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RV Towing wiring Harness

Ron_H

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I looked at the Cooltech wiring harness but I have concerns with splicing into the factory wiring harness. If new JLU has an electrical issue, will the warranty be refused due to customer wiring alterations? I would be interested in what Cooltech has to say on this issue.

I am thinking of building my own independent harness that connects to separate rear mounted lights or possibly using a wireless solution? Both of these options would run less than $100. and there is no way they could void the warranty.
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Dcmtfam

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Installed the cool tech wiring harness for flat tow on my JLUR today. Was a fairly straightforward install. The only mistake I made was not paying attention to their tip that the green wire for the right break/tail light is the bright green wire. I originally spliced to the wrong green wire that appeared to be working but it was not. Once I corrected that everything worked fine. The correct green wire is lighter and brighter in color and mine was pretty far down in the harness. No worries about making alterations that void warranties. Otherwise all of us Wrangler owners would be up a creek without a paddle.
 

Red Jeeper

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Installed the cool tech wiring harness for flat tow on my JLUR today. Was a fairly straightforward install. The only mistake I made was not paying attention to their tip that the green wire for the right break/tail light is the bright green wire. I originally spliced to the wrong green wire that appeared to be working but it was not. Once I corrected that everything worked fine. The correct green wire is lighter and brighter in color and mine was pretty far down in the harness. No worries about making alterations that void warranties. Otherwise all of us Wrangler owners would be up a creek without a paddle.
Installed the Cool Tech wiring harnesses today. All went well until we hooked it up to the motor home. Only 1 light worked. Had 2 wires wrong. Once we figured it out all worked fine.
 

TXsurfer

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^^ same here.. I found two identical yellow wires that blinked when tested. The first one I spliced didn't work but the second one did. Same for the white with orange stripe. Figured it out and I am happy with the results. Cooltech was quick with a response on a Saturday - so they get a big thumbs up from me. The product itself seems to well made and engineered. I am happy. Towing to Destin Friday Yay....
 

RedTRex

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FWIW - This is how I TOAD my '13JKU; Blue Ox to the tabs on my DV8 bumper


20170420_121955.jpg
 

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CoolTech

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If new JLU has an electrical issue, will the warranty be refused due to customer wiring alterations? I would be interested in what Cooltech has to say on this issue.
To reiterate a point that has already been here, the Jeep Wrangler is well known in the automotive world to be the most "accessorized" vehicle platform in existence. If Jeep sought to void the warranty for every non-OEM part on a Wrangler, it would be counter productive - as well as illegal (Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act). Yes, there are some pretty crazy things that people can do - and I don't think Jeep should be left "holding the bag" if someone does a modification that truly causes a problem that a Jeep dealership has to spend money to repair. Another interesting statistic is that the Wrangler is the most frequently towed vehicle (make/model) behind a MH. I would venture to guess - having been in this industry for more that a decade - that 90%+ of those towed Wranglers are using a wiring kit that somehow attaches to the Jeep's electrical system as opposed to separate bulb/socket or magnetic lights, etc. You don't see ANY uproar of denied warranty coverage because of an auxiliary lighting system.

Regarding our solution for the JL, it is really simplistic in operation - especially when compared to previous generation solutions. Our solution EITHER connects the Jeep to its tail lights OR it connects the MH to the tail lights. NEVER both at the same time. There is no question about diodes working or not, or eventually failing. There is no worry about back-feeding. There is no worry about a voltage drop across the diodes. And, perhaps most importantly, there is no worry about the MH and the Jeep trying to send conflicting signals to the tail lights, as is the case when an aux braking system is used. Also, all of our connections are made within the interior of the Jeep and despite that - all our connections are done with expensive, heat-shrink butt connectors that are completely sealed. Our worst case scenario (however unlikely) is that the switch fails. But the cool part is that the Jeep will tell you if our switch should ever fail - exactly the same way it will tell you if you start to drive the Jeep with the switch still in the TOW position. If the Jeep can't sense the bulb is working, it will display a message in the center display telling you so. In summary, I think that you can weigh the merits of our solution versus other kits or solutions that may come along - or do your own.
 

CoolTech

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^^ same here.. I found two identical yellow wires that blinked when tested. The first one I spliced didn't work but the second one did. Same for the white with orange stripe. Figured it out and I am happy with the results. Cooltech was quick with a response on a Saturday - so they get a big thumbs up from me. The product itself seems to well made and engineered. I am happy.
Truly appreciate all of the great feedback and we are taking this pro-actively and doing a continuous improvement process - primarily on improving the installation instructions to make installation easier. Indeed, those Wranglers with the optional Trailer Tow Package contain wires that mimic the Jeep's tail light wires (by design). We've made some updates on the Installation Instruction Addendum page. In brief, there's a couple of ways to differentiate the trailer tow wires from the wires that we are interested in. These trailer wires are slightly larger in diameter (more current capability), but a sure-fire way to eliminate them during the installation process is to temporarily remove Fuses F107 (20A) and F109 (20A). This will eliminate the possibility of detecting the wrong wire during the installation.
 

