American trailer wiring problem

[EricS]

Can anyone help? I've just taken delivery of an EZ loader trailer. An american trailer which came with the US connector. How do I hook it up to our 7 pin connector? I know it's not legal, but the lighting system is too nice not to use.
Thanks,
EricS

 

[Norman_E]

You will need to get a UK 12N plug from a caravan shop, with which you should get a piece of paper identifying which pins the various circuits use. My old handbook says:-

LH indicator - Pin 1,
Rear fog lamp - Pin 2
Common return (earth) for 1, 2, & 4 to 8 - Pin 3
RH Indicator - Pin 4
RH Tail light - Pin 5
Stop Lamp - Pin 6
LH tail light - Pin 7

Reversing lights are on cable 8, connected to pin 1 on the 12S plug which also carries the power for internal caravan equipment such as the fridge. If you only have a 12N plug and socket you have to do away with the reversing light.
Does this American trailer have overrun brakes or US type electric brakes. I think the latter may be illegal here.

 

[gjgm]

US spec'd trailers are probably not going to be legal here, mainly for brakes, but quite possibly size/dimensions, and the hitch is probably imperial, not metric. So it may seem to fit your towbar, but doesnt really.
Of course, all this may have been altered to Uk legality, but...

 

[jjc]

Sorry but you have no hope of this working. The US system has 4 wires in it

1) Ground
2) left stop/indicator
3) right stop/indicator
4) tail light

This is because the US cars flash the stop light to indicate direction.

John

 

[MacW]

Beware, as has been stated here, of the towhitch ball receiver sizes. The most common is 2 inch. THIS WILL JUMP OFF OUR 50mm TOWBALL. It seems to fit, but it doesn`t. Easy way out is to get hold of a 2" ball (bolt-on). They do exist. Looking at towballs the 2" does not have the flat bit on the top of the ball.West Marine might have one but most American towballs ( there are various sizes depending on tow - weight) are part of a square tube thingy which slides and locks into a receiver which forms the vehicle towbar.It is possible that some towing/caravan outfits here will be able to hire/sell you a 2" ball.
Hope this helps,
Pete.

 

[Thistle]

Wouldn't it be better to change the receiver on the trailer rather than the ball on the car? This would allow the trailer to be towed by other vehicles if required and would continue to allow the car to tow other trailers / caravans.

 

[duncan]

if you can source a 2" ball please please let me know - friend was trying for 2 years and gave up; new 2" cup on a new 50mm ball seems to work ok with a smallish boat!

 

[MacW]

"new 2" cup on a 50mm towball seems to work ok"
IMHO don`t do it - liable to jump off ,particularly on braking overrun,or hitting potholes etc. You may also be outwith the terms of your insurance - wrong towball= not roadworthy. You could try breakers yards for a 2" ball esp. those specialising in classic car or American car parts. All old British caravans and trailers were 2" hitch and enthusiasts still tow these around. Try an ad. in various Caravan enthusiasts websites ( google for them).Your Bio does not give your location - where are you? and do you need the ball for a one-off tow or are you going to tow a lot ?

 

[pvb]

Possible source for 2\" towball...

Try Castleford American Autos in Leeds.

 

[Norman_E]

The wiring pins I gave above are for the 7 pin plug & the 7 pin socket on the car. Separate indicator lights must be fitted as flashing red brake lights to indicate a turn will quickly attract police attention, and a likely prosecution under the construction & use regulations. A bolt-on 2 inch towball is also required. The difference is small (0.8mm) but the extra play will cause rapid wear, and possible detachment. For the lights, one of the easiest options is to buy a pre-wired trailer lighting board. Legal & easy to fit.

 

[duncan]

thanks for the concern but I don't need one at all it is a friend who is towing a US boat trailer without one as we failed to find one anywhere despite searching hard. pvb thanks for the link.

I know he is not alone in doing this, and as far as legality is concerned all the US trailers I have seen are illegal in the UK as they use disc brakes rather than drums. I haven't, and don't condone his, and others, doing it btw.

 

[EricS]

Thanks Guys for your replies. The most important thing I've seen in your posts is the tow ball size issue. I had no idea this was a potential issue. As the boat (Glastron MX175) & EZ Loader trailer were imported (into Ireland) brand new in August I would have assumed that the agent has ensured the trailer is road - legal - apart from the lights of course /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif However, I will be checking out the dimensions at the weekend. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

The trailer has surge disc brakes - I didn't realise these are potentially illegal??? There is also another set of wiring cables on the trailer which I think have something to do with disconnecting the brakes when the vehicle is put into reverse, but I'm still investigating that.

Regarding the lights - I have bought a 12N plug and did try wiring it up. Because the turn indicators and brake lights are one and the same on either side of the trailer, what I did was wire them up to the indicator part of the socket on the tow vehicle, and bought a light board as well so as to have legal lighting in addition to some of the trailer lights. However, for some reason it keeps blowing a fuse when I use the right indicator - the left one is fine. Perhaps I'll just connect up the trailer running lights to the light board plug as they look really cool.

What I was hoping was that there might be some way to re-wire the trailer (i.e. run an extra couple of wires through it) so I would have brake lights and indicator lights, albeit illegal ones. Being electrically challenged myself I'm not sure if that is possible without doing damage to the car's electrical system.

If anyone else has any comments I will appreciate them, otherwise many thanks again for the advice so far.

Eric

 

[neale]

Its not disc brakes that are illegal, many UK trailer people now supply disc brake trailers, it is the method of brake application that is illegal.

Eric
As far as tow ball size, please never never tow a US trailer with a UK towball. It can and will detach from the car with serious consequences for you and other road users.