LS hitches

Brian_Lincoln

Hi All - New to the forum. I have an 00 v6 / 5 speed. my clock spring is bad, one of my power door locks is broken, but you've all heard about that before...
Anyway! I am in the process of installing a hitch (curt manufacturing, $160, great fit. installation is not the esiest thing in the world though!) and right now I am battling the wiring. Ford wants like $180 for the tow light modulator!

So, I think I've come up with a decent circuit design, and soldered it up on a little PCB, i'll be testing it in the next week or so. Would anyone be interested in purchasing these completed and/or seeing the design?

toomanyfumes

I'd be curious to see the design. I assume you need it 'cause of the amber turn signal? I have a '05 LS and thought of getting a hitch but I'll probably put one on my wife's Outlander.

Brian_Lincoln

You need it because the tail lights are controlled via a "rear illumination ECM" (don't worry, theres a font illumination ECM too). On most cars, the turn signal blinks quickly when extra tail lights are wired in parallel (only with trailer plugged in). On the LS (supposedly), the rear illumination ECM gets unhappy/dies. To avoid this, I'm using PNP transistors to modulate a 12V "hot" signal to the trailer lights, based on the state of the EMC (grounded or open) - but this is all from the diagrams. I need it to warm up outside so I can install it!

Brian_Lincoln

Just a heads up, I gave up on the circuit. I found an all-in-one box online and bought it, and plugged it in. All done! It ws something like $50