Newbie here. I drive a 2006 Dakota w/out the towing package, so no pre-wired 4 or 7 pin harness. I just want to forego any kits so many people suggest here and tap straight into the necessary wires for the right and left turn signals and the tail lights to hook up a flat 4 pin trailer harness.

I've spent a few hours looking for the proper wires to splice into on this and other forums, and have yet to find them. I figured while I looked, I'd have this out there in hopes that someone else has done this and can ease my pain.
THanks.

 

I can't understand why you wouldn't want to use 1 of those direct inline plug and play kits.

You find the tail light connector in the main harness near the back, unplug it and plug both halves into the supplied connector then route the 4 pin flat trailer connector to a convenient spot, wire tie up the lose wires and you are done. There will be no bad splicing jobs to cause headaches down the road and it should take less than 30 min start to finish..

But if you insist, on your 4 way flat trailer connector, the color code is as follows:

White Ground
Green Right Turn and Brake Lights
Yellow Left Turn and Brake Lights
Brown Tail Lights and Marker Lights

As for which to cut into for splicing, use a test light and find the live one for each function and ground anywhere you can make a real good one on both ends.

EDinNB

 

Friend, those plug in kits are the way to go. They will sure save you a lot of headaches in the future with shorts.

 

Welcome to the site.

 

I've answered inline in bold.

 

thanks, blown
i hope i can offer a few tips now and then on tweaking this truck

 

Sorry I didn't answer the questions you wanted. But as a professional Heavy Equipment Mechanic for the past 37 years, and the last 31 with the Department of Transportation in the North East, I have a word of advise for you if you happen to live where there is winter weather and salt used on roads...those ScotchLoc connectors were never designed to be used where the weather can get at them..the salt spray will get in the wire and corrode it to a green dust in a mater of 2 seasons. However it is your call what you use. I know from my experience if I was to cut into a wire it would be soldered with rosin core solder and a heat shrink would be applied over the joint. this will last at least 5 years in the most severe conditions you will find...Salt Spray an Electricians nightmare...

EDinNB

 

Lucky me they don't use salt this far north, I had mine Hard wired up though.
did have ground problems on the truck and grounded the white wire to the truck as the white with the green strip was the original ground it was tied into and stopped working properly

 

My answer was a bit harsh. With the context you provide, your suggestion is valid. A sealed connection, by deifinition, would provide a better long term solution, with little or no chance of failure due to moisture and salt penetration. I live in the South and don't incur the salty road conditions during the winter as a matter of course. It's a once a year thing, if that. Wrapping the connectors with electrician's tape gives a pretty decent protective cover down here...not perfect seal, but good enough. I've seen plenty of vehicles from your neck of the woods with considerable rust on the undercarriage. I've even owned one or two of them. So, I respect your opinion. I think I had reached a tipping point re the lack of a DIY approach I was looking for when searching for what I needed. Every thread was ..."let someone else do it", in one form or another.

I'm old enough to remember a phone was used to talk to someone, when necessary, not a multi-faceted electronic communication device. I still have a minimalist cell phone w/ no camera or big keypad to text. I'm old school in that way, and wiring the trailer harness directly is how I have always done it. Besides saving money, I get satisfaction from doing the job myself. I'll post the wires involved after I ferret them out. It may serve someone else's need at some point. Thanks for your interest in my post.

 

Thanks for your input. That is how I do it, too. I have always grounded the white wire from the trailer harness directly to the chassis. I crimp a ring connector to the wire at an appropriate length and use a self tapping screw to finish the job.