Wiring CR/V for toading

[bgbeaver]

I've had great success towing my 98 Honda CR/V behind my 2000 Winnebago Chieftain 35U with the Ford Triton V-10. But, I can't understand why Winnebago puts a six pin round connector on the RV, but RV shops will only convert it to a four pin flat and a poke a hole in my brake light housing to insert a bulb connector because they don't want to "violate" the car's wiring or its warranty.
At any rate, my toad's signals have quit working. I've tried different four pin flat configuations, but can't get them to work. Now, I've decided to see if I can rewire the Honda for a six pin round so the separate turn signals will work. Besides, it seems to me that doing so will be safer because the signals are much more visible.

I'm sorry if this has been answered a bazillion times before, but I can't find it. Will someone please point me to a website which explains what to buy and how to install it? I just can't see it as being all that hard. Ideally, is there a site with a video or photos of the process for a Honda CR/V?

PS: I went to high school, but don't have any experience running wires through/under/in/over/around a car from a connector in front of the grill to the actual bulbs in the rear. This will be a first for me.

Thanks, bgbeaver

[Thudman]

Originally Posted by bgbeaver

I've had great success towing my 98 Honda CR/V behind my 2000 Winnebago Chieftain 35U with the Ford Triton V-10. But, I can't understand why Winnebago puts a six pin round connector on the RV, but RV shops will only convert it to a four pin flat and a poke a hole in my brake light housing to insert a bulb connector because they don't want to "violate" the car's wiring or its warranty.
At any rate, my toad's signals have quit working. I've tried different four pin flat configuations, but can't get them to work. Now, I've decided to see if I can rewire the Honda for a six pin round so the separate turn signals will work. Besides, it seems to me that doing so will be safer because the signals are much more visible.

I'm sorry if this has been answered a bazillion times before, but I can't find it. Will someone please point me to a website which explains what to buy and how to install it? I just can't see it as being all that hard. Ideally, is there a site with a video or photos of the process for a Honda CR/V?

PS: I went to high school, but don't have any experience running wires through/under/in/over/around a car from a connector in front of the grill to the actual bulbs in the rear. This will be a first for me.

Thanks, bgbeaver

I'm waiting for a Blue Ox adapter plate for my new 2012 CR-V. Delivers in about a week. The Adapter plate comes with a wiring harness which I assume is a round 6 pin connector. My 2000 Jeep Cherokee also used the same round 6 pin connector, so I don't understand why you have a flat 4 pin connector. I've never owned a CR-V before so maybe I'm in for something new !? I'll call Blue Ox on Monday and see I'm in for a surprise.

[UFO Pilot]

I wired my 06 CRV with separate bulbs. I bought a cord with a round 6 pin connector on one end a round 4 pin connector on the other end. I wired my the CRV with a 4 connector round receptacle. It works great and I didn't touch the factory CRV wiring.

[floteb]

BG - I used a 4 wire system on my 2011 CRV. Hooked up diodes at the rear stop/turn/ park connections. Roadmaster has a good slide show on this. My Discovery 40x has a 7 pin outlet. I wired this to the 4 wire cable on my CRV and added a hot wire from the coach outlet to the battery to keep the CRV charged. I posted some pictures on another thread on this forum. All wired up to a Roadmaster invisibrake with Sterling hitch.

[Chuck 1935]

Call Winnie tech to find out where the fuses are located for the towed car. You could have blow the fuses going to the toad. As for the 6 or flat four plug and adding an extra bulb for your stop/tail lights, the flat four plug and the seperate stop/turn bulb is the best way to go

[garym114]

You do realize you will have to use a wiring converter for the CRV because it has seperate stop and turn lights. Normal wiring carries the stop and turn through the same wire and the CRV needs separate wires for each turn, stop, and running lights. Think it is called a 4 to 3 converter.

[bgbeaver]

Thx 4 the input. What I'm lookin' 4 is a round 6 pin connector with 6 wires to run to the appropriate bulbs. I have an adaptor.

