railriders Report post Posted July 2, 2017 Are Towing light bars better than Towing lights? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hermanmullins Report post Posted July 2, 2017 Rsilriders, Welcome to the Forum. I have my light wired in with diodes. No cables to run on the outside of the vehicle nor bar to store. Just hookup, plug in and go. Herman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manholt Report post Posted July 2, 2017 railriders. Welcome to the Forum. Light bars have been around for a long time, as has the "in tow" sign. Back in the 70's, 80's and early 90's, the average motorhome was much lower than what they are now, so most brake lights of coach could not be seen when towing a toad. No pre wired for lights so the bar became a necessary tool to see both vehicles! The last light bar I used was in 1987! I'm on the diode system and it's so much easier to just plug and go! Tail lights on my coach is higher than my Jeep. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wayne77590 Report post Posted July 2, 2017 13 hours ago, hermanmullins said: Rsilriders, Welcome to the Forum. I have my light wired in with diodes. No cables to run on the outside of the vehicle nor bar to store. Just hookup, plug in and go. Herman Ditto and no problems. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
desertdeals69 Report post Posted July 2, 2017 14 hours ago, hermanmullins said: Rsilriders, Welcome to the Forum. I have my light wired in with diodes. No cables to run on the outside of the vehicle nor bar to store. Just hookup, plug in and go. Herman Been doing the same for numerous toads for over 40 years without incident. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbutler Report post Posted July 2, 2017 I've seen a few posters mention a concern about making alterations in the electrical system of their toad. Like the rest of the above, I've always connected the coach lighting system to the car's lights. Diodes protect the coach from feedback and keep the additional wiring isolated from the car's wiring - if and it's a big IF, properly installed. It takes some careful study to do this on your own. I have done it but prefer to let the experts do the install. They do it every day so they know it much better than I do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hermanmullins Report post Posted July 2, 2017 Tom, my only difficulties come when I don't remember the color coding. White is ground, Brown is tail lights and Green is stop & left turn signal and Yellow is stop & right turn signal. Or yellow left and Green is right.😯 Herman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfe10 Report post Posted July 2, 2017 https://www.etrailer.com/faq-wiring.aspx Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
redldr1 Report post Posted July 2, 2017 It isn't electrical wiring concerns that made me go with a TowMate light bar. Some of the newer vehicles have LED lights, like those on my Edge, that are sealed units to help keep moisture away from the LEDs. If you drill any holes in the light fixture you potentially allow moisture in to the light fixture. That could easily turn in to a warranty question if a light fixture fails. How likely is a LED light to fail? In the past three years I had the right rear turn signal assembly on our 2013 Ford Flex partially fail. Half of the LEDs stopped working. It was replaced under warranty and the repair invoice showed about $500 for the light assembly. We later traded in the Flex for our current Edge. The Edge had the left rear tail light assembly totally fail, at about 6 months, the warranty parts invoice on it was $650 for the light assembly. In both these cases I'm darn glad I didn't have any debating about holes drilled in the light fixture. We use the TowMate RVHW32 Wireless RV Tow Light Package. I avoid any warranty questions and I can easily move it between vehicles when we change TOAD's. It was well worth the roughly $250 cost to me to avoid any potential issues. And once you deduct the price of a traditional wiring kit, and installation costs, the TowMate looks even better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hermanmullins Report post Posted July 2, 2017 Red, When you install diodes you do not have to drill holes into your tail light assemblies. As an example, you cut the Brown wire (Tail Lights) and install a connector (female) to each of the cut wires. on the Brown wire on the wiring harness for your tow lights you put a connector on it , your diodes will have one side with one male pin and two on the opposite end. Plug the wire from the light into the single pin end of the diode and plug the wires coming from the wiring harness of the vehicle and the the tow wire harness into the other end. It doesn't matter which goes on which pin. when not hooked up the the coach your lights are powered by the vehicle. When you are hooked up to the coach the power comes from the coach and will not back fed back into the vehicles system. Like desertdeals69 said I have installed many and never had an issue. However if you are not comfortable doing the job have a professional do it. Herman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
redldr1 Report post Posted July 3, 2017 My local installer wanted to use the RoadMaster 152-LED Bulb and Socket Kit. At about $100 for the kit, and the labor to install it, the TowMate wasn't that much more expensive. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildebill308 Report post Posted July 3, 2017 1 hour ago, RedLdr1 said: My local installer wanted to use the RoadMaster 152-LED Bulb and Socket Kit. At about $100 for the kit, and the labor to install it, the TowMate wasn't that much more expensive. I would listen to what Herman told you. Way less trouble than messing with a light bar. Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pawoodtx Report post Posted January 16, 2018 I bought a 2009 Saturn Vue for a toad and am going to wire it for lights. I have no preference on wiring harnesses. I have a demco towbar and baseplate that came with the mh. What wiring harness would you recommend and and I assume that I will need to install 4 diodes in the tail light fixtures. Is that correct and is there a best diode for it? Paul Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaypsmith Report post Posted January 17, 2018 When I took the diodes to the KIA dealer and asked them to install on my KIA Soul, they said to me, " we will not install, any changes in the wiring harness, even if we do it, will void your warranty for any part connected to the wiring harness". For that reason I did not use the diodes. I work with electronics on a daily basis and have done so for the past 33 years. I know that diodes will not cause a problem, but if the dealer tells me that they will void my warranty, as they did, I will choose not to go that way either. As for the Saturn Vue, there is no factory warranty, so I would definitely use diodes. E-trailer is a good source and so is camping world, just be sure to use the diode assemblies that are designed for this use. When you think about diodes, just think that they are nothing more than a oneway checkvalve for electricity, the only job that the ones used in wiring assemblies is to stop the backward flow of electricity. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wayne77590 Report post Posted January 17, 2018 I had a 2007 Saturn VUE and I opted for the separate light system. Drill additional hole inside tail light assembly and put the holder/bulb in the new opening. I did have Smitty's RV and Welding in Houston, TX do it for me. Great shop. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildebill308 Report post Posted January 17, 2018 When I bought my 22014 CRV I had the dealer install separate LED lights. That way there could be no problems with any warranty because I had "modified the electrical system. This has worked well. Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jleamont Report post Posted January 17, 2018 For a few extra $$ over diodes most vehicles have these plug and play kits. http://www.hopkinstowingsolutions.com/products/dinghy-towing-harnesses/?p=all Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
