Portable Magnetic Brake Lights vs Wired Towed Vehicle Lights

[Vantrippin]

I've read about many problems with a towed vehicle's light activation, battery draw from those lights, and more. I am about to have a system installed to tow my Tracker and I wonder what is wrong with using a set of magnetic lights on the back of the toad, no one seems to mention doing that. It seems like a simple and perfect way to do it. My Class C has the 7 blade connection and with an adapter and the magnet mounted lights I would have tail, turn, and brake lights all operated with the motor homes system.

What am I missing?

I was a little concerned with the lights falling off but they could be bolted on or even attached to the back of the luggage rack.

I know it might not look as couth, but what the heck, I'm from Indiana.

Ham

[bizsmith@yahoo.com]

You don't have to make them. You can buy at Camping World. For me the wired ones work. Attaching the magnetic ones and stowing them is just another step in hooking up the toad. Mine don't draw from the toad battery but from the coach. Never a problem.

[jrwitt]

I have used the magnetic lights a few times. They stick very tight and should work fine as long as they are mounted on a flat metal surface. Two cautions: Make sure surface of vehicle is clean where you attach the magnetlic lights AND it is best to run the wires under the car and attach with wire ties or similar. If you drape them along the top or side of the vehicle, the wind will whip them and wear through the paint very quickly. And as someone above said, the magnetic lights are just another thing to have to set up when you want to tow. I still keep my old set to use should the I have problems with the hardwired lights. And even the hard wired lights should not draw from your towed vehicle's battery. They draw from the motorhomes power. Supplimental braking often draw power from the towed vehicle.

Good luck.

[nitehawk]

I have a '96 Geo Tracker with the convertible top so using magnetic lights on top was not an option, and placing them at waist high level left them open to being knocked off. Also, I wasn't too confident about them staying put. I took off the third light bracket behind the spare tire, welded two small bolts onto the bracket (under the plastic cover) so they stuck out forward toward the rear window. I then made my own light bar using a 4' piece of 3/4" dia aluminum tubing and two standard square LED taillights. I ran the wires down inside the tubing and out near the tailgate hinge. The wire harness drops down and terminates into a flat four connector. I put a mating flat four connector on the end of a heavy duty three wire extension cord with an extra wire for the ground. I fished the wiring thru the frame up to the front, put another connector on the front and then interfaced it with the wiring harness on the tow bar.

Removing the light bar consists of removing a wing nut and unplugging the flat four connector. The reason for the two bolts was so one bolt retained the light bar and the other acted as a guide to keep the light bar parallel to the ground.

The entire setup works great, removes easily, and lets me open the tailgate without removing the light bar.

Neat, clean, and simple.

[RVerOnTheMove]

Properly wired hard-wired tail lights will not drain your toad battery. The wiring can use the same lights but uses diodes to allow either the MH or the toad to send power to the lights. What usually drains a toad battery is having to leave the key on in the accessory position so the steering does not lock.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my new Chevy van does not have a steering wheel lock and I no longer have any issues with the battery draining while towing as I can now turn off and take the key.

[billkoboldt]

I tow a 07 Saturn Vue with basically the same setup as nitehawk except I made a bracket and it slides into my trailer hitch receiver. No need for magnetic lights and no worry about them coming off or ruining the paint. One extra thing I did was to put a 7amp fuse in each line, except the ground wire, so if the insulation on the wires under the car wear thru it will blow on of them fuses instead of a fuse on the motorhome. So much easier to change that fuse.

[Xplorer]

I have independent lighting in the Jeep, powered by the MH, signals, break lights, etc work in conjunction with MH.

Plugs into the MH socket, no hassle, no tapping into the Jeep lighting system, no power drain concerns, nothing else to hookup or install.

Four years and no taillight problems.

Never used the magnetic lights.

[nitehawk]

I didn't mount my light bar in the hitch receiver because I wanted to open the tailgate without having to take the light bar off. I do like Bob's idea of 7 amp fuses in line, although by using a heavy duty drop cord I have three insulated, rubber covered stranded wires enclosed in a tough rubber housing. I have never been comfortable with the crappy four strand flat wire arrangements for sale at places like Walmart. The insulation cracks too easily. With my arrangement I have never had a failure.

[tbutler]

We have direct wired the toad lights to the motor home and never had a problem with the toad battery. Hook-up is simply a matter of plugging in the cord from the motor home to the receptacle on the bumper of the toad. Done! Can;t beat that for simple. We had the original installation done when we had the tow bar installed on the motor home and car. I modified it slightly after using it for a while. A friend we were in caravan with told us we would get brake lights or turn signals but when the brakes were on and we used the turn signals the brake light on that side wasn't lit. It was a simple matter to run another wire and hook up the turn signals separately. I could have asked the original installer to do that but figured it would be done that way without special request.

[vsheetz]

I have the magnetic lights - have used them for several years. Not a big deal to attached, omly takes a minute on/off.

[wolfe10]

My concern with many "installations" of magnetic lights is that it leaves the wires on the outside of the toad where the wind can move them around and scratch the paint.

[nitehawk]

On the OP the toad is a Tracker. This means it probably doesn't have any mounting surfaces for magnetic lites that keep the lites out of the airflow and are probably curved surfaces. Not a secure mounting situation!!

Utilizing the Tracker's taillights is possible as they are most likely the international type. This will work very simple if his tow vehicle is also international. Only alteration is adding a switch to take the front lights out of the towing circuit. Otherwise the toad headlights will be on and the front turn signals will also operate whenever the running lights are on on the tow vehicle

Just a thought: why not mount the magnetic lights inside the back window? Aginst the law? Not wide enough? I've seen them mounted this way.

[hermanmullins]

Even if your vehicle has seperate turn signal and stop lights you do not need special set ups. When wiring your vehicle you place the diode to the stop light wire. When you apply your brake your brake lights go on. When you use your turn signal the proper light (the stop light bulb) will flash.

I have wired approximately 15 vehicle this way and they all work fine. At the front of the vehicle I have a flat 4 pin connecter and an harness from the coach that hooks to the vehicle.

After I tow I just open the hood and place the connecter under the hood and go on my way.

[Vantrippin]

Wow, I didn't expect so much help. I guess I worry too much when the dealer I am buying my Roadmaster Tow Package from does not seem to be able to give me a satisfactory answer to my questions. I had a bad experience with a different dealer in the same chain and have little faith in their work. They told me that their package included hooking my Tracker's lights up so I guess I will leave it at that. If it doesn't work I will either do it myself or get magnetic lights. I just hope they don't screw it up too badly.

I do appreciate all the information and advice all of you have given me, thank you very much,

Ham