Running/signal/brake light question?

[Mightydog]

A stumper for me.

Mrs. Dog and I will be driving down the road in an 03 Suzuki Vitara with our teardrop following along behind. The Vitara has rear lights that look like this:



We are wanting to be reasonably retro with lights that look like these:



My question is: how do you make the lights work? We are going from three on the car: amber turn signal on top with red running/stop light below to two lights on the trailer. What happens when you have your foot on the brake while signaling a turn?

I'm sure this is not the first time this particular wheel has been invented so make me feel humble by telling me the simple answer.


Thanks for the help Teardrop Braintrust!

[mexican tear]

Mightydog

Go to walmart and buy an adapter. If they do not have one for your "zuki" then get the generic one and wire it in.

I think that it is called taillight converter.

here is the JC Whitney one
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Prod ... 0converter

kai

[madjack]

...actually check with your dealer or maybe even your local auto parts...many newer cars are wired allready to take care of that problem and all you need is the factory pigtail to plug into your existing wiring harness...if such a pigtail is not available then Kai's suggestion is the fix for you...by the way it is a cheap fix(wal-mart/jcwhitney)
madjack

[asianflava]

I have the same setup. I bought a Draw Tite harness kit from eBay. It plugs into your tail light harness, no cutting wires or anything. I just checked eBay and there is one for a Vitara. The seller is the same guy I got mine from.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Trailer-Wiring-Suzuki-Vitara-Grand-Vitara-XL7-Tracker_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33653QQitemZ7980338539QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V

[Steve_Cox]

A stumper for me.

Mrs. Dog and I will be driving down the road in an 03 Suzuki Vitara with our teardrop following along behind. The Vitara has rear lights that look like this:



We are wanting to be reasonably retro with lights that look like these:



My question is: how do you make the lights work? We are going from three on the car: amber turn signal on top with red running/stop light below to two lights on the trailer. What happens when you have your foot on the brake while signaling a turn?

I'm sure this is not the first time this particular wheel has been invented so make me feel humble by telling me the simple answer.


Thanks for the help Teardrop Braintrust!

So anyone? how does it work with his Model A tail lights? He has one bulb single filiment for the running light and one bulb single filiment for the amber turn signal. When the lights are on he has the lower bulb lit. When the turn signal is on he has the upper bulb lit(lights still on the lower is still on....So, what happens when you push the brake? More voltage to the running light?

I use Hoppy converters myself, plug in models for most cars and trucks.

Steve in St Augustine

[asianflava]

My Model-A lights have single bulb with dual filaments.

[Steve_Cox]

My Model-A lights have single bulb with dual filaments.

AF -
Original equipment and accurate reproduction lights have just 2 single filement bulbs. You must have a moderized version, did it come with a 12 volt bulb too?

Steve in St Augustine

[asianflava]

The guy asked me if I wanted 12V or 6V. Didn't know there was a difference between originals and repros but I didn't think anyone would use originals.

[cracker39]

If your MODEL A tail light for the trailer has a single, dual-fillament bulb, or two single filament bulgs, one filament is for the tail light, and the other is for the stop and turn signal. The logic circuit in the adapter takes care of when it is lit and when it isn't (turn or brake).

If your tail light has two bulbs,with one a single filament and the other a dual filament, the single is probably the tal light and the dual serves one filament for stop and the other as the turn signal. But, I doubt that it would have this setup if it is an accurate replica.

The first requires the adapter from your tow vehicle's lights. The second only requires direct wiring from the tow vehicle lights. My Nissan has separate turn and stop lights. That's why I use separate turn signals on my trailer, thru a 5+1 connector (using only 5 of the 6). I've never bought an adapter yet that provided adequate illumination to my trailer lights, and I've had several over the years. JC Whitney used to sell a heavy duty adapter, but I never tried one.

[asianflava]

Exactly, I got busy at work so I didn't get a chance to come back to this thread. The ebay wiring harness I linked to earlier has the logic box integrated into it. It doesn't care how many bulbs you are running. You just plug it in, and it takes care of it. You have a seperate wire for stop and tail lights. It pulses the tail circuit for the turn signal, that is why the Left and Right are seperate from each other.

[Mightydog]

Once again, the Teardrop Braintrust comes to my rescue. This is a simple answer to a stumper (for me) of a question. Thanks again everyone.