Lessons learned - setting up a JL as a TOAD - long read

[mmayer813]

I towed my 2015 JK behind my motorhome. I had it set up with a Rockjock towplate and a Readybrute Elite II towbar. The JK was pretty easy to wire up for towing. I got a Hopkins plug and play wiring harness that went inline with the rear lights. In order to keep the Jeep lights from overriding the RV lights, for example having a turn signal on while braking, the Jeep could just illuminate the brake lights. I added a brake light disconnect kit which consisted of a relay that stopped the signal to the Jeep's lights by opening the circuit. It was installed on the cold side of the brake pedal switch.

I traded in the JK and bought a new 2020 JL. I kept the Readybrute Elite II towbar because it's got a built in surge brake system. Rockjock makes a towplate for the JL so I ordered one of them. Hopkins does not make a plug and play wiring harness for the JL, but Curt does so I ordered that. I needed a new brake cable kit for the towbar and ordered that. The brake cable attaches to the brake pedal arm and is threaded through a conduit to the front of the vehicle where a clevis or carabiner attaches to the surge brake line on the towbar. I also ordered the emergency break away kit that will apply the JL's brakes should the towbar fail or disconnect. This is another cable run in parallel with the operating brake cable. I got the two brake kits from NSA, they make the Readybrute tow bar. While I was at it I ordered the brake circuit disconnect kit with the relay. This is where things got interesting.

There are all the wiring diagrams for the JL's on the electronics area of the forum. I printed out the wiring diagram for the brake system and discovered that there's 3 wires in the brake system. Not as simple as the JK with it's single wire. I asked a question on the electronics section and learned that the brake switch on the JL is tied into the anti-lock brake system as it senses the amount of force applied to the pedal. Cutting one of those wires to install the relay would have been very bad - if you don't get anything else out of this post, don't cut the wires to the brake switch.

I did more research as I wanted to know how I could avoid having the JL's brake lights override the turn signal from the RV with the wiring harness I added. I learned (from etrailer.com and other members here) that the lights on the JL turn off after a few minutes and are not an issue. That was good to know, so that means no relay needed. The towbar surge brake activates the brakes on the JL by pulling on the cable which is attached to the brake pedal with the RV lights lighting up the JL's tail lights, brake lights and signal lights as needed. But I went one step farther on the JK which I wanted to do for the JL too. There is a small LED kit that I installed in the dashboard of my motorhome. When the brakes were applied on the JK the lead for the LED was attached to the cold side of the brake switch and would light up on the RV dash. That way I knew the brakes were on but more importantly that they were off while I was towing. If the brakes are on you're going to wear out the brakes on your TOAD really fast. I also added an LED flasher to the 3rd brake light on the JK, the center mounted light above the spare tire. I didn't want anyone rearending my while I was towing. When the brakes were applied the 3rd brake light would flash really quickly 3 times, then slower 3 times then stay on solid. You've probably seen these on motorcycles, they really get your attention. Some people hate them but I'd rather have them hate me than run into the rear of my Wrangler. To activate that light I cut the wire to the 3rd brake light and spliced in the flasher. To power it I ran a wire to the cold side of the brake switch before the relay so the 3rd brake light would still work when the JK's lights would not. It worked great, in fact it worked when I was just driving the JK around.
So I needed some way to activate the dash LED in the RV and the 3rd brake light on the JL. The good news is the JL 3rd brake light is wired identically to the JK, a single hot lead and a ground.

I found that Roadmaster makes a kit specifically for the JL that will let you light up your dash LED in the RV and in my case the 3rd brake light at the same time. The kit has a bracket that attaches under the dash with an existing bolt and nut in the dash framework. There is a simple brake switch that installs in the bracket then one wire to the JL's battery for power and the other wire through the wiring to the RV for the dash LED. I spliced the 3rd brake light line into the RV dash LED line it works perfectly. Even when the JL has been sitting long enough the for power to time out so the brake lights won't light up when the pedal is pressed the 3rd brake light does. No interference with the anti-lock brakes, simple system. I did have to run a wire from the flasher, which I mounted inside the tailgate, up to the engine compartment where I spliced it to the RV LED brake signal line. I could have added diodes and spliced into the plug and play RV harness in the rear of the JL but the wire works and it’s less expensive. I also didn’t want to start cutting into that wiring harness.

