Trailer Running Lights

[oliver1555]

I have several trailers. The trailers that never have lights issues are the trailers that I have redone the wiring on and ran a separate ground to every light. It's money and time well spent. I'm also a solder and heat shrink type of guy. Do it once and basically never have issues with that wiring connection again.

X2. Do it correctly once and seldom have a problem.

 

[Scrambler82]

Do It Right The First Time !

x3 on soldered connections.

A single ground wire down both sides of the trailer connected into one wire at the front, will work, as long as all joints at the lights are soldered, cleaned, and heat shrink with adhesive is used to seal them.

All the soldered connection should be cleaned and covered with Heat Shrink... yes, but use the Heat Shrink with adhesive inside of it, once you shrink it you will see the adhesive come out the ends and seal the joint... no corrosion, no dirt, a good connection for a long time.

Don't let where you buy the Heat Shrink tell you the regular heat shrink will keep dirt and moisture out of the connection, it won't... ALWAYS use the adhesive type of heat shrink only !

As I have said earlier, I have rewired a number of trailers for friends, replaced all of the lighting with waterproof LED Lights, and soldered all connections with the adhesive type os heat shrink. All o the trailers I rewire are still running the new lighting, some after as long as seven years.

Good Luck but as I opened this post, "Do It Right The First Time" !

 

[pmsmechanic]

I'm going to also add that if you run -40 2 wire extension cord down to the brakes it solves the road rash issues that we have on gravel roads to a large extent. Also a piece of metal welded to the brake backing plate to deflect rocks away from where the wires go into the wheel assembly helps too. I try to run the cord down the springs from the rear or behind the swing arm on a torsion system. The wires are easy to keep into place by drilling a small hole into the swing arm and then using wire clips and a pop rivet to hold the clip in place.

Doing the above and soldering and heat shrink to all connections plus led lights makes for a very trouble free wiring system. The majority of times you just plug the trailer in and all the wiring works. There's no fiddling necessary to be legal on the road.

 

[countrybumpkin]

I have to agree on doing it right the first time, my oldest wiring is on my car hauler trailer, it sets outside but used quite a bit, it’s going on 17 years. Only thing I’ve had to do is change out 2 of the sealed incandescent lights.

 

[zing]

If OP coats conductors (pins and sockets) with a non-conductive grease, essentially insulating them, how can this not interfere with their conductivity?

Relying on the plug and receptacle to wipe themselves off when you push one into the other and make good conductive contact might not be fool-proof. :2cents:

Think about of what the connectors have to endure. Pouring rain, water flying up at highway speeds, backing into the water to launch a boat, dust and mud filtering in over the years and coating all connection points, condensation from temperature changes, etc. The non-conducting grease is basically slathered over everything on the inside of the plug connectors, so that each of the wires and all of the connections are isolated from each other and protected from possible shorts due to all of the other stuff that accumulates in there over time.

 

[Scrambler82]

I'm going to also add that if you run -40 2 wire extension cord down to the brakes it solves the road rash issues that we have on gravel roads to a large extent. Also a piece of metal welded to the brake backing plate to deflect rocks away from where the wires go into the wheel assembly helps too. I try to run the cord down the springs from the rear or behind the swing arm on a torsion system. The wires are easy to keep into place by drilling a small hole into the swing arm and then using wire clips and a pop rivet to hold the clip in place.

Doing the above and soldering and heat shrink to all connections plus led lights makes for a very trouble free wiring system. The majority of times you just plug the trailer in and all the wiring works. There's no fiddling necessary to be legal on the road.

The heavy sheathed SJ Cable is a great idea, how is it attached to the Wheel Backing Plate ?
I didn't even think about electric brakes, I've only had hydraulic Brake Systems actuated from the Main bean in front.

They do make armor for the cord to run in, similar to armor added to brake lines and gas lines in areas that get a lot of abuse.
Good ideas.

 

[pmsmechanic]

The heavy sheathed SJ Cable is a great idea, how is it attached to the Wheel Backing Plate ?
Good ideas.

I use padded "P" clips that have a rubber insert to hold the cable with. Most times I just use a pop rivet to fasten the "P" clamp to where ever they need to be fastened. Just make sure the gravel is not beating on the pop rivet as it won't last long if it is.

My thoughts on using the heavier -40 cable was that if by chance the gravel did hit the cable it wouldn't shatter in cold weather. So far it has worked very well. A friend of mine had pipe fittings welded onto the brake backing plates and then ran the wire through a hydraulic hose. The gravel beat the hydraulic hose to pieces which gave me the idea to use a cable that had some give to it.