Crazy Lighting Mod Issue

[GAP]

I'm sure I 'm not alone in trying to find a workaround for bikes mounted on the rear bumper blocking the rear lights.  Particularly bad in my case as I wrap the bikes in a protective travel bag.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RNPS8CM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1. The bag is fantastic for keeping the bikes dry and clean and has translucent panels on both sides to facilitate rear lights shining through but cuts the light too much to be of use on a sunny day so my turn signals are useless.

I purchased a 60" LED lightbar that terminates in a  standard flat, 4 pin, connector.  https://www.amazon.com/OPT7-Redline-Triple-Tailgate-Sequential/dp/B0771WDRHH/ref=rvi_sccl_4/144-1395279-4476013?pd_rd_w=VSM8e&content-id=amzn1.sym.f5690a4d-f2bb-45d9-9d1b-736fee412437&pf_rd_p=f5690a4d-f2bb-45d9-9d1b-736fee412437&pf_rd_r=76TJTKPWAPHZRG5MA7A3&pd_rd_wg=hgQej&pd_rd_r=d840fc24-bf18-  .    Fit perfectly on lower rear bumper and was clearly visible under the tires of the bikes.  "Dry tested" it and it worked great.  Ran wiring under the trailer, mounted the bar and all seemed great.  Found that the turn signals on the bar got super twitchy when my headlights were on.  Turns out, all these bars get twitchy when using 4 pin plug-and-play with modern vehicles that have BLISS (back up assist), blind spot monitoring or OEM reverse cameras. Top fix, you need to hard wire to rear lights.  Crazy stuff.  I can't tap into my truck's lights as that could potentially void the warrantee.   I have no idea how to get to rear light harness on the Oliver.  Hate to do electric as I really don't speak that language but need to do what I got to do. 

Any ideas? 

[John E Davies]

2 hours ago, GAP said:

  I can't tap into my truck's lights as that could potentially void the warrantee.   I have no idea how to get to rear light harness on the Oliver.  Hate to do electric as I really don't speak that language but need to do what I got to do. 

Any ideas? 

Speak and ye shall receive … Merry Christmas.

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/6892-how-to-connect-a-standard-sae-4-pin-harness-or-4-pin-with-backup-lights-to-your-oliver-factory-7-pin-wires/

Warning - the color coding may be different in your brand new trailer.

An extra strong warning - do NOT cut open the light bar harness itself!!! The wires inside mine were incredibly tiny and treacherous to splice, maybe 30 AWG.

My light bar works great. It is a very cool and sexy mod, even with nothing on the rack.

John Davies

Spokane WS

[Bill and Nancy]

1 hour ago, GAP said:

I'm sure I 'm not alone in trying to find a workaround for bikes mounted on the rear bumper blocking the rear lights.  Particularly bad in my case as I wrap the bikes in a protective travel bag.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RNPS8CM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1. The bag is fantastic for keeping the bikes dry and clean and has translucent panels on both sides to facilitate rear lights shining through but cuts the light too much to be of use on a sunny day so my turn signals are useless.

I purchased a 60" LED lightbar that terminates in a  standard flat, 4 pin, connector.  https://www.amazon.com/OPT7-Redline-Triple-Tailgate-Sequential/dp/B0771WDRHH/ref=rvi_sccl_4/144-1395279-4476013?pd_rd_w=VSM8e&content-id=amzn1.sym.f5690a4d-f2bb-45d9-9d1b-736fee412437&pf_rd_p=f5690a4d-f2bb-45d9-9d1b-736fee412437&pf_rd_r=76TJTKPWAPHZRG5MA7A3&pd_rd_wg=hgQej&pd_rd_r=d840fc24-bf18-  .    Fit perfectly on lower rear bumper and was clearly visible under the tires of the bikes.  "Dry tested" it and it worked great.  Ran wiring under the trailer, mounted the bar and all seemed great.  Found that the turn signals on the bar got super twitchy when my headlights were on.  Turns out, all these bars get twitchy when using 4 pin plug-and-play with modern vehicles that have BLISS (back up assist), blind spot monitoring or OEM reverse cameras. Top fix, you need to hard wire to rear lights.  Crazy stuff.  I can't tap into my truck's lights as that could potentially void the warrantee.   I have no idea how to get to rear light harness on the Oliver.  Hate to do electric as I really don't speak that language but need to do what I got to do. 

Any ideas? 

Check out this link these connectors are great and can be configured any way you want. 

connector

[GAP]

On 12/17/2022 at 10:11 AM, Bill and Nancy said:

Check out this link these connectors are great and can be configured any way you want. 

connector

Soooo, I spoke with the head honcho at the link.  Background is that my light bar works perfect till my headlights are on.  Then the turn signals get crazy glitchy.  Turns out that it's a common Ford problem but can happen with any vehicle that has "modern conveniences" such as blind spot monitoring (which is deactivated when trailer is attached) and the only fix is to hard wire.  There is a bar light that is made by one company that will work in plug-and-play mode but it is (drum roll) $300.  Does have a 3 year warrantee which, from my research, is three times the average working light of even good bars.  Crazy!

Seems like the solution is following John's excellent set up or spending a pile of $ and tossing my current bar on the trash heap.  John's fix and instructions are, as usual, fantastic but I am intimidated by drilling a through hole and doing the electric work.  Etrailer carries a set of running/turn lights that terminate in a standard 4 pin connector which the claim will play nice with the Ford.  Not as good a solution as a 60" bar but I may give it a go.