On the JK I had an extra wiring harness with 2 wires that plugged in the front of the JK for the RV dash LED. I got smarter with the JL setup. The RV has a standard 7 prong RV plug and I put a 6 prong round plug on the front of the JL. I attached the lead from the additional brake switch to the electric brake lug on the 6 round plug then on the RV I took the hot lead to the dash LED and attached that to the electric brake lug on the RV plug. Now when I plug in the single wiring harness it not only powers up the JL's brake, tail and signal lights but also the RV dash LED and the 3rd brake light on the JL.

Any questions, fire away.

Ccaptain Skip, I have a 2021 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon which I just finished installing everything for the Readybrute Hercules system except for the relay because space was tootight to get my hands in there. I was happy to read your thread because it seems that I don't need to wire the relay to the break switch. Sounds like all I need is the mechanical switch that you referenced which lights up the LED in the motorhome. Am I correct? Also, how difficult was it to install that swich.....I am having a hard time getting my old fat hands in that area.

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[Captain Skip]

Ccaptain Skip, I have a 2021 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon which I just finished installing everything for the Readybrute Hercules system except for the relay because space was tootight to get my hands in there. I was happy to read your thread because it seems that I don't need to wire the relay to the break switch. Sounds like all I need is the mechanical switch that you referenced which lights up the LED in the motorhome. Am I correct? Also, how difficult was it to install that swich.....I am having a hard time getting my old fat hands in that area.

The switch was a piece of cake to install. Uses an existing bolt. One hint to make life easier, take the kick panel under the steering column off. It will make it easier to see what you're doing. The bracket bolts in place and you adjust the switch with a couple of stop nuts on the bracket.

 

[tae73]

Curious when you added the curt wiring harness does it send signal to the factory trailer connection on the jeep? I am wanting to add the magnetic trailer light to the bike rack for when I have a cover on the bikes since the cover hides the jeep tail lights.

 

[Captain Skip]

Curious when you added the curt wiring harness does it send signal to the factory trailer connection on the jeep? I am wanting to add the magnetic trailer light to the bike rack for when I have a cover on the bikes since the cover hides the jeep tail lights.

I don’t have the factory trailer plug, I added a Curt plug harness for that too. And it does send the signal to the trailer plug.

 

[tae73]

I don’t have the factory trailer plug, I added a Curt plug harness for that too. And it does send the signal to the trailer plug.

Thank you for the quick response, on a 2 year old thread. I also have same tow setup with the ready brute. How did you do the connection between the toad and coach for the dash light?

 

[Captain Skip]

Thank you for the quick response, on a 2 year old thread. I also have same tow setup with the ready brute. How did you do the connection between the toad and coach for the dash light?

I added the Roadmaster switch to the brake arm (explained in detail in my original post). I ran a wire from the cold side of that switch to the center pin (pin #2) on the 6 way plug under the Jeep's front bumper. I then opened up the back of the 7way plug on the hitch on the motorhome and disconnected pin #2, it's the wire that powers electric brakes on trailers. I couldn't find the other end of it under the dash so I put a piece of shrink tubing on it then taped it in case it was still powered. I connected a new wire to the backside of pin #2 and ran that to the LED on the dash. On my JK I had an additional plug that I used to accomplish the same thing but thought it through when I put the JL together. I've attached my wiring diagram for you to see what I'm talking about.

 

[JeepinJason33]

For wiring the tailights to work with the RV, @CoolTech has the best product on the market. Easy to install and does not use Diodes! I also wired in a RVi battery tender to the 6 way plug. The combo has kept the JL battery from dying and tail lights working correctly when towed. Some of the other splice in kits have a challenge with brake light and turn signal working at the same time...

https://www.cooltechllc.com/2018-je...harness-kit.html#/69-jl_tow_harness_kit-basic

 

[Captain Skip]

For wiring the tailights to work with the RV, @CoolTech has the best product on the market. Easy to install and does not use Diodes! I also wired in a RVi battery tender to the 6 way plug. The combo has kept the JL battery from dying and tail lights working correctly when towed. Some of the other splice in kits have a challenge with brake light and turn signal working at the same time...

https://www.cooltechllc.com/2018-je...harness-kit.html#/69-jl_tow_harness_kit-basic

The Curt harness works fine. The diodes are built into their system. The brake/taillights get their power from the RV not the Jeep battery. The only thing that draws any power from the Jeep battery is the LED third brake light. In two years of use with a lot of towed miles I’ve had zero issues with the Jeep battery.

 

[JeepinJason33]

The Curt harness works fine. The diodes are built into their system. The brake/taillights get their power from the RV not the Jeep battery. The only thing that draws any power from the Jeep battery is the LED third brake light. In two years of use with a lot of towed miles I’ve had zero issues with the Jeep battery.

