Boat trailer lights question

[Fawkinnae]

First night of fishing league was last Tuesday - and no we didn't do very well.

Anyway I noticed that my brake lights weren't working when we pulled the boat out at the end of the evening. I bought a Mitsubishi Endeavor late last fall and hadn't trailered the boat with the new vehicle more than once or twice last year.

Spent Saturday going through everything trying to figure out what was going on. Also discovered the turn signals weren't working. Tinkering with the grounding got the turn signals going but still no brake lights.

Hooked up another vehicle to the boat and everything worked fine. Hmmm.

Noticed an obscure note in some info I printed off the internet,

4 to 3 wire converter for vehicles with separate directional lights -- For newer vehicles with separate & usually amber directional lights, it is a pain to wire in an extra set of trailer lights for the directionals.  There is a "little black box" that you wire between your vehicle & the receptacle that converts 4 wires coming in to 3 wires going out.  They are not overly expensive, $20 or so.  It has been noted that these do not last indefinitely however, and may have to be replaced in 4-5 years.

Called O'Reilly auto parts and they said yup you need this converter box. Bought the box.

My question is has anyone ever had this problem? And any advice on how to wire this ##!@**! converter box.

Thanks for any help. I'm not gifted in this area.

[nontypicalhunter]

We used to call them a 3 to 2 adapter (built trailers and wired trucks for 10 years). The problem you will have (if your not a wiring wizard) is you need to run a constant power wire from the front of the vehicle to the "little black box". The lights on your trailers use the same filiment for brakes and turn signals. But if you hooked another trailer and had no problems, the issiue lies in you trailer. You did the right thing by checking the ground first. I suggest you check all the grounds on the trailer. Depending on how they are wired there could be a single ground for the whole trailer or a individual ground for each light. From what I a read in your post your truck seems to be fine. Wiring problems are a big pain. Good Luck

[Fawkinnae]

We used to call them a 3 to 2 adapter (built trailers and wired trucks for 10 years). The problem you will have (if your not a wiring wizard) is you need to run a constant power wire from the front of the vehicle to the "little black box". The lights on your trailers use the same filiment for brakes and turn signals. But if you hooked another trailer and had no problems, the issiue lies in you trailer. You did the right thing by checking the ground first. I suggest you check all the grounds on the trailer. Depending on how they are wired there could be a single ground for the whole trailer or a individual ground for each light. From what I a read in your post your truck seems to be fine. Wiring problems are a big pain. Good Luck

No - I hooked my trailer to another vehicle and everything worked fine.

[kenhuntin]

I work with the wizard of trailer illumination. He is as good as Chevy Chase with Christmas lights. If it is raining tomorrow we could fix you in the am. In the afternoon if it is still raining we are scheduled to customize a boat for Ontario.

[nontypicalhunter]

We used to call them a 3 to 2 adapter (built trailers and wired trucks for 10 years). The problem you will have (if your not a wiring wizard) is you need to run a constant power wire from the front of the vehicle to the "little black box". The lights on your trailers use the same filiment for brakes and turn signals. But if you hooked another trailer and had no problems, the issiue lies in you trailer. You did the right thing by checking the ground first. I suggest you check all the grounds on the trailer. Depending on how they are wired there could be a single ground for the whole trailer or a individual ground for each light. From what I a read in your post your truck seems to be fine. Wiring problems are a big pain. Good Luck

No - I hooked my trailer to another vehicle and everything worked fine.

Sorry, misunderstood. Yeah, if you have seperate turn signal and brake lights on your truck then you need that adapter. Another option would be buy a premade trailer pigtail for your truck. They are very simple to install but not all that cheap.

[Fawkinnae]

Fixed!
Thanks you guys for your help.

[DDSBYDAY]

    Just in a nick of time.  Let us know how your league goes tonight.  It's a great night to be on the water.

[Fawkinnae]

My partner got a 12 7/8" crappie, that was the highlight.