XKGlow 5th Wheel Brake Lights - I messed up....

[morech]

Hey everyone!
I have been lurking around a bit just absorbing everything everyone has been posting. What better a first post than an "I need help" one. I have searched the forums, but nothing the specifically addresses this issue. Hopefully someone has used this product on a 2019 JLU or similar items and had to pick wires to tap ito.

Vehicle: 2019 JLU Sahara with LED package (third jeep)
Item: XKGlow 5th Wheel Light ( https://store.xkglow.com/catalog/pr...ke-running-reverse-and-turn-signal-functions/)
Problem: I must have incorrectly wired.

Before routing wires through gromments and the rear gate then to the right and left tail lights, I hooked it up with its supplied 4pin connector to the Jeep's 4pin input. The device worked. So I know it isn't the device which means it is operator issues.

It should be a simple and straight forward install. I am no stranger to wiring, but it has typically been with audio systems and computers. This guide gives 2 options to wire: 1) Plug the 4pin trailer plug and then wire a separate wire to the factory reverse light on the right tail light. OR 2) Hard wire into tail lights. I did not like the look of something plugged in to that plug with option 1, and wanted something more permanent and not as visible wiring wise.

Wiring Diagram of Product:

• 4pin
  • Black Wire (Ground)
  • Red Wire (Running)
  • Green Wire (Left Turn)
  • Yellow Wire (Right Turn)
• Individual Black (Reverse Light Positive)
• Individual Red (Dedicated Positive) (To be used to connect to 12v constant if I get any of the following issue (trailer detection warning, trailer light out warning, tail lamp out warning, blind spot detection warning, flickering of light bar in any function).

I used the wiring diagrams found here:
- Right Light: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/JL-Wiring-Diagrams/LAMP-ASSEMBLY-TAIL-RIGHT-connector-details.pdf
- Left Light: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/JL-Wiring-Diagrams/LAMP-ASSEMBLY-TAIL-LEFT-connector-details.pdf

What I did:

• 4pin
  • XK's Black Wire to Jeeps black wire in slot 6 of right tail light
  • XK's Red Wire to Jeeps WH/OG wire in slot 4 of right tail light
  • XK's Green Wire to Jeeps' wire in slot one o left tail light
  • XK's Yellow Wire to Jeeps WH/GN in slot 1 of right tail light
• XK's Individual Black wire to Jee's WH/VT wire in slot 5 of right tail light
• XK's Individual Red Wire - Nothing. Not throwing any errors.

This was unsuccessful. So I moved the Green and Yellow Wires to Slot 3 of each of the tail lights thinking it may need to go to a turn lamp driver instead of the stop/turn lamp. This also did not work. I discovered that The harness has a better described WH/OG wire in the 9 slot instead of the 4 slot of the right lamp, but have not tried it. I also have not tried hooking a dedicated power as it was noted as optional.

Any ideas from anyone that knows this better than I do or someone who has installed this on the 19 JL before I cause too much damage to existing wiring, lol.
Thank you all in advance.

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[Quadjeeper]

I installed this recently and I used the trailer harness under the RR body area. Worked fine. Not good to splice into the stock LED lighting if avoidable. The trailer wiring is a separate circuit. There is a connector in that area. Yellow is L turn/brake, LIGHT green ( there are two greens) is R turn/brake. Brown is tail although I didn't wire that as it made the lamp appear to be an applied brake light with the taillights on. I forget the reverse circuit color but easy to figure out. Just installed a ground screw for that. Hope this helps. This was on a '22 JLU.

 

[USAFA96]

I JUST finished my install of this same a few days before your thread. I spent hours and hours researching best practices and wire colors, among other things. Btw, Quadjeeper's info was spot on! I would have given anything to have had this thread a couple of weeks ago. So I definitely feel your pain. I don't know if this will help, but I'll let you know what I did and why.

I did the plug option because I wanted the ability to unplug it and/or undo it for any unforeseeable future reason. I won't give all the details since you sound like you're not doing that.. just the basics. I heat gunned waterproof butt connectors with solder to reconnect to the plug, routed it through the drain and behind the heat shield to the tow plug. I also put the wires in a heat shield harness just to be uber safe.... I'd rather over engineer it. The reverse wire is what kept me stymied for a while.

I knew the directions of tying to the light was probably not best, but I'm a newbie and wasn't sure. I will tell you I definitely learned that Quadjeeper and tons of others out there were right. Use the tow package harness. DO NOT tie into factory wire for any reason unless it is absolute last resort. I talked to a guy at the dealership where I bought my Jeep who is a service and Mopar parts specialist. He said there are 3 reasons you should never do this: (you can skip this part if not interested. It's just that I hate when someone tells me not to do something and doesn't give me a good reason)
1. If anything happens to the taillight, even if it is obvious to everyone it's not your fault and had nothing to do with your work, it still voids the warranty the majority of the time for that part.
2. If you mess up, the damage will likely be further reaching, more complicated, and more expensive to fix.
3. This last reason I didn't even know would happen. He said there are some mechanics and even some dealerships that will refuse to work on that part of your vehicle once they see you've used factory wiring. He said he actually personally knows peers that have turned away people for that very reason recently. They don't know if you did things correctly, and adding in their work to yours may be unpredictable. His exact words were, "People get funny when it comes to electrical. "

So for the reverse light, I tied into the tow package harness behind the passenger taillight. Do not use the red scotchloks they give you. Some may disagree with my choice here, but I needed easy yet reliable since I'm new to this. Use blue t taps. They stay drier, and they have a much higher success rate. It took me a while to figure out the best route, though, to get the wires there. So, if it would help, let me know and I can add pictures of where I tapped into the harness, and exactly how I routed the wires to get there.

If you wanted to hard wire into the tow package, I don't see why you can't do the whole thing in the same place. It's WAY easier than other options, a shorter distance, a little bit more room and light to work with than other areas, and will stay drier. Either way, let me know. I don't want to ramble even more if you already figured it out.

Just as a caveat, I have never done wiring other than the occasional smart ceiling fan. This is my first Jeep, and I have never modified anything on a car before. So keep that in mind. But I knew there is almost no info out there from someone who had experience installing this exact product on a newer Jeep with the tow package and LED package. So, I thought maybe someone could benefit from my struggle.

Good luck. Once it works, it's awesome. It's especially helpful when backing up at night in rural areas. Plus, it's just damn cool!

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