I need the tender for the RVi brake system that works off the Toad power.

 

[Captain Skip]

I need the tender for the RVi brake system that works off the Toad power.

Ah, that explains it. That’s one of the primary reasons I went with the Readybrute system, it doesn’t require any power to activate the brakes.

 

[tae73]

For wiring the tailights to work with the RV, @CoolTech has the best product on the market. Easy to install and does not use Diodes! I also wired in a RVi battery tender to the 6 way plug. The combo has kept the JL battery from dying and tail lights working correctly when towed. Some of the other splice in kits have a challenge with brake light and turn signal working at the same time...

https://www.cooltechllc.com/2018-je...harness-kit.html#/69-jl_tow_harness_kit-basic

I have the cooltech, but after seeing the Curt I think it would be of been a better system to go with. No wires to cut and butt connect back together no wire up through the floor board. Also we have forgot several times to flip the cooltech switch between tow and regular mode.

 

[CoolTech]

Admittedly, our Cool Tech harness may take more time to install than many others. Done correctly, I would advocate (with a large bias) that it is a more robust, long-lasting solution. Our kit uses only made-in-USA automotive wiring, not inferior Chinese-made ribbon cable. The connections are made in the interior of the Jeep using OEM specified 3M heat shrink connectors. You don't need to string ribbon cable from the rear lights to the front of the Jeep. There are no diodes or associated wiring to fail. We also include a nice, cast metal 6-pin connector for the front of the Jeep. 6-pin, not a 4-pin flat connector because many customers will want to add battery charging to make up for the draw from a brake system. Placing the switch in TOW mode can be added to your hook-up checklist. If you forget to flip the switch after disconnecting, the Jeep will remind you pretty quickly!

Anyway, having choices is a good thing and each person can decide what attributes are most important for them.

 

[Stetson]

Maiden voyage with the Ready Brute tow bar system. Worked great. Blue ox base plate and road master light kit. 2019 Sahara rolled right along with no issues.
Great and simple system.

Stetson

 

[steven1955]

I had a few questions about using the Ready Brute system with the surge brake setup.

I bought a used Ready Brute some time ago because it was available at a good price and I was sold on it's simple installation where you don't need brake controllers.

The I didn't install it or use it for a year because medical issues limited our ability to travel much in 2023. Now I want to be ready for a cross country trip this summer.

Before I forget, the tow vehicle is a 1975 FMC 2900r, originally a gas pusher (Chrysler 440 and Mopar 727) but is now a diesel pusher (Cummins 5.9 24 valve and Allison 545).

The toad will be a as of yet purchased diesel Wrangler or Gladiator or a 2007 Toyota V8 4Runner.

1. How well does the Ready Brute work downhill on mountains? I am worried about it applying the toad's brakes when not wanted when going down long and possibly steep downhills.

2. Just for Towing in Yuma, AZ, had seen some distorted firewalls where the brake operating steel cable's force was high. The Ready Brute folks used to sell an electric vacuum pump (no longer available) to allow the toad's vacuum boosted power brakes to operate in power brake mode when the engine was off. This reduced the force the steel cable had to apply to the brake pedal. Thoughts?

 

[JeepinJason33]

I had a few questions about using the Ready Brute system with the surge brake setup.

I bought a used Ready Brute some time ago because it was available at a good price and I was sold on it's simple installation where you don't need brake controllers.

The I didn't install it or use it for a year because medical issues limited our ability to travel much in 2023. Now I want to be ready for a cross country trip this summer.

Before I forget, the tow vehicle is a 1975 FMC 2900r, originally a gas pusher (Chrysler 440 and Mopar 727) but is now a diesel pusher (Cummins 5.9 24 valve and Allison 545).

The toad will be a as of yet purchased diesel Wrangler or Gladiator or a 2007 Toyota V8 4Runner.

1. How well does the Ready Brute work downhill on mountains? I am worried about it applying the toad's brakes when not wanted when going down long and possibly steep downhills.

2. Just for Towing in Yuma, AZ, had seen some distorted firewalls where the brake operating steel cable's force was high. The Ready Brute folks used to sell an electric vacuum pump (no longer available) to allow the toad's vacuum boosted power brakes to operate in power brake mode when the engine was off. This reduced the force the steel cable had to apply to the brake pedal. Thoughts?

First off, nice looking FMC! Great conversion to diesel. Did you add an engine or exhaust brake with the conversion? If so, you will not be on the brakes as much going down hill.

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