Trailer and Bike Rack connectors can come in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on where you live in the world?
There is some commonality, as most vehicles have similar lighting requirements:
Table of rear vehicle lights (usually fitted):
Light Type | Lighting Circuit |
---|---|
Warning Lights (rear): | Tail (or side) lights. |
Brake lights. | |
Turn indicator LH. | |
Turn indicator RH. | |
Fog lights. | |
Ancillary Lights (rear): | License (or number) plate lights. |
Reversing. |
The differences between connectors, typically come down to the following:
The easiest way to show the differences, is to use the table below. You can see many of the physical connections are the same or similar.
Table of electrical connections to a vehicle trailer or bike rack:
Vehicle Warning Lights, Ancillary Lights & 12v Supplies. | Australia (+ it’s own variations) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
America | Europe | ||||
Lighting & Power | Caravan Socket | ||||
DIN * | DIN * | ISO 11446 | 12N | 12S | |
ISO 1724 | ISO 3732 | ||||
7 pin | 13 pin | 7 pin | 7 pin | ||
Turn (Indicator) LH. | L54 | L | 1 | 1 | – |
Fog. | – | – | 2 | 2 | – |
Ground or Common. | 31 | 31 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Turn (Indicator) RH. | R54 | R | 4 | 4 | – |
Tail (side), Number Plate RH. | 58 | 58R | 5 | 5 | – |
Stop or Brake. | 54 | 54 | 6 | 6 | – |
Tail (Side), Number Plate LH. | 58 | 58L | 7 | 7 | – |
Reversing. | – | – | 8 | – | 1 |
Power (Continous) 12v. | – | 30 | 9 | – | 4 |
Power (Ignition Switch) 12v. | 15 | 15 | 10 | – | 6 |
Ground or Common (pin 10). | – | 31 | 11 | – | – |
Spare. | – | – | 12 | – | – |
Ground or Common (pin 9). | – | 31 | 13 | – | – |
Battery Charging. | – | – | – | – | 2 |
Spare. | – | – | – | – | 5 |
Spare or Ground (pin 6). | – | – | – | – | 7 |
* DIN – This is a standard for electrical terminal numbers on vehicles.
L54 and R54 – In America it is common for the brake lights to be combined with the turn indicators.
They all have a round pin and round socket configuration:
Below is an illustration of some of the different socket types.
Please note how the pin number orientation changes dependant on which way you look at the connector…
See Wikipedia for more information on the different types of trailer connector.
This is also sub-divided into the following different regions: