Curt Plug-and-Play No-Splice Trailer Wiring Harness Out For Bronco

[skoorb76]

Why would halogen use PWM and LED not use it? This is all very strange to me and now I'll have to get out my oscilloscope to witness this PWM signal driving my antiquated incandescent tail light bulbs

I'll probably switch the wires around and see if it works. This massive document from Molex covers removing the pins on pages 37 to 43. A 1.5mm tool of some sort is needed.
https://www.molex.com/pdm_docs/as/AS-33472-100-001.pdf

Do that with the scope, I am very curious too... I agree it's weird!

Here's some help on the Molex pins. Paper clip basically and some long sharp needle nose... one video is the male pins and one is the female pins




There are some more videos but these two I think show it well. I successfully got one out and back in last night but there's no point in me doing the rest right now with no Bronco LOL

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[BudgetBronco]

Minor update: I called Curt today and spoke with somebody from the Product team. He asked me to send VIN, pics, description of problem, etc and said he would discuss it with the Engineering team. If I get any information from them I will share it here.

 

[VoltageDrop]

Do that with the scope, I am very curious too... I agree it's weird!

Here's some help on the Molex pins. Paper clip basically and some long sharp needle nose... one video is the male pins and one is the female pins




There are some more videos but these two I think show it well. I successfully got one out and back in last night but there's no point in me doing the rest right now with no Bronco LOL

My quick analysis showed regular DC going to the tail lights, or I guess you could call it 100% duty cycle PWM This is the left blinker signal:

I swapped pins 5 and 3 at each connector and it all appears to work! This puts the red brake wire into an unused position with yellow and green connecting to their respective TURN/STOP wires. I used 18 AWG solid copper as my pin removal tool but a paper clip would hold up better.

 

[VoltageDrop]

Test setup:

Connectors in service mode:

Pin removed:

Pins 5 and 3 swapped and ready to push back in:

Pins 5 and 3 swapped and ready to push back in (passenger side):

Ready to install (driver side):

Ready to install (passenger side):

 

[BudgetBronco]

My quick analysis showed regular DC going to the tail lights, or I guess you could call it 100% duty cycle PWM This is the left blinker signal:


I swapped pins 5 and 3 at each connector and it all appears to work! This puts the red brake wire into an unused position with yellow and green connecting to their respective TURN/STOP wires. I used 18 AWG solid copper as my pin removal tool but a paper clip would hold up better.

NICE!! can you give me a little more detail on the part "I swapped pins 5 and 3 at each connector and it all appears to work! This puts the red brake wire into an unused position with yellow and green connecting to their respective TURN/STOP wires" Did you make those changes on the Curt harnes, not on the Bronco side? And if so, on both the Left and Right Curt connectors?

 

[VoltageDrop]

NICE!! can you give me a little more detail on the part "I swapped pins 5 and 3 at each connector and it all appears to work! This puts the red brake wire into an unused position with yellow and green connecting to their respective TURN/STOP wires" Did you make those changes on the Curt harnes, not on the Bronco side? And if so, on both the Left and Right Curt connectors?

Right, at all 4 connectors on the Curt harness. I added a second post with pictures of the pin swapping.

 

[BudgetBronco]

Right, at all 4 connectors on the Curt harness. I added a second post with pictures of the pin swapping.

Ah yes I see that extra post now. Really nice, I will give this a try. Thank you Eric! (I am a Mech E so this electrical stuff is always just a little out of my comfort zone)

 

[72BroncoSand]

Right, at all 4 connectors on the Curt harness. I added a second post with pictures of the pin swapping.

You are awesome! Cant wait to do this hack! Kinda sucks for manufacturers. Now the need to add a new SKU just for base Bronco,lol

 

[BudgetBronco]

You are awesome! Cant wait to do this hack! Kinda sucks for manufacturers. Now the need to add a new SKU just for base Bronco,lol

The hack applies to all builds with halogen tail lights (ie not with Signature LED). So that would be:
ALL Base
Some BB and BD

But all OBX and above are good to go, no hack needed

 

[72BroncoSand]

I used a safety pin with the tip cut off to release pins. You gotta finesse it a bit. But I got it swapped around in ten minutes. More time looking for micro tool than anything else. Install up next. Thanks again! This was bugging me for awhile and Etrailer acting like I must have installed it wrong.

 

[skoorb76]

Right, at all 4 connectors on the Curt harness. I added a second post with pictures of the pin swapping.

Here is a tip that comes from tekonsha's non plug/play converters... those instructions say unused inputs to the controller should be grounded, not left floating. (For two wire systems like these that don't use the brake wire). So I plan to ground my red wire to the box.

@VoltageDrop thanks for testing and trying it out! Soon this will be me lol

 

[VoltageDrop]

Here is a tip that comes from tekonsha's non plug/play converters... those instructions say unused inputs to the controller should be grounded, not left floating. (For two wire systems like these that don't use the brake wire). So I plan to ground my red wire to the box.

@VoltageDrop thanks for testing and trying it out! Soon this will be me lol

The Curt guide says the same:
If using the converter as a powered module for a two-wire system, the red brake wire must be grounded

There was a little delay between letting off the brake pedal and the lights going off so maybe grounding the red wire would fix that. I'll experiment with that when I permanently install the box after I find a good 12V circuit to use.

 

[Big Jim]

I sent mine back for 80 bucks they can figure it out themselves amd I was tired of becky at e-trailer asking me for pics.

 

[NatureMan]

I sent mine back for 80 bucks they can figure it out themselves amd I was tired of becky at e-trailer asking me for pics.

You should have asked her for pics.

 

[Big Jim]

Right

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