BearKiller
Silver Member
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2009
- Messages
- 230
I have been carrying around a set of Harbor Freight 96933 magnetic towing lights for a few years, un-used, and still in the package, just in case I should ever have reason to tow something that did not have decent lights.
I did cut a hole in the package, fish out the pig-tail, plug it in, and test them.
This morning, before day-light, just such an occasion did occur.
I had to return a rented Kubota B20 back-hoe, along with the complimentary rental trailer to haul it on.
As such stuff goes, every light on the trailer was busted; the pig-tail had been drug on the blacktop so many miles that it was sanded flat through three of the six sockets; and, chewed-up wires were hanging all underneath.
No problem; I dug out my set of magnetic lights and put them to use.
Two things quickly became obvious; the magnets were just a shade on the wimpy side and each wire was an individual wire, not all neatly bonded together as I had expected.
The magnets did manage to keep the lights in place, but I still wasn't impressed with them.
And, something was definitely gonna have to be done about that potential rat's-nest of wires.
Several feet of 1/4" and 3/8" split wire loom, plus a bunch of zip-ties, took care of the rat's-nest problem.
The supplied magnets set in a form-fitted plastic socket molded onto the light's base.
A Harbor Freight magnetic decor hook, two in a pack # 65528, was just a hair too big diameter to fit in the socket, so I just sandwiched it over the existing magnet, thus gaining even more magnetic benefit.
Before putting the magnets together, I first had to trim out the center-holes to access the mounting bolt; and, I had to use a 1/4" bit to drill free the rivet that affixed the hook onto the new, much stouter, magnet.
Of course, the supplied center bolt had to be replaced with one just a shade longer to reach through both magnets.
The package that the magnetic decor hooks came in states that they are "amazingly strong" and that is not an exagerated claim; when I stuck one onto the saw table, I almost couldn't get it loose.
Now, I am not afraid to stick these lights onto any trailer and drive as fast as I want; they will be there when the cows come home.:thumbsup:
One more little detail that I intend to address is to make up about a ten-foot extension pig-tail for those occasions when a trailer is much longer than the supplied cord.
Be it understood that any trailer that I own is well lit and professionally wired; but, for those trailers and such that are not, these magnetic lights are much better than no lights at all.
I did cut a hole in the package, fish out the pig-tail, plug it in, and test them.
This morning, before day-light, just such an occasion did occur.
I had to return a rented Kubota B20 back-hoe, along with the complimentary rental trailer to haul it on.
As such stuff goes, every light on the trailer was busted; the pig-tail had been drug on the blacktop so many miles that it was sanded flat through three of the six sockets; and, chewed-up wires were hanging all underneath.
No problem; I dug out my set of magnetic lights and put them to use.
Two things quickly became obvious; the magnets were just a shade on the wimpy side and each wire was an individual wire, not all neatly bonded together as I had expected.
The magnets did manage to keep the lights in place, but I still wasn't impressed with them.
And, something was definitely gonna have to be done about that potential rat's-nest of wires.
Several feet of 1/4" and 3/8" split wire loom, plus a bunch of zip-ties, took care of the rat's-nest problem.
The supplied magnets set in a form-fitted plastic socket molded onto the light's base.
A Harbor Freight magnetic decor hook, two in a pack # 65528, was just a hair too big diameter to fit in the socket, so I just sandwiched it over the existing magnet, thus gaining even more magnetic benefit.
Before putting the magnets together, I first had to trim out the center-holes to access the mounting bolt; and, I had to use a 1/4" bit to drill free the rivet that affixed the hook onto the new, much stouter, magnet.
Of course, the supplied center bolt had to be replaced with one just a shade longer to reach through both magnets.
The package that the magnetic decor hooks came in states that they are "amazingly strong" and that is not an exagerated claim; when I stuck one onto the saw table, I almost couldn't get it loose.
Now, I am not afraid to stick these lights onto any trailer and drive as fast as I want; they will be there when the cows come home.:thumbsup:
One more little detail that I intend to address is to make up about a ten-foot extension pig-tail for those occasions when a trailer is much longer than the supplied cord.
Be it understood that any trailer that I own is well lit and professionally wired; but, for those trailers and such that are not, these magnetic lights are much better than no lights at all.
