Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Tow Bar and Lighting


There it is, a finished product....  Not much to see, but the tow bar is under the bumper and the lighting socket is in the middle...  I would go take a picture of the tail lights, but there is nothing to see back there other than the original factory lights...

The bulbs are inside of the the factory lights and all of the wiring is inside of the metal body..  The rest of the wires are under the bottom of the car...  At some point I will need to move the brake box break away switch...  This is on the front of the CRV back in Kansas...

Some states require this break away lanyard...  If all of the safety cables and the tow bar failed, the last thing that would happen would be this switch would be pulled out as the vehicle pulled away from the coach...

In theory, the brake box would slam on the car brakes...  Now no one would be steering at this point, so where would the car go....Even with its brakes on, the likely hood of something orderly and good happening, would be slim to none...  Most likely the vehicle would go off of the road and tip over..... or worse.....

So while I might transfer the box once I am back to the midwest, it would be about worthless...  I checked on ordering a new one, and it is $80 and shipping.....  Nope... I'll wait..

Installing the light socket was more about finding longer bolts and spacers to set it out away from the bar farther...  Checking the wiring harness with a multi meter found that my wiring on the motorhome and the CRV was all standard...  So wiring the Jeep in the same fashion solved my troubles instantly...

This morning my friend Rich arrived from Des Moines at Sky Harbor..  As usual, they wouldn't let me wait more than a couple of minutes outside the door while he collected his bags...  I had to drive around to the other side of the terminal when the cops moved me along...

That kept him guessing where I was outside and which door to find me beyond...  Kind of like a shell game...  Thank goodness for cell phones.....

Retired Rod

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the tip and the link the other day on how to install the lights and wiring harness. I'm going to give it a go when I get back home.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congrats on finishing the project and explaining the lanyard and brakes setup. I had a post a couple months back about a Class A diesel who was driving down I -4 in Florida and their car disconnected from the tow bars and then crossed 4 lanes of traffic without hitting a car and then crashed into one of those concrete walls the move around in sections. The car appeared to have severe right front wheel damage, but no one was hurt. I had wondered how it could happen and what devices could have prevented it. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I picked my Mom up at Sky Harbor this week. I just parked in the short term parking and walked in and met her at the exit from security. It cost $5.

    ReplyDelete

Anonymous comments had to be eliminated.... For the most part this has removed unwanted responses.. If you can't post your comments, please email me and we will make other arrangements...