Trailer Wiring Splice Location / Light recommendations

[fishgo]

I travel quite often with a hitch-mount bike rack, which when loaded tends to obscure the tail lights. I have a 3rd LED brake light in the window.

Who has recommendations for a trailer style plug wiring and splice location? The PO did a brake wire spliced at the left tail light plug socket; GW has a kit and recommends one splice location in the engine bay at some connector point (I have an '83 AC), and I've seen other spliced locations in-between.

Any recommendations and photos of your work that you can share?

I'm planning on adding a metal "light bar" or basically an aluminum bar about 3' to 4' wide with velcro straps and two LED running/turn/brake lights that I can affix either to the rack (when folded up) or to the rack or rear-most bike (when loaded) for additional visibility. The light bar then can be quickly removed and unplugged when not needed.

[bobbyblack]

I have not built one yet, but I KNOW what would be the best way to add a hitch connector to the harness... I found out that the black box in the engine compartment has two round connectors, one for engine and start stuff, and the other is for the tail lights.

I called VC and talked it over with them, my particular 'want' was to get the right connector for the Subi swap I was working on.

Turns out that the same connector works for both above mentioned needs.

This means, if you get a few of these connectors, male and female and make a 'jumper' with a harness out to the hitch, Bingo, you've got everything you needed right in the black box AND you didn't have to splice it. Tight fit tho. But, I'd say worth it.

I'll edit this with the link when I dig it up.

Edit:
Ahh, here they are!

https://www.vancafe.com/803971980-p/803971980.htm

https://www.vancafe.com/803971979-p/803971979.htm

-bobby
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'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch

[Steve M.]

The splice locations I used we're all inside the junction box on the left front of the engine compartment.
This is where the wire harness from the front connects to the lighting harness in the rear.
It is protected from the elements and even though it is I still used butt connectors with adhesive line heat shrink to waterproof the splice.

I cannot see cutting open the wire harness anywhere along it's length exposing the wires to deteriorating from the elements.

The standard trailer kit wire is long enough to reach the junction box.

I recently added into it to add another light bar mounted up top on the roof rack.
Going down I-95 a few months ago and in a torrential rain storm you could not see any tail or brake lights mounted down low in the normal location on a vehicle due to the spray kicked up by the car's.

Unfortunately the turn/brake lights just are not as bright as I want for daylight, but that 3rd brake light is plenty bright.
As soon as I find a nice bright set of lights I'll change them out...I just don't want to buy all the lights on Amazon to find them!
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This free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.

There are seven days in a week. Someday is not one of them.

[PDXWesty]

I'd love to see the light bar you plan on adding.
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89 Westy 2.1 Auto

[fishgo]

[Steve M.]

[Steve M.]

Just another note on mine.
I bought a "Y" connector for the trailer wires just so it would be easy to disconnect the roof rack from the trailer light part of the harness.
That cost me $5.97 at Walmarts and it had the wires inside it connected wrong so lights did not match the original lights.
I cut the connectors off and spliced them to the wire harness.
Another FYI is to get a trailer harness for LED lights unless you want the old style bulbs.

My light bar.

_________________
This free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.

There are seven days in a week. Someday is not one of them.

[MacDude]

Does anyone make a splitter for the white 7-pin plug in the junction box?

https://vancafe.com/vanagon-7-pin-plug-male-side/
https://vancafe.com/vanagon-7-pin-plug-female-side/

how do the wires connect in these? Is a special tool needed?
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'84 Wolfsburg Westfalia
'90 White Multivan (currently not running)

[markswagen]

l took out the rear harness, and cut and soldered into each wire on the harness side of the plug, and made up a lead that's long enough to reach 18'' out the license plate flap.

[GreggK]

I just made a new rear light wire harness myself. My plan is to make a splitter or more like a "Y" between the two round connectors, for a trailer harness, using the same ones from RMW and probably a Molex connector going to the trailer harness. I don't have enough room in my junction box, so I'm trying to come up with a remote box to keep the splitter in, out of the elements. One picture shows the pin removal tool that Mark Ward gave me the part number for. Also, a picture of the crimping tool I've been using. It came in a Weather Pack kit I bought a long time ago. There are for sure better ones out there, but this have served me fine.

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'86 2wd Poptop transplant
FAS TDi engine swap. Peloquin LSD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=692188&highlight=slow+but+steady

[GreggK]

I found all the correct wire colors for the harness on ebay, well the stripes are a bit different. The trailer light harness I got from Go-Westy years ago, so I don't know if it has changed since then. I just started looking at this project again, so I'll post more pictures at some point.

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'86 2wd Poptop transplant
FAS TDi engine swap. Peloquin LSD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=692188&highlight=slow+but+steady

[tdivan82]

Beautiful tail light wiring job there, it's reminding me of what a mess mine is. Any interest in selling these as a complete tail light and trailer harness kit? I'd buy one!
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- George
'82 Westy TDI

[jimf909]

Here's another thread with trailer/aux light https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9689844&highlight=#9689844
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- Jim

[GreggK]

[DanHoug]

slightly off topic but regards lights... my bike rack blocks the tail lights, especially with 2 bikes on it. looked at all sorts of solutions for visibility when the rack is folded and deployed. decided it just had to be 2 pairs of lights and didn't want to spend the clams for the super nice linear LED strips so i bought a pack of 10 LED clearance lights. just a + and - lead, but was able to use full brightness for the brake/turn signal and an inline resistor for the tail lights. works great. $2.20 each. $8.80 total.

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-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[MacDude]

Ah. Looks cool. I didn't think about being out of space in the built in junction box, but it does look pretty crowded. Some sort of break out box needed. It's a same they didn't put in a port for this. I guess they thought that nobody in their right mind would need a trailer harness with such under powered motors.