Community Forums

Isaac-1 · 09-10-2021, 04:59 PM

As some of you may know I bought a new to me cheap 2007 Toyota Yaris TOAD last month, which was already equipped with a Roadmaster Base Plate, but no braking system. This was a one owner TOAD, which was bought new for TOAD duty in 2006, and set up for TOAD duty by a mobile RV mechanic (ie base plate and tail light diode kit wiring, no braking system, I have the receipt). Over the last month I have been taking care of fixing it up a bit, setting it up to work with my Roadmaster Even Brake, removing the peeling window tint, etc. Well today in preparation for our planned trip next week I hooked it up to the back of the motorhome, adjusted the tow bar height, etc. then hooked up the wiring umbilical to test the turn signals and brake lights. What I found is that whoever wired up the trailer connector did not use standard wiring color codes, instead they reversed ground and left turn, as well as tail lights and right turn, ie Yellow= ground, White=left turn, etc.

If this were not bad enough, the woman I bought it from told me she was on her 3rd motorhome since buying this TOAD, though I am not clear if she had towed it with her current smaller class C coach or not. Regardless that means that someone, either the same guy or someone else opted to rewire the trailer connector on 2, or possibly 3 motorhomes to get the lights to function correctly, either that or for thousands of miles people have been following a TOAD around where no rear light action matched the correct function, though thankfully at least with the mis-wire brake lights sort of worked as the brake pedal would light up the tail lights.

Sorry for the rant, but I just had to share this with someone who might understand the issue.

Ike

GrantR · 09-10-2021, 05:11 PM

I understand

, I just replied in another post- don’t trust the color codes.

Isaac-1 · 09-10-2021, 05:55 PM

I agree about not ever trusting color codes, particularly red / black, but this goes one step farther in not trusting pin positions.

johnhicks · 09-10-2021, 08:29 PM

I've found manufacturers wiring diagrams that don't agree. And when my current toad was wired by the book, as was the previous toad, I still had to swap pin wiring in the middle of the road at a state park.

_Always_ check your lights.

Isaac-1 · 09-10-2021, 08:54 PM

While there are some variation on function for some of the pins in 6 and 7 way connectors, particularly for aux power / electric brakes, there are some universal industry standards like white being ground for trailer wiring.

Mark_K5LXP · 09-11-2021, 07:31 AM

It wouldn't have to be all the previous motorhomes miswired, could've just been just the most recent one. And perhaps they chose to miswire the toad instead of mucking with a haywire job on the motorhome. Never overestimate the degree of motivation required to reach the intended outcome ("whatever works").

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

mbutts · 09-11-2021, 10:35 AM

I was following an A with toad last weekend and their toad's tail lights worked, but when the driver hit the brakes, the tail lights went off and just the orange turn signal on the driver's side lit up. I wonder if that driver has ever checked their toad's lights before leaving on a trip.

Country Road · 09-13-2021, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbutts

I was following an A with toad last weekend and their toad's tail lights worked, but when the driver hit the brakes, the tail lights went off and just the orange turn signal on the driver's side lit up. I wonder if that driver has ever checked their toad's lights before leaving on a trip.

Lol. No they didn’t. Easy to cross them up but also easy to fix if you include a dose of patience along with a cool beverage.