DSchmidt_2000
Ventura
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Joined: 03/26/2011
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Looking for a reliable trailer light converter to take load off truck's factory wiring.
Have an 1986 Chevy C30 crew cab dually with the trailer wiring tied directly to the chassis wiring. Would like to get the trailer lights isolated from the truck wiring and don't know which converter to get. Trailer is a 4 horse trailer, all incandescent lighting but slowly switching to LED. Even with all LED lighting, I still would like to isolate the truck from the trailer - there has been a fusebox fire and melted wire in the past from a shorted trailer, and occasionally this truck pulls other people's horse trailers.
Anyone use the solid-state Curt 56190 ? I cannot find reviews on this specific unit and bad reviews of their other models has me worried.
Is there a recommendation for another converter? I'd like a 'heavy duty' model as there may be other times where the truck might be towing someone else's horse trailer.
edit: I just read a post on Curt's website that LED lights may glow dimly with their powered converters even when not activated. Statement was that their protection circuitry allowed a little bit of current to flow.
??? It's like they need a minimum load?
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enblethen
Moses Lake, WA
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Joined: 01/05/2005
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What type of lighting do you have which requires a converter to the trailer?
Bud
USAF Retired
Suzuki XL7 pushing Pace Arrow
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DSchmidt_2000
Ventura
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Joined: 03/26/2011
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enblethen wrote:What type of lighting do you have which requires a converter to the trailer?
Sorry, I'm still editing the first post - this forum is having a problem with my posting and I don't know what in the message is giving it fits.
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sch911
Rochester Hills, MI
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Joined: 04/13/2003
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Why do you feel the need to 'take the load off" of your truck's factory tow wiring?
Those converters (like the Curt 56190) are for converting 3 way wired taillights to two way wiring for trailers.
Chrysler/Dodge/Ram/Jeep Engineer
2003 Damon Challenger 348 Class A - F53 Triton V10
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DSchmidt_2000
Ventura
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Joined: 03/26/2011
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sch911 wrote:Why do you feel the need to 'take the load off" of your truck's factory tow wiring?
Those converters (like the Curt 56190) are for converting 3 way wired taillights to two way wiring for trailers.
Voltage drop in the existing wiring. This truck was wired with very thin wires. Looks like 18 or 20ga used from the light switch. Also a fire and melted wires in the past from a shorted trailer being attached (previous truck's owner)
The trailer has 10 clearance lights plus another 2 lights in the stop lamp fixtures running off the rear parking light wire. The stop lamps are just the 2 1157 lamps in the stop light fixture.
I could not find a converter that was only for power isolation. The Curt 56190 will do the job as long as the stop wire input is grounded (per their instructions)
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sch911
Rochester Hills, MI
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Joined: 04/13/2003
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If it were me I'd just remove the old crappy wiring, and replace it with something more robust, and forget about the converter. That's just another thing to go bad. Fix the root cause, don't try to treat the symptoms....
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enblethen
Moses Lake, WA
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Joined: 01/05/2005
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There is no factory style "converter" to do what you want.
Only real way of doing it is to install a set of relays. You would need one for each of the functions. The existing wiring would supply the coil power and a new large wire would feed the contacts.
I doubt whether you would have any problems with the existing wiring in an '86. More apt to have problems at the connectoirs where the tap was made for the trailer connector.
Some early models had a trailer wiring harness coiled up on the frame rail between the rear bumper and the spare tire.
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DSchmidt_2000
Ventura
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Joined: 03/26/2011
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sch911 wrote:If it were me I'd just remove the old crappy wiring, and replace it with something more robust, and forget about the converter. That's just another thing to go bad. Fix the root cause, don't try to treat the symptoms....
Root cause is excessive current draw from the trailer lights either due to too many lights or a short. This is a generic problem for any trailer and converters are used to solve this problem. For this truck, there is no 'more robust' factory wiring to solve this and even if there was, a trailer short would take out the parking light fuse, albeit not the wiring.
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DSchmidt_2000
Ventura
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Joined: 03/26/2011
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enblethen wrote:There is no factory style "converter" to do what you want.
Only real way of doing it is to install a set of relays. You would need one for each of the functions. The existing wiring would supply the coil power and a new large wire would feed the contacts.
I doubt whether you would have any problems with the existing wiring in an '86. More apt to have problems at the connectoirs where the tap was made for the trailer connector.
Some early models had a trailer wiring harness coiled up on the frame rail between the rear bumper and the spare tire.
Thanks, this 'was' the way I was heading until I found a clean, off the shelf solution. At least I thought it was clean.
There is what appears to be a factory trailer wiring bundle going to the back, but I don't see, nor hear, any relays activating to drive the bundle.
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enblethen
Moses Lake, WA
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Joined: 01/05/2005
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No there is no relays in the factory trailer harness. It comes from connections under the hood and goes to the coil which allows the installer to connect the desired connector. It normally is larger wire to reduce voltage drop.
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