Bgbeaver

[Chuck 1935]

Originally Posted by bgbeaver

Thx 4 the input. What I'm lookin' 4 is a round 6 pin connector with 6 wires to run to the appropriate bulbs. I have an adaptor.

Bgbeaver

Don't mean to disagree with you, but, you are doing it the hard, most expensive way.

[tiggertoo]

I installed the wiring harness from Blue Ox. It has a 6 pin connector and uses separate bulbs, so you don't have to tap into your existing wiring system. Works great.

[bgbeaver]

When ya'll say separate bulbs in your respective feedback, do you mean poking a hole in the turn signal housing for installing that bulb? If so, how is that easier, and just how do you do that? Neatly, that is. Never seen a tool for it.

bgb

[RoadRohrers]

I found the magnetic clip ons the easiest and most trouble free. Doesn't screw with car wire and easily transferred. Works for me, don't claim best solution for all.

[UFO Pilot]

Originally Posted by bgbeaver

When ya'll say separate bulbs in your respective feedback, do you mean poking a hole in the turn signal housing for installing that bulb? If so, how is that easier, and just how do you do that? Neatly, that is. Never seen a tool for it.

bgb

On my 06 CRV I removed the tail light assembly and drilled a 1/2" (may have been bigger, I can't remember?) hole from the backside of the assembly. The bulbs snapped right in place.

[Rapid Ray]

Just to throw in my two cents worth.... I have a Rav4, and I use external harness wired to two magnetic lites (4 wires) and on the back side of the lites I drilled one hole in each about 1/2 inch and covered with clear plastic. Now i can see via my rear view camera that the lights are working. Great for testing after hook up, no need to walk back twice to see that everything is correct. No messing with the Rav4's internal wiring either.

[FIRE UP]

Bgbeaver,
This topic's been discussed just a few times. As you can see, there's a multitude of ways to cope with the situation. Many folks have a hard time "cutting" into the original toad wiring. They add bulbs, mount in housings and much more. Well, I don't condemn anyone for doing what they feel is best for them. That's why we live in America, so we can be different, and won't be shot.

I brought up this subject a few month ago and posted a thread about my remedy. I'll have to dig it up and maybe throw another answer here but for now, I'll give you the short version.

This is a simple thought. I simply wanted ALL OF MY TAIL LIGHTS, on the toad, to work EXACTLY the same way they do as if I was driving it! So, what has to be done is, you have to know what you've got in order to start on this simple task. Do you have a "THREE FILAMENT SYSTEM" in your RV or a TWO FILEAMENT system? A three filament system utilizes an AMBER turn signal in stead of red. A two filament system utilizes one bulb for two functions, Hence, a "Stop/Turn/Tail" bulb.

If, you have a three filament system in your coach, you'll need a minimum of a 7 pin plug on the coach and possibly and 8 pin which, is almost non-existent.

If, you've got a two filament system on your coach, you're in business. But, and here's the big thing that some guys are deathly afraid of, you'll need a "converter" for use in the rear of your CRV. You see, what's needed is a "Magical" conversion to convert the two filament system up to a three filament system the toad utilizes. It's criminally simple but, even the best of RV facilities shy away from them because they're just afraid or uneducated.

Below you'll see a wiring diagram that I drew up, utilizing the black box that even some supply parts outlets don't even know about. They've been used for decades.

When it was all said and done, ALL of my toad lights, including the third brake light work, exactly like they're supposed to. There's no drilling in the housings, no additional bulbs, and only TWO diodes are used for a very specific purpose. Many folks have seen and read my post and wondered how they can convert from their system to mine. Like stated, you must know what you've got, in order to get started. If, you'd like to know more, and don't want to drag it out on the forum side, you can surely PM me and I'd be glad to assist you, again, it's incredibly simple do this.
Scott

[Donovan]

Thank You for your information. I have a 2012 CRV with seperat turn signals and brake lights. I too want to use all of them. The tail light conveter box on your diagram; where can I find them?

