This is a little from left field, but I could do with some advice.
I have never hitched a trailer to my car before and I need to connect the electrics. Is this a pretty straight forward job?
Tom said it couldnt be more simple, just get a "seven pin"

Any advice??

 

7 pin with electric brakes or 4 pin without.

 

Go on ETRAILER.COM. There are standard wiring diagrams and procedures. They even have kits that plug and play for newer model vehicles.

 

X2 on etrailer. They were very responsive to me installing a 7 pin and ebrake controller on a 03 truck. If you are talking about about a older vehicle, their knowledge may not be as great. What vehicle are you talking about, and does the trailer have 4-pin, 7-pin, with/without electric brake?

 

Here is a 7 pin



4 pin connector

 

Uh oh.. Welcome to Europe.. 7-pin is considered as stone age, only for trailers, and 13-pin to campers..

 

Not stone age, North America has a different system to Europe.
But both systems clearly work.
Problems start when we wire up an American car that was privately imported, mostly because turn signals and brake lights are separate circuits.

Roger.

 

Eh?

Problems start if someone is doing wiring without having any clue about it.. Wiring schematics are there for a reason if in doubt.
I could tell it when i inspected the wiring done on my car by previous owner state-side, that he didnt have any clue..

 

Floor it, there are many things you need to know before you trailer with your vehicle.

What vehicle are you going to tow with? Don't oversize the trailer to the vehicle. The longer the wheelbase the more stable the tow. The heavier the trailer the more the need for trailer brakes. Tongue weight is another important issue. Too much you start to jeopardise steering, to little and the trailer will sway at higher speeds, especially when going down hill. We need more input.

I tow a 10X5 flat trailer with my 71' "A" body Cutlass. I don't overload the trailer and I'm conscious about how I distribute the weight and I have no problems. At best I'm at a 350lb tongue weight. The car does ride lower with the weight so I will install after market "Firestone" air bags which go inside the existing coils to keep the rear up. That, however doesn't mean I can add weight. Next summer I may look into towing a pop up trailer depending on the weight. I've towed much bigger trailers with my last trucks (77' Ford F250 & 96' 2500 GMC) and the present truck (06' 2500 Silverado). Longer wheelbase than the A body not necessarily a lot more power. They also had/have and electric braking system. I'm not a big fan of hydraulic surge brakes, they never seem to work correctly when you need them. Unfortunately, if you a tow a boat trailer in and out of salt water it's your only option.

When I go bigger I make sure they have brakes and the brakes work. The only feeling worse while towing, than needing to stop in a hurry due to some jerk jumping in front of you & not realizing the weight you are towing doesn't stop on a dime is when your trailer starts swaying & doesn't have a braking system, the only way to stop the swaying is to floor it and pray. Leave yourself plenty of "Oh ****" room & grab your extra box of patience.

If you are looking to wire a 4 pin to an "A" body I can send you pictures of how I did mine. I wouldn't do towing anything heavy or bigger so I don't see a need for a 7 pin on this car.

 

Also be advised that something that will work, may not work well. You can wire the lights to the car's circuits, do a good job, yet overload the amperage and blow fuses or melt wires even if you did it right.

There is enough capacity in the system to run a brake light a side, but I would not add any running lights other than the ones already in the brake light units. They're not legal, and pull more power.

Another thing is to make the harness removable. Mod the car harness with plugs, then have a trailer harness that plugs in. Your trailer harness can degrade with rain, salt, and dirt, then short your brake lights out when you are not trailering. Moving vans have spring pin contacts and they leave the 4 pin pigtail with the trailer.

 

Thanks for the help fellas. Much appreciated. It all makes sense now.

I ordered a 12 volt 7 pin plug off these guys - https://www.greasemonkeydirect.com/c...-plugs-sockets

All sorted now!!