Wiring for trailer hitch?

KimsJeep

TJ Addict
Supporting Member
Lifetime Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
Messages
1,783
Location
Sacramento
I finally put my hitch on today and that has got me inspired to start looking for wiring mounting brackets. I want to be able to use the common 3 or 4 prong ( flat connector) and also want to make sure I can do trailer brakes too. Is this what I need to make sure I can hook up a trailer that has trailer brakes? My Scamp has brakes on it but we need to rewire it to work. So I'm not sure what kind of wiring I actually need. I think I need the round style for more wires, but want to make sure before I purchase this mount kit.

Wiring mount.

A fellow member already sent me a brake thingy for inside the Jeep, but I have yet to get everything hooked up. Figured I would collect everything I need, then do it all at once. :D
 
Your going to need a round RV style plug (6 or 7 pin) or a 5 flat plug if your using brakes. I would suggest the 7 round RV plug as if for some chance you need a part or adapter they are very common and available just about everywhere. The 5 flat is a bit of an oddball. The round 7 will also give you the option of having backup lights and a spare 12V for trailer power if needed.

Keep in mind that if you use the brakes you will need a controller.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KimsJeep
Then you would want a round 7 and a flat 4 vehicle side plug setup.

Yep, that is the one in the link. :D Thanks for the info. I will get that one. Next is to figure out how to wire it all up. :D I never wired a brake controller before. Shouldn't be to hard though. :D
 
Is there an aftermarket 7 prong socket that comes with a pigtail of cord and connectors to plug into your existing harness? That would be the way to go and add wires as needed for the brake controller.

My TJ came with the tow hitch and 7 prong socket. It was connected under the left side inner fender.
 
Is there an aftermarket 7 prong socket that comes with a pigtail of cord and connectors to plug into your existing harness? That would be the way to go and add wires as needed for the brake controller.

My TJ came with the tow hitch and 7 prong socket. It was connected under the left side inner fender.

I'm not sure. I just started looking at them today. I just knew I wanted something I. could mount solid to the Jeep instead of having hanging wires. LOL I did find something that would connect to the brake light wiring. You unhook the brake light connector and put this wiring it between. It just wasn't a solid mount type thing and only had the 4 prong connector.

I am going to have to do some more research before I buy the one I linked. It would be nice to find something more user friendly as far as hook ups. :D
 
You can get one of these plug and play kits but that will only serve a flat 4, there is no 7 pin plug and play because there is no electric brake circuit in the Jeep. You will have to add that circuit and a 12V circuit if you want one.

https://www.etrailer.com/t1-2003_Jeep_Wrangler.htm

That is the one I was talking about that I found earlier. I don't want that though. I want the one that has the 7 prong. I will just wire it up myself. I need to look up the instructions for the brake controller then I can go from there. Hubby is going to look at his work for the plug in like I have in the link in the original post. Once he figures out what he has, I can figure out if I need to just buy one or not. LOL
 
That is the one I was talking about that I found earlier. I don't want that though. I want the one that has the 7 prong. I will just wire it up myself. I need to look up the instructions for the brake controller then I can go from there. Hubby is going to look at his work for the plug in like I have in the link in the original post. Once he figures out what he has, I can figure out if I need to just buy one or not. LOL

You missed the point of the post, you still have to tap into the vehicle harness so use something like I posted then cut the end off and use the dual outlet you posted. At least that will take care of the basics and you can run a new brake circuit for the trailer brakes.
 
You missed the point of the post, you still have to tap into the vehicle harness so use something like I posted then cut the end off and use the dual outlet you posted. At least that will take care of the basics and you can run a new brake circuit for the trailer brakes.

