Jeep Cherokee tail light wiring

[tfbowe]

We’ve just replaced our old CR-V with a 2021 Cherokee (with the suitable for towing Active Drive II transfer case). It’s easy to tow, just put the transfer case in neutral, shut off the automatic parking brake, and go. But, I don’t like using the magnetic “Mickey Mouse” lights

I’m hoping that somebody with a 2019-21 Cherokee can give me some insight into how you wired in the tail lights. Specifically, where did you intercept the wiring harness at the rear of the vehicle to connect the isolation diodes?

Any help will be appreciated.

[tfbowe]

We turned the car over to a local automotive place to do the installation. We’ve done business with before and are pretty confident. Fingers are crossed.

Thanks everybody for your input.

[23hotrodr]

We have a 2020 Cherokee Trailhawk and did all the wiring and towing base plate install ourselves. Went with Roadmaster for all. Etrailer does have 2 different videos for the Cherokee, but each says different colors for the taillight wires. You must confirm them for yourself. For the base plate- you must remove the entire plastic front end skin. Not too bad, but it takes some extra hands to get the large thing aligned to all go back on.

The taillights are LEDs and you just open the hatch, remove 2 screws on each light and wiggle them out, then disconnect the connector. The harness covering is extremely tough and hard to cut. Be extra careful not to cut yourself or the very small wires used for the lights. I cannot remember the color codes for each side, but one of the Etrailer videos was correct. Just double check it for yourself with a tester. Running the wires up to the front is a bit of a challenge, but you can do it with patience. I did put the wiring in split plastic wire loom. If Hopkins now makes a dedicated harness that just plugs in, that would be the best choice. They did not have one earlier this year.

The Cherokee is easy to connect and set for towing, just make sure the park brake is off and check to make sure it rolls freely for a few feet before you take off. Good luck-- Mick

[travisc]

Hopkins didn't have the toad wiring harness when I set my 2019 up- i bought the prior year model, then a cheap add on tow wiring kit so I could rewire the toad hardness in the the plugs that came for the towing setup. this allowed me to unplug them if I ever had any problems. The jeeps are very electrical now and I didn't want to splice in wires.

[Jack_Spratt]

Installed the diode system on our 2020 Wrangler.
Watch the Etrailer video and it is pretty straight forward.
Spent more time fishing the wire harness through the frame rail
than anything else.

[mike_brez]

I would look into a Hopkins wire harness. simple plug and play

[tfbowe]

John Wayne wrote:
Do you have room in the tail lights to drill and put in a separate socket with an LED light. Then you will not have to tap into the Jeeps wiring. Just run separate wire from the plug on the Jeep side to the tail light wires of the socket you installed.

The Jeep lights don’t lend themselves to the separate bulb approach. Looks like the diodes are the best option for me.

[John_Wayne]

Do you have room in the tail lights to drill and put in a separate socket with an LED light. Then you will not have to tap into the Jeeps wiring. Just run separate wire from the plug on the Jeep side to the tail light wires of the socket you installed.

[tfbowe]

Found a great installation video on the eTrailer.com site.

https://www.etrailer.com/Tow-Bar-Wiring/Jeep/Cherokee/2021/TR118821.html?VehicleID=202147213

[tfbowe]

georgelesley wrote:
We tow a 2019 Cherokee. Since we had the tow mods done by a professional shop I cannot help you there. I just want to warn you about the auto park brake. DW pulls the motorhome ahead a few feet after we are done hooking up and have done the light check. I look to make sure the tow bar is locked properly and that all four wheels are turning properly.

Last time we towed a few months ago guess what, without thinking I had the drivers door open while I did the towing setup on the Jeep. Yep, the auto set for the parking brake did it’s job and the rear wheels did not turn when DW pulled ahead. A quick easy fix if you catch it early not so much if you assume all is well. Yes we have our auto brake setting turned off in the settings menu, but it still will set if the door is open. Always check!

Great advice, thanks!

[georgelesley]

We tow a 2019 Cherokee. Since we had the tow mods done by a professional shop I cannot help you there. I just want to warn you about the auto park brake. DW pulls the motorhome ahead a few feet after we are done hooking up and have done the light check. I look to make sure the tow bar is locked properly and that all four wheels are turning properly.

Last time we towed a few months ago guess what, without thinking I had the drivers door open while I did the towing setup on the Jeep. Yep, the auto set for the parking brake did it’s job and the rear wheels did not turn when DW pulled ahead. A quick easy fix if you catch it early not so much if you assume all is well. Yes we have our auto brake setting turned off in the settings menu, but it still will set if the door is open. Always check!