09 Wildcat 29RL-Factory Rear Hitch Wiring HELP Needed

[Skyliner]

I'm looking for helping in finding the wiring so I can wire a hitch plug for my factory installed rear hitch to triple tow a small trailer in back of my 5th wheel. I don't need advice on what plug to use.

I can't find the wiring under the camper that corresponds to the wiring at the lights to tap into it. Is it possible that the wiring for the brake lights is run thru the roof?

Has anybody installed a 7 way plug or 4 way for their factory installed hitch? I want to be able to triple tow a small ATV trailer this summer so we don't have to take two vehicles with us when we camp.

Thanks in advance!

Drew

Tapping into the wiring connecting the brake lights doesn't look feasible as I would have to figure out a way to get it run to the bottom of the camper thru the wall.

[Kimber45]

skip the 7 way if the trailer doesn't have brakes or a battery for the trickle charge and just do a flat 4. Come off your other lights on your camper?

[Skyliner]

I have electric brakes and need a way to recharge the battery on the trailer that powers the break away emergency brake switch. I use 7 way plugs regardless if I use all of its features on all of my trailers.

I can't find the wiring that goes to the rear brakes likes to tap into. I removed the rear brake lights and the wiring appears to be run up the wall and not towards the bottom but I'm not 100% sure.

I'm asking for help from anybody who has wired a 7 way or 4 way electrical hitch for their factory installed rear hitch so I can triple tow.

Tapping into the brake wiring is harder then I thought as I can't find the wiring for it.
Thanks!

[Skyliner]

Found it. Under a fabric like mesh tape like cover (not coroplast) I found a grouping of 4 wires that was run into the wall from under the 5th wheel. Red wire for left brake light, brown wire for right brake light, green wire for running/parking lights, and white wire for ground.

My plan: I will actually be installing a brake controller in my 5th wheel that will independently power the brakes to my ATV trailer. The reason is that my trailer brakes need 100% power send to them for them to work as desired but my 5th wheel only needs 5.5 out of 10 on brake controller for them to work as desired. By installing a prodigy P2 controller, I can adjust the brake setting for the ATV trailer separately from the 5th wheel electric brakes. I will tap into the DC power distribution panel for the power needed to power the brakes with an auto reset 30 amp fuse and rest of wiring is typical per instructions for the brake controller. The brake controller will be mounted in a convenient place for adjustment but easily removable if desired.

Don't know if anybody has ever done this before but I'll definitely let you know how it works for me. It'll most likely be better than tapping into my 5th wheel's electric brakes.

[tbarb]

We have the Wildcat 29RLX so will be very interested to see what your outcome will be?

[Skyliner]

Outcome is perfect!

Installed new 7 way RV tow power outlet. During install discovered that there are no separate wires or bulbs for brakes and turnsignals ;-(

Wired a Prodigy P3 mounted inside the camper that will independently power the electric brakes. My ATV trailer needs 14/14 on the brake controller to work as desired. My RV needs 5/14 for it to work. Simply tapping into the trailer's electrical brake system would have not been ideal because I wouldn't be taking full advantage of the trailer's braking capability. I used 8 gauge wire and ran it directly to the power distribution panel and then mounted and wired a 30 amp auto-reset fuse inline for the power to the brake controller. The rest of the wiring to the brake controller came from the junction box that I installed that housed the wire connections for the 7 way outlet.

Had to purchase a 2 to 3 way converter for brake signal to Prodigy brake controller. Reason: The brake light and turn signal have the same line and bulb on each side. If I tapped into a brake light, using the turn signal would tell the Prodigy P3 that I was braking when in fact I was turning. I installed 25 watt resistors on the output of the converter to simulate lightbulbs/power draw. I didn't bother testing it to see if the 2 to 3 way converter needed the resistors for load but did it out of peace of mind-PLUS IT WORKS.

Works perfectly. Took me 3/4 of a day to do the work. Could have done it quicker but I threw my back out 2 days ago and I can barely move.

Lots of running wires, soldering, and heat shrinking stuff.

FYI: My batteries are always 100% charged via solar on the roof and I do not rely on the vehicle's power to keep the batteries topped off. With over 660 amp hours of battery capacity, I have plenty of power to run the ATV trailer brakes even if the sun doesn't shine. I used to have thick gauge wire to power the fridge and keep batteries charged from the truck to trailer but it was a PITA and I removed it.

[Skyliner]

Here is how I found the wiring to my brake lights.

I removed both brake lights from the camper. I then noted the wire going to each light on each side. My left brake had a white ground wire, a red wire for brakes/turn signal, and a green wire for parking light. My right brake had a white ground wire, a brown wire for brakes/turnsignal and a green wire for parking light.

I then spent about 90 minutes digging under the camper to find a wiring bundle that had these wires (colors). I confirmed using a lightbulb 12 volt electrical tester that the wires were indeed by pushing small T-pins (needles) into each wire and turning on turn signals and brakes.

After confirming that they were the correct wires, I cut them. I installed a junction box, popped out entrance holes and installed water tight strain fittings. I soldered as needed and then used very large electrical twist nuts to cover the exposed soldered wire ends that were grouped together. Used liquid tape to seal everything from moisture and repeated for each wire.

[Skyliner]

Clarification: I installed 25 ohm 25 watt resistors to simulate a load on the output of the 2 to 3 way converter. This load resistor draws a 4.75 watt load on each output terminal. which isn't too high.

Many load resistors sold are 6 ohms which draw a 24 watt (2 amp) load which is a little high.

I was going to use P2 prodigy but my new P3 wouldn't fit in the mount case for the P2 in one of my tow vehicles. I personally like the P2 over the P3 as I can quickly adjust the little roller to set my brakes-at 20mph engage electric brakes manually and adjust knob just below setting where brakes lockup at this speed is my technique.

[Skyliner]

I like the P3 prodigy installed inside my 5th wheel much better than the P2. The reason i the P3 will show you line voltage, output voltage and output current.

I got to test everything out while ATV trailer was connected without moving. It was nice to know that output voltage was only 3.2 volts when not moving unplugged and current was basically zero amps but plugged in had same output voltage but several amp load when not moving.

Very happy with the Curt 2-3 converter.