Magnetic lights

I am still wayne_tw wrote:
He was not being a jerk. He was correct. Those magnet bases are strong and will attract minute iron based particles. It is surprising what they will attract. Even a microscopic particle between the magnet base and the paint will scratch. No you will also have to deal with the wires from the motorhome to the Honda. They will vibrate in the wind and cause scratches. If you get the wireless model of lights, you have to deal with batteries and radio signals. Why go through the hassle everytime you hook up and unhook. Get it done right, enjoy it and forget about it.

Ive had my magnetic lights since 2003.....not a single scratch on my Liberty's roof!

As far as lights from coach to toad...I made my own harness and used the 4 conductor lighting wire from the coach across the tow bar to a plug under my license place on the Jeep....and then thru the Jeeps frame to exit out the rear and be plugged into the mag lights

tropical36 wrote:

wny_pat wrote:
Maybe I'm not as careful as the rest of you. I tried magnetic lights and ended up with scratches. Took all the precautions too. I will not run magnetic lights anymore. As adapting the toads lights, I did my own wiring and brought the proper diodes at a electronics store. If your handy, it is not difficult. Use good quality connectors, not butt connectors. If you know someone who works for the telephone company, get some from them. Theirs are excellent and have lub inside to protect the wiring from corrosion.

A chevy dinghy with these lights just pulled into this campground a little while ago. Yep, the wires in this WY windstorm has already scratched his pretty blue paint.
He does like my suggestion about making up a plug and play light bar and using it in a hitch receiver. In fact the light bar that he's using now on the back above the trunk with some sort of suction cup mounting will do nicely with a hitch tow bar welded or bolted in place. Using this method, cutting into the vehicle wiring won't be necessary at all.

Mine was the actual magnetic base of the lights that scratched the paint. I even used glad wrap as a plastic protectant, but no go.

But do like the idea of building a light bar and attaching it to the hitch receiver, or bike rack that is in the hitch receiver. Now I have a new project to start working on!

wny_pat wrote:
Maybe I'm not as careful as the rest of you. I tried magnetic lights and ended up with scratches. Took all the precautions too. I will not run magnetic lights anymore. As adapting the toads lights, I did my own wiring and brought the proper diodes at a electronics store. If your handy, it is not difficult. Use good quality connectors, not butt connectors. If you know someone who works for the telephone company, get some from them. Theirs are excellent and have lub inside to protect the wiring from corrosion.

A chevy dinghy with these lights just pulled into this campground a little while ago. Yep, the wires in this WY windstorm has already scratched his pretty blue paint.
He does like my suggestion about making up a plug and play light bar and using it in a hitch receiver. In fact the light bar that he's using now on the back above the trunk with some sort of suction cup mounting will do nicely with a hitch tow bar welded or bolted in place. Using this method, cutting into the vehicle wiring won't be necessary at all.

Maybe I'm not as careful as the rest of you. I tried magnetic lights and ended up with scratches. Took all the precautions too. I will not run magnetic lights anymore. As adapting the toads lights, I did my own wiring and brought the proper diodes at a electronics store. If your handy, it is not difficult. Use good quality connectors, not butt connectors. If you know someone who works for the telephone company, get some from them. Theirs are excellent and have lub inside to protect the wiring from corrosion.

Tex, thanks for pointing out my senior moment. Glad to see a first hand report on them. I agree with you, and will invest in them as soon as I can find a dolly.

tropical36 wrote:
..I still like making a light bar or using a hitch haul and using it on the toad's hitch receiver with a wiring connector that goes to the front of the vehicle. This way there's no connection whatsoever to the toad's electrical system, but you can still add a charge wire or other if needed. Simply disconnect and store it when not in use.

..I like the idea of building a light bar that'd go on the hitch receiver. I carry bikes on the back of our toad most of the time, with a Thule 4 bike rack (works great). I just might have to see about mounting a light bar on the bike rack, like a previous poster talked about. :)

For the time being, though, I've found a much, much easier way to use magnetic lights that also avoids connecting to the toad's electrical system, scratching risk, or having to put them up and take them down: Magnetic lights sit INSIDE the car, on the 'shelf' behind rear seats. I put a strip of velcro on the bottom of each mag. light, and that makes it stay in place perfectly on the shelf back there. They sit behind the rear seat headrests, completely out of the way and do no block view back there, so they can pretty much stay in place all the time ready to go when driving or towing it (no need to ever take them out or put them back in). Wires are routed underneath the car, through the truck and up to the lights in the back, completely out of the way and just about invisible.

This works great on any sedan where you have a 'shelf' behind the rear window, but probably not on a hatchback or SUV.

Will

My post, page 1 4th one down, says "wireless" magnetic lights. I think that is the only way to go, as there is NO wiring to run, can be used on any setup, like when we are double towing they go on the trailer, etc. On the truck, I make sure I put some heavy paste wax on the area they will mount and have not had any scratches yet. Batteries last for months, during normal towing. Yes, they work fine for us.

Tex, I didn't see anyone using WIRELESS magnetic lights. Maybe I missed it, but thought maybe some one that was reading the thread might be using the wireless system. Thanks

FIRE UP wrote:
urbanjo,
Wiring a toad is much simpler than you think. I'm not a fan of using magnetic lights and having the cord drape all over the place or, the process of drilling holes in the tail light housings and adding auxiliary sockets and bulbs. Lots of folks do it but, it's just not for me. I've wired all my toads, a Toyota pickup, (7) different Jeep Wranglers, a 2011 Honda CRV and our present toad, a 2011 GMC Sierra 4x4 Extended Cab truck ALL THE EXACT SAME WAY. And that way was/is to "T" into the wiring very close to the tail light, solder everything up nicely and efficiently, then add the correct Radio Shack diodes and tape and secure everything all up.

Never had any wiring issues for over 25 years of towing and, the stock toad running, brake and turn lights have always worked flawlessly. When done, your toads done for good. No goofing around with removing and storing those magnetic lights and cords (which accumulate road debris, dirt and mud etc. and then put it back onto our cars surface when you go to put all them back on again).

You say you've done lots of work around the house, well then this is the same thing. If you'd like, I can send you a simple wiring diagram I drew up for the CRV which should, be the same for the Fit but, not sure. Good luck.
Scott

Just so you know, COOLTECH makes a plug and play wiring harness for the new Wrangler JK's, so no cutting or diodes are required. As for the others, I still like making a light bar or using a hitch haul and using it on the toad's hitch receiver with a wiring connector that goes to the front of the vehicle. This way there's no connection whatsoever to the toad's electrical system, but you can still add a charge wire or other if needed. Simply disconnect and store it when not in use.

Did you read the posts?