Ron_H

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FWIW - This is how I TOAD my '13JKU; Blue Ox to the tabs on my DV8 bumper


20170420_121955.jpg
I've considered an aftermarket bumpers, similar to yours, where the tow bars are connected to the D-links.

If your tow bar is connected to the D-link tabs, where do you attach your safety cables?

I'm still waiting for delivery of our JLU so I can't look under the front for alternate connection points.
 

Ron_H

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First, I am not concerned that the CoolTech system would damage a person's wiring harness and I hope I did not leave that impression with any other potential customers. I think it is a great approach and one that I am still considering.

I appreciate that the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act should protect customers in the US, but I am in Canada and I am not aware of anything similar here. My concerns stem from a friend who had a Honda warranty claim denied because he had spliced into it wiring harness. He had an unrelated electrical problem and he was told that his warranty was void due to his electrical mods.

As my JLU is still at "D1" status, I have some time to figure out which approach I'm going to take. I do thank you for posting a response as it shows you are listening to your customers.
 

ckorte13

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I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the tow package you bought for your JL has nothing to do with towing it behind your motorhome. It gives you the lighting connector, hitch and heavy duty alternator for pulling a trailer behind the jeep.

As with your sequoia, you will need a front hitch bracket or tow capable aftermarket bumper, light solution (like one cool tech is selling or magnetic rear lights) and an auxiliary braking system.

Good news is you won’t have to disconnect your driveshaft....
That's a relief! ahahah
 

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FLSteve

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Installed the CoolTech Harness this weekend. Was very easy as the instructions and pictures were very complete. Did a test pull with my other Jeep and all worked perfect. A great product.

Also installed the Blue Ox Base Plate as well.

FLSteve

PS … my only suggestion for future consideration would be to reverse the switch positions and have TOW in the up position and JEEP in the down position. If the passenger every bumps it getting in … best to have it bumped into the down position which would be the JEEP mode. Just a thought.

IMG_2126.jpg

IMG_2114.jpg

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Ron_H

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That's a might small RV. How many slide-outs does it have? :giggle:
 

FLSteve

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PS … my only suggestion for future consideration would be to reverse the switch positions and have TOW in the up position and JEEP in the down position. If the passenger every bumps it getting in … best to have it bumped into the down position which would be the JEEP mode. Just a thought.
I just noticed this picture from another post … the switch is the other way in this one? Do they come in both styles?

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/best-setup-for-rv-flat-tow.4797/page-5#post-180400
 

drg87

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Truly appreciate all of the great feedback and we are taking this pro-actively and doing a continuous improvement process - primarily on improving the installation instructions to make installation easier. Indeed, those Wranglers with the optional Trailer Tow Package contain wires that mimic the Jeep's tail light wires (by design). We've made some updates on the Installation Instruction Addendum page. In brief, there's a couple of ways to differentiate the trailer tow wires from the wires that we are interested in. These trailer wires are slightly larger in diameter (more current capability), but a sure-fire way to eliminate them during the installation process is to temporarily remove Fuses F107 (20A) and F109 (20A). This will eliminate the possibility of detecting the wrong wire during the installation.
Not exactly the same question, but maybe someone who has installed on a JLUR will have advice. I found 2 of the 4 wires pretty quickly. But the yellow and the white/grey I'm having real trouble with. I found them on the forward side of the T in the wiring loom, but cannot find them in the side going back to the tail. Anyone with ideas about how to ID these 2 wires...
 

CoolTech

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Not exactly the same question, but maybe someone who has installed on a JLUR will have advice. I found 2 of the 4 wires pretty quickly. But the yellow and the white/grey I'm having real trouble with. I found them on the forward side of the T in the wiring loom, but cannot find them in the side going back to the tail. Anyone with ideas about how to ID these 2 wires...
Hi John - You say you found them on the forward part of the T - you should be good to go. The white/grey should go on/off with the parking light switch to confirm you have the right wire. Similarly, the yellow wire should "blink" with the left turn signal. (These tests should be performed with fuses F107 and F109 temporarily removed if your Jeep has the optional trailer wiring package.) I think you may have the right wires identified and then just follow the "Figure 5" diagram in the instructions to connect the wires to the Cool Tech harness.
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