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For the life of me i cant figure this out.

Im helping my buddy build his stalker and im doing all the electrical. Well the wiring was close to being done and then he went and threw in a monkey wrench into the works.

Here's the problem:

He is using a dual filament bulb for the tail lights. There is only going to be one light housing with one bulb per side. What he wants to do is use the brighter filament to be used as brake light and signal light. (Dont need to worry about the running lights.) So for example when he steps on the brakes the brake light filament will light up and if he signals that brake light filament will flash. But what he wants is if hes on the brakes and signals at the same time the brake light filament thats receiving the the turn signal will flash.

Ive searched on the net and came across a tail light converter that supposedly will do that. Its a Hoppy 48845. in the description of what it does it says it converts an independent light system on the tow vehicle to a common light system for the trailer.

Well just to make sure this thing worked i did a mock hook up per the instructions and nothing worked. Ive tried many different ways to hook this up and still no results.

Has anyone run into this problem or wired up their car this way? Please help im racking my brain here.

Thanks

You would need a turn signal switch with enough poles to route the brake light circuit through it for each side of the car. A relay could aslo be used since the connection is before the flasher.

If turning and the other brake light goes out, your brake lights won't indicate you are stopping.

EDIT to elaborate: The brake circuit needs to be broken when the flasher takes over. Otherwise, they are in parallel. A relay or mulitipole switch can make and break connections at the same time. Thats why the brake light for that side would be run through the turn signal switch.

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I think any trailer wiring converter from your local auto parts store will do. I've put this on several cars with separate turn/brake lights to combine them to trailer wiring with a single turn/brake light per side.

They're extremely simple to wire. The three inputs are left/right/brake. The two outputs are left brake/right brake. They take care of all the logic of turning, braking, and braking while turning, and don't require anything in particular from the turn signal wiring on the steering column.

I have found their durability a bit disappointing, but that may be because I generally am wiring the car while I (or a friend) is trying to get out of town, so maybe I just wire-tie it to the frame, depend on the little sticky pad that comes with it, or (surely not!) just leave it dangling from the wires. That and the occasional dip in the lake on the boat ramp don't help. I also tend to buy the cheapest one they've got (which always seems high at $30 or so!), so maybe a better unit would last.

Then again, I've never been too damned worried if my trailer lights don't all work at the same time. As long as *something* is lit up back there, I don't sweat it too much. I don't drive real aggressive-like when I'm towing. If this was running the tail lights on my car, I would not be so lackadaisical.

I don't guess I've written anything that will help you out, but I do think you're going the right direction.

Any chance the unit is depending on a chassis ground that your prototype lacks? When you say, "nothing worked," what does that mean? No lights at all? As for troubleshooting, if the big picture isn't making any sense, start testing your subsystems. e.g. bulbs, switches, connections.

Good luck. Be sure to post your solution when you lick it.

-dave

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So - is your problem that when you use the turn signal, both lights will flash since they are wired together for the brakes as well? If so I had a similar problem with my hazard lights circuit. To overcome it I used a pair of diodes (allow current to flow one way only) from Radio Shack (couple of bucks) inline with the signal wire. This prevented the other bullb from flashing. It might work for your application too, and is cheap and easy.

Rob

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This item may not be the most low cost solution but would be very simple http://www.speedwaymotors.com/p/7079,688_Hi-Tech-Turn-Signal-Module-Deluxe.html

got it figured out guys thanks. basically i bought a DPDT switch and 2 DPDT relays. the brake light power will run through the n/c contacts of the relay and the turn signal power from the flasher will run through the n/o contacts of the relay. the switch will control the corresponding relay coil thus opening the brake power contacts and closing the turn signal contacts. The flasher will see a load and will begin to blink the turn signal. All this while the other brake light is still lit.

So now my brother Scott can start his Stalker engine?

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