snailmont5oh
snailmont5oh Dork
7/8/18 10:41 p.m.

I'm getting my '71 Ford station wagon ready to tow the Fairmont (on Friday?!? Yikes!) and I'd like some advice on the most official way to wire it up. I already have "trailer cable" (6x12, 1x10 gauge) as far forward as the back of the back seat. My intent is to take it up under the dash as one piece, then split in off to where it needs to go. 

The questions are: Where should I look for light feeds? How should I make these connections without being a hack? The circuit breakers go on the main power for the brake controller, and the 12v hot to the trailer plug, right? Is there anything I'm missing?

jfryjfry
jfryjfry HalfDork
7/9/18 1:06 a.m.

 I would run a Fused line for reverse lights if I were wiring it in from scratch. It would be really nice to have lights in the back of a trailer at night.

Ian F
Ian F MegaDork
7/9/18 7:18 a.m.

It seems to vary a bit.  Depending on how many lights the trailer has and how much additional load that will add to the system, you may want to add relays for the trailer lights that will have their own dedicated fused feed.  Then run taps from the existing lighting circuits to control the relays. 

You may find helpful info here.

Toyman01
Toyman01 GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
7/9/18 7:31 a.m.

I wire all lighting at the rear of the vehicle tapped off the fixtures. For newer vehicles you can usually find a plug in harness for trailer lighting.

All brakes and charging circuits go all the way to the front. Brakes to the controller, charging/12v tap to a relay connected to the battery.

Tyler H
Tyler H GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
7/9/18 6:33 p.m.

I'd tap into the existing rear lighting wiring for the relay trigger, with a separate fused load wire that goes up to the battery.

Jfrjfry has a good suggestion...If I we're doing it from scratch, a couple of bright aux lights on the trailer, triggered off the reverse lamps would be awesome.

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