Wiring Systems

CURT Manufacturing electrical products are designed to deliver unsurpassed levels of performance, reliability and durability. The use of surface mount technology (SMT) components is just one of the steps CURT has taken to achieve this. SMT components are the most up-to-date parts available for circuit designs. SMT components offer lower resistance, reduced heat generation and longer life cycles than more common, out-of-date, through-hole mounted components.

CURT applies SMT to a full-line of tail light converters and to any T-connector with a built-in converter.

Two-Wire Systems

Still common in the automotive industry and the simplest form of trailer wiring. This system sends the stop/turn signal along one wire, while the tail signal is separate.

Three-Wire Systems

The most common in the automotive industry, while being simple enough to wire with a converter of choice. The stop, tail and turn signals are all sent on separate wires going into the converter, which then converts the signals to a two-wire system.

Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Automotive System

More and more vehicles on the market today use PWM (pulse width modulation) wiring systems, sometimes called 'multiplex' systems. These are systems that vary the signal intensity over one wire to initiate more than one lighting function. In other words, one wire can control more than one light function. There are two types: type STT (Stop/Turn/Tail) and type ST (Stop/Tail). PWM systems can be either incandescent or LED.

STT Systems

These systems use a single wire to control the stop, tail and turn signals. For STT systems, use CURT tail light converter 56201.

ST Systems

These systems use a single wire to control the stop and tail signals. Separate wires are used to control the left and right turn signals. For ST systems, use CURT tail light converter 56200.