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I have surge brakes with the electric lockout for reverse
and got the 4 to 5 pin converter
the 5th wire goes to the reverse light circuit the directions say to the ground of that circuit
but all the tail light grounds are tied together
so it can just go to any tail light ground?
Not sure what type of truck you have, but I've got a 2001 F150 and I installed the round 7 pin harness. All the wiring was in place, but I did have to install a fuse in the fuse box. Apparently Ford did not put this in if the truck was not ordered with the towing package. Anyway, I simply installed the harness, put the fuse in, and everything worked as planned.
04 toyota tacoma I first hooked the 5th wire to the hot side of reverse lights
The brakes came on all the time unplugged tha 5th wire brakes were off
the ground side of the reverse lights is all tied to the other tail light ground circuits
does that mean the reverse ground circuit is only working when in reverse what about when I turn on tail lights?
How is your truck/tow vehicle wired? If you only have a 4 pin on it you need to upgrade to a 5 and tie the 5th wire to your reverse lights. On the 7 round connector the center is the reverse light and a standard 7 round to 5 flat adapter will fix the problem. There is no ground wire on the solonied it is grounded by attaching to the tongue. It is a hot wire.
If this is to difficult just do it manually and stick a bolt/pin/screw driver in the hole in the coupler. I have to do that half the time with the lock out solonied any way as mine is not preasure relief.
Please don't be offended, but after reading all your posts, I think you should take it to a trailer shop and have them wire it. You really need to understand electrical circuits if you're going to do more than connect the white wire to the other white wire, red wire to the other red wire, etc.
Thanks all, .... I have rebuilt old cars from the ground up no problems ask for a little info on newer stuff nothing !!! guess i'll move to a different site not much help here!!
I would be happy to help but need to know what plug your truck has. 4 flat, 7 round ??? Your post about brakes coming on when you hooked hot wire to reverse lights does not make sense to me because applying 12 Volts to the solonied should close it and prevent brakes from coming on. The solonied should normally be open until power is applied.
... Your post about brakes coming on when you hooked hot wire to reverse lights does not make sense to me because applying 12 Volts to the solonied should close it and prevent brakes from coming on. .
Well it really confuses me because we are talking about hydraulic brakes. No electrical connection will make them come on.
OP - If you want to get the correct answer, you will have to word the question in a way people can understand and that makes sense. Blaming the people who are trying to help will get you nowhere.
You can make this work when backing up by unplugging the 5 pin trailer connector from the 4 pin truck and plugging the 5 lead on the 5 pin to the pin on the 4 pin truck to the light pin. Turn truck lights on and this will release the brakes.
You can make this work when backing up by unplugging the 5 pin trailer connector from the 4 pin truck and plugging the 5 lead on the 5 pin to the pin on the 4 pin truck to the light pin. Turn truck lights on and this will release the brakes.
I suppose you could, but it would be really nice to have it wired correctly so you don't have to get out in the rain or traffic and reverse the plug.
Really - Why not pay someone to fix it if you can't and then just go boating without the hassles?
Don't get upset. Most are here to help. If you have a 7 pin truck connector, what you need is an adapter with the seven pin on one side and a flat five pin connector on the other. It should have a blue wire on the truck and trailer side. That's the wire that goes to 12v when the truck is in reverse and triggers the blocking solenoid. Also, everyone should have a 12v test lite for troubleshooting--two or three bucks. Any boat dealer will have the adapter, maybe pep boys.
It sounds like he only has a 4 flat on the truck with a 5 flat on the trailer. If so it is kind of a PIA to put a 5 flat on the truck as he would have to run a wire to the reverse lights. My lock out solenoid never works that well any way because it is not pressure relief so if I am on any hill I a have to chock wheels or just use the manual pin one. Just get a 5 to 4 and stick the pin in when you need to back up then he will have legal lights and minor hassle when reversing
reverse lockout wiring 
Thats what I did and it works great 