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by Donovan

Thank You for your information. I have a 2012 CRV with seperat turn signals and brake lights. I too want to use all of them. The tail light conveter box on your diagram; where can I find them?

Donovan,
Well Sir, there's multiple places but, one thing you must make sure of, is that it is the correct model. There's a few different models that have different functions. The specific one you want is called a:

2 wire to 3 wire converter

In that, there's two wires coming in, i.e. a right turn/brake and a left turn/brake. And on the output side are three wires. A right turn, a left turn, and a brake light wire. One of the places I've dealt with several times is:

www.etrailer.com

They're good folks to deal with and for the most part, almost always have what I've needed in stock. Their shipping is usually pretty fast. Prices, they're usually pretty competitive too.

Vehicle to Vehicle Tail Light Converter Curt Accessories and Parts C56196

The link above is the exact one you need, from them. There are other 2 wire to 3 wire units that will work too, as long as it is in that configuration. There are many parts counter folks that will interpret you as wanting a "3 wire to 2 wire. That's the WRONG converter box. It has a purpose but, not for you. If you call parts places looking for one, just make sure it's what I've described. Hope that answers your questions.
Scott

[davismills]

I'm with UFO Pilot on this subject. It was easy to drill holes in the back of the turn signal housing and install new separate bulbs. I let the dealer install the Ready Brute braking system, because that was tough on my 2011 Honda CRV. Everything works great.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by davismills

I'm with UFO Pilot on this subject. It was easy to drill holes in the back of the turn signal housing and install new separate bulbs. I let the dealer install the Ready Brute braking system, because that was tough on my 2011 Honda CRV. Everything works great.

davismills,
Well Sir, I don't fault or condemn anyone for putting any style of lighting in their toad. At least there's some there. I've seen plenty on the road with no lights working on the toad at all. I did it the way I did for a few reasons. First, I've towed (7) different Jeep wranglers all over the planet and wired them up the same exact way only, the converter box was not needed because the motor homes tail light system was the same as the Jeeps.

Second, while the amount of wiring and the effort it takes in getting it to the places it needs to be, is very close to the same, the end result in lighting to me, when done your way, has some issues. The primary one is, unless you did something to alleviate the actual brake light signal from the toads brakes being applied during braking, you can have two different messages, from the same tail light housing, usually within an inch of each other, being sent to the driver following your setup.

What that means is, let's say you've added a second bulb to that housing. And, for the most part, that extra bulb is very close to the original bulb, correct? Now, being that for about 99% of the vehicles on the road today, the brake lights come on when the brakes are applied, even when the key is off. That being the case, when you're applying a turn signal to your toad while towing, and applying the brakes at the same time, the signal you've sent to the toad is a "turn indication" and, the toads brakes are being applied which, in turn, is sending a "brake light indication", all in the same housing, only an inch or two apart.

So, now you've got two signals being sent to the driver behind you, at the same time. And in most lighting conditions, i.e. sun behind you and even night time driving, those two bulbs have two different actions, right next to each other.

Now, this can be remedied by simply devising a system to cease the brake light operation of the toads brake arm application, while being towed. I did that in many of my Jeeps. It was not hard.

But, I chose to set my CR-V up without any of the above mentioned issues. And, like stated, I simply wanted all the tail lights on the toad to act as the same as they do when driving it. It's just a preference thing. Happy RVing.
Scott

[davismills]

Fire Up: You make good points. My CRV was under warranty at the time and I was told that if I cut into the existing wires, I would void Honda's warranty. So as Sinatra sang, I did my way. Happy RVing to you too. I see you got the Navi model of CRV. How do you like that feature?

[10Boomer]

Originally Posted by Chuck 1935

Don't mean to disagree with you, but, you are doing it the hard, most expensive way.

Hey chuck! Guess who?