller)
6. Right turn light
7(center). Brake light

For the vehicle side, wire it looking at the plug side (the side the wires are not on).

If you have any questions, dont hesitate to contact me. Either here, or you can e-mail me at Matrix37495@yahoo.com

LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW wrote:

---

The ONLY way to wire trailer lights on the XJ is to use a trailer wiring box. Thier simply is no other way for it to work properly based on the wiring in the Jeep.

It than comes down to if you want something that's plug and play or if you want to cut the wires and splice. Either way your going to need the box. The link above I posted has the plug and play kind (what I'd get personally) that simply goes between the plug of your factory wiring to your tail lights; or you need a standard trail wiring box that converts the stop/turn to 1 common.

Only option otherwise is to rewire you trailers to have seperate turns than the stop lights; and in my opinion thats not worth it. Plus what if you want to use something else down the road your screwed....

-- Edited by LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW at 14:37, 2008-04-16

---

Mhhhh this is a tough one. the situation is not made any easier by the fact that getting the converter box is very difficult coz of my location. Wiring the trailer any other way other than using the converter sounds like working on robots brain! However, i believe the converter does the same function similar to what the relays do. in my thinking therefore properly wired relays should be able to do the job after splicing the relevant wires.

I do not want to sound like a difficult student. my only problem is that i somehow have to get the trailer wiring to work now that i cant get access to a converter (remember the jeep is in Africa....)

I need someone to interpret the factory wiring diagrams for me. The stop lamp and turn signals trailer relays are interconnected and eventually use the same pin at the connector. to my mind this means that both cannot be used at teh same time. so i guess if you turn the signal on the stop lamp goes off and vice versa. I note that in the rear lights of the vehicle itself the stop lamp and the tail lights share the same bulb. but even then the wires are independent of each other and they both connect to separate filaments in the bulb. the only thing they seem to share is the bulb housing and of course the ground.

Yet the wiring diagrams indicate that the trailer stop lamp share the same pin with the turn signals which are independent in the vehicle itself. Since the wire is the same it follows that if you step on the brakes the lights will be on. if you switch on the signal similarly the trailer lights should be on..... the relays thus come in here to ensure that when one of the function is on the other is off. This to me explains acid4369 observations above.

This assumption (mine) brings more questions:- if you are stepping on teh breaks and you want to turn, will the signals show. if your signal is on and you step on the breaks, does the signal suddenly go off etc.

Am thinking the answer to the problem is somehow separating the trailer stop lamp from the turn signals. Thus the stop lamp relay should be dedicated to the trailer stop lamps and the turn signal relays/relay to be dedicated to that function without interdependence. one of the idle pins at the connector can be utilised for that purpose. Now someone tell me how to do that i.e. how to wire the stop lamp and turn signal relays separately......

How hard would it be for someone in the states to buy this part that you need and cannot get to Africa, and then mail it to you in Africa?  Is that something that can be done?  Just playing devils advocate I guess...  Sounds to me like it might be easier haha.

You'll have to use page 5 of that .pdf file you attached. All I can say is good luck; as I've never seen such a rats nest of wiring and splices in my life!

As to how the lights work, if you step on the brakes both lights come on, if you turn (either way) without your foot on the brakes it simply flashes. Now the question I think you have is what happens if your foot is on the brake and you have your turn signal on. That light will simply flash like normal and the other light will stay lit. This is why it's important to have the relays in the correct order so if you do turn a turn signal on that relay will over-ride the stop relay and trigger it to flash.