Ahhh, Ok, is see now. I guess that would make things a lot easier. Just thought I would be wasting some money buying something like that, and also the other one I posted, but it would be a lot easier to hook up. Thanks. Sometimes I am overthinking things. :D
 
For me I went the simple route. I use 6-round. I have 4 towable trailers w/electric brakes, that can be towed by 3 different vehicles, with brake controllers in each. Five wires are used, 6th wire not used but available because it's pre-wired.
Brake controllers are easy to wire up. Most modern ones have 4 wires. White goes to ground on the battery, black goes to battery positive with an in line 30 amp. circuit breaker.
The red wire can be a little tricky to locate, it's on the brake light switch under the dash. A muliti-meter or simple probe/test wire can light up the correct one. The switch simply closes the circuit. Probe to find the constant hot and it will be the other wire that you want to test to see if and when you push the brake pedal, it lights up.
And the blue wire goes to your trailer connecter, usually identified with a 'B'.
I'm sure most know the common colors of trailer wiring.
If not here goes.
White - ground.
Brown - tail/running.
Yellow - left turn.
Green - right turn.
Blue - electric brakes.

Red - 12 volt to charge aux. batteries. Used in conjunction with an isolator.
Black - 12 volt accessory (back up, flood or anything else that needs juice).
HTH.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: KimsJeep
I have my Bantam trailer wired with a 6-pin plug rather than the typical 4-way because I have a 12v house battery and ARB fridge in the trailer and wanted a charge wire. I also wanted something difficult to plug into a potential trailer thief's tow rig as a "poor man's theft deterrent" so as not to provide the thief with brake lights thus giving law enforcement probable cause for a stop. 6-pin plugs are relatively uncommon; it is my recollection that 6-pin trailer plugs/sockets are frequently used with horse trailers but not so much with anything else.

In retrospect, and based on my subsequent experience trying to find an adapter so I could tow my trailer with 6-pin plug behind a U-Haul truck, I should have wired the trailer for the standard 7-pin RV plug even though I didn't need the 7th wire. 7-pin adapters are easier to find and since most factory vehicle sockets are 4-way, 7-pin, or both, in most cases no adapter to the tow rig would be needed at all. (So much for my "poor man's deterrent.)

YMMV
 
Last edited:
I have my Bantam trailer wired with a 6-pin plug rather than the typical 4-way because I have a 12v house battery and ARB fridge in the trailer and wanted a charge wire. I also wanted something difficult to plug into a potential trailer thief's tow rig as a "poor man's theft deterrent" so as not to provide the thief with brake lights thus giving law enforcement probable cause for a stop. 6-pin plugs are relatively uncommon; it is my recollection that 6-pin trailer plugs/sockets are frequently used with horse trailers but not so much with anything else.

In retrospect, and based on my subsequent experience trying to find an adapter so I could tow my trailer with 6-pin plug behind a U-Haul truck, I should have wired the trailer for the standard 7-pin RV plug even though I didn't need the 7th wire. 7-pin adapters are easier to find and since most factory vehicle sockets are 4-way, 7-pin, or both, in most cases no adapter to the tow rig would be needed at all. (So much for my "poor man's deterrent.)

YMMV

Were I doing it, I would also do the 7 pin RV with the t-harness for the standard bits, cut off the 4 pin that comes with the t-harness, wire those into the 7 pin hard mounted trailer connector housing and then add the brake, charge, and back up light circuit wiring. All of my stuff is 7 pin RV and I had need to move a 4 pin flat equipped trailer. The 7 pin RV to 4 pin flat adapter worked very well to hook up to the baby trailer.
 
Last edited:
I agree with @mrblaine, there are a lot of 7 pin plugs that also have 4 pins so you can go both ways.

This might be something like you are looking for:
https://www.reese-hitches.com/products/7_Way_and_4_Flat_Multi_Tow_Connector,LM-47185
Given a choice with a tolerable budget, I would get one that has both in the same housing.

https://www.autozone.com/trailer-wi...iyuSfXGjxOoRprry_scaAuSYEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Thanks for popping this back up, I see that I forgot to mention the why of the t-harness. I don't like to see anyone cut into the factory wiring. We have had to fix far too many issues around folks doing that and I prefer to see the t-harness used.