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Sokniw's avatar
Sokniw
Explorer
Jul 28, 2014

Old 60's TT tow lights Wiring Question, HELP!!!

So i am at a loss here. I am trying to hook up my old travel trailer for towing running lights and such, there is already preexisting wiring, but all the teardrop lights are burnt and rusted. So i got new ones.

So basically, i have 6 wires coming off the harness. White, Blue, Black, Yellow, Green, And the last one looks Brown/orange/red. So old hard to tell. The Brown(/red/orange), yellow, black, green. all shoot up into the siding. The white and the blue go back to the brakes. I Found the black is the 12v wiring and it works. but i cannot get any of the other lights to work. I am at a loss. tried everything. I see no white ground that grounds out the trailer, only white wire i see goes to the brakes.
I figured if i can get the 12v to work in the camper than the wiring for the lights cant be completely messed up and i'm just missing something.
What am i missing here. i am so stumped we are about to rip the siding in the back and front off and just run simple new wiring for running lights and brakes. But i would like to have all lights working without having to do that.

I'm open to suggestions and help.

23 Replies

  • Yes i was going to do without the brakes. its a smaller trailer. And i am trying to wire up a 4 flat plug.

    Ill check out the site . thanks.
  • Since you mention brakes I assume you are working with a 7-round plug. You also mentioned teardrop so the trailer should be light enough to safely tow without brakes.

    Quick solution for towing now and solving the real problem later:
    Buy new lights and wiring combo. This should include the lights, all wiring, and a 4-flat plug. All of it should be connected already so all you need to do is ground the white wire, find a way to mount the lights, and zip-tie the loose wiring up. This should get you to where you need to go without any problems. You can easily remove everything at a later time and place to work on the actual problem.

    Later:
    Since all the wiring is preexisting and just the housings are rusted, you should be able to remove the original lights and housing to expose just the wires hanging out, most likely 2 wires. Find new lights that match what is hanging out of your trailer, 2 or 3 wire. Some require grounding, some do not.