Flat towing and wiring

my friends and i have been planing a big new-years trip to Pismo beach. i'm planning on flat towing my XJ behind my 26' motorhome. i already ordered a tow bar.

i was planning on wiring the tail lights of the XJ to work when i hit the brakes in the RV.
a little searching and i found this:
http://www.jedi.com/obiwan/jeep/flattow.html
that is exactly what i want to do, is there such a plug under the dash of my 1990 XJ? which wires are which?
and those "diodes"... wow those seem expensive. i think i could go down to the local electronics store and buy a few simple diodes and build the exact same thing myself. with two real diodes in place of every rv store "diode". one between the jeep and the taillight, and one between the RV and the tailight.

any tips or insight about flat towing a XJ on 35s behind a RV would be great.

thanks,
Jeff

I used to tow my YJ. I used tap-a-lites from U-haul. Basically, they're tail light bults with little tap wires/plugs built in. All you have to do is replace the brakelight bulbs with the tap-a-lite bulbs and wire to your tow vehicle. You can put them in the tow vehicle too for poor man's trailer wiring. They work pretty good and only cost $6 for two lights. Your u-haul should be able to help with specifics. LOL.

I work at an RV dealership and I can get you the diodes for a good price (comparatively speaking). Let me know if I can help. Other than that, brake control would be nice, but not worth it for a 1 time trip.

i found this:
http://www.motorhomemagazine.com/cforum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/8111850/gotomsg/8395594.cfm
exactly what i was planning on doing, diode wise.
now i just need to find a place under the hood or dash to tap into these wires.

All I did was run a set of magnet lights.....plug them into the motorhome harness and called it good. This lets me use the same set up on any tow...I used it on a trailer that had been suffering from a short I couldn't find.
Just my two cents.
BTW I have towed the XJ for well over 2000mi. with this set up with no problems....
I guess I'm just too lazy to wire it in like you are planning....

Jump This said:

I guess I'm just too lazy to wire it in like you are planning....

Click to expand...

and i'm too cheap to buy the magnetic lights.

cheap or lazy... i don't like messing with any wires that aren't giving me trouble... i'd also go with the mag-mounts...
mike

Hey, you can have the whole thing done with for about $20. You can get the non-magnetic lights- they're like $12.95 at u-haul and come with 25' wires. The tap-a-lites in your tow vehicle are another $5.95 plus tax and you're done with it. I used to zip tie the trailer lights to the rear bumper of my YJ, run the wires over the roof/hood and tap into my truck's rear tail lights. Cheapest, easiest, and safest way to do it. It looks a little jerry-rigged on the road, but it works fine.

Uhaul Mag lights are the way to go ! Just plug them in to your plug ,put lights on back of Jeep, 2 minute job.

My '92 has a spot in the rear light assembly for a third bayonet light holder. A trip to Kragen yeilded 2 holders for a few bucks each. Use trailer wire to wire them to a plug near the front bumper. They are then isolated from the XJ wiring so no diodes are needed.
#67

I made a bracket that is as wide as the rear bumper and welded a square tube on to it that went in to the rear recever. I bought a cheap trailer light kit from Walmart, bolted the lights on to the bracket, ran the wires under the liftgate and up front. I opened the front door and ran the wires in between the front quarter pannel and the cowel, into the engine compartment, and out under the grille. Looks very clean, no wires flappin' in the brezze, and cost me $25.00. I'll take a pic if you want.

What are the benefits of flat towing compared to just driving to the "playground".

What's the advantage?????????? He gets to eat & sleep in comfort.