[xj40] Re: Touring in the Jag

Mike,

The guys at Sovereign Motors (Adelaide Jag shop) told me that you are meant
to fit the Jaguar towing module (very expensive) but they have seen many
XJ40s where the wires were connected directly to the wiring for the rear
lights. They referred me to a local towbar shop (Salisbury Towbars) who
custom built a towbar and they tapped into the wiring for the back lights
with no problems. They could see that the Jag was in good condition and they
took great care not to hack it up. Cost me $320 Aus.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Peter Graham
'90 XJ6----- Original Message -----
From: “Michael Hahne” mhahne@aps.anl.gov
To: <@Peter_Graham>
Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2002 12:38 AM
Subject: Re: Touring in the Jag

Peter,
I don’t know if I have already asked you this, but how did you wire up
your trailer/camper lights to the jag? Everywhere I look, including the
worthless Jag dealer, there are NO wire kits for a Jaguar. I have seen
the trailer hitches advertised for the XJ40, but no wiring harness.
So if you could please, tell me how you wired the trailer up!

Thanks!

Mike H.

Most manufactures recommend you not tie directly into the wiring to add a
trailer harness.
Two reasons for this. One is that modern cars often have wiring which has
little extra capacity for more loads.
Second is that many cars have some sort of bulb failure alarms which can be
confused or even damaged by adding loads.

You don’t have to get a special harness for any car. You can buy universal
towing modules that can be used.
They are simply relay boxes which are tapped into the light wiring. The
normal wiring does not supply the current for the lights.
Small wires tapped into the existing wiring only supply low load control
signals to control the relays. The power for the lights is delivered by a
fused 10 gauge wire you run directly from the battery to the towing module.

I recently helped a friend install one into a 96 Volvo. We didn’t have to
cut into any wires at all. Found that the tail light modules had a mirrored
connector with spade lugs. We simply added some matching connectors to the
towing module wiring and plugged them in. A very clean and smooth
installation that could be removed in 10 minutes if we wanted to transfer to
another car.

He acquired the module and hitch from a local hitch company.

Dealer equivalents were several hundred dollars.----- Original Message -----
From: “Peter Graham” pgraham@senet.com.au
To: “Michael Hahne” mhahne@aps.anl.gov; “xj40” xj40@jag-lovers.org
Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2002 4:36 AM
Subject: [xj40] Re: Touring in the Jag

Mike,

The guys at Sovereign Motors (Adelaide Jag shop) told me that you are
meant
to fit the Jaguar towing module (very expensive) but they have seen many
XJ40s where the wires were connected directly to the wiring for the rear
lights. They referred me to a local towbar shop (Salisbury Towbars) who
custom built a towbar and they tapped into the wiring for the back lights
with no problems. They could see that the Jag was in good condition and
they
took great care not to hack it up. Cost me $320 Aus.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Peter Graham
'90 XJ6
----- Original Message -----
From: “Michael Hahne” mhahne@aps.anl.gov
To: pgraham@senet.com.au
Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2002 12:38 AM
Subject: Re: Touring in the Jag

Peter,
I don’t know if I have already asked you this, but how did you wire up
your trailer/camper lights to the jag? Everywhere I look, including the
worthless Jag dealer, there are NO wire kits for a Jaguar. I have seen
the trailer hitches advertised for the XJ40, but no wiring harness.
So if you could please, tell me how you wired the trailer up!

Thanks!

Mike H.