Thread: Replacing Trailer Lights

No reason why you shouldn't use them. If the reverse light is too dull, you may need to wire in a separate little LED light or something

I ended up getting these:
LED TRAILER LIGHTS TAIL UTE CARAVAN PARTS 12V PAIR | eBay
and these
12/24V LED Reverse White Tail Lights Truck Trailer Ute | eBay

And some 7-core cable as it's wired with 5-core at the moment, so no reverse wiring. Just need to get motivated to wire the whole thing up. In theory I'd like to solder and heat-shrink all the connections, but if lazyness kicks in I'll just use splicing connectors like were there before.

You will have to let us know how good and bright they are.

I have the same problem with dark reversing spots.

LED lights are almost an essential these days. One of the main benefits is that they don't put as much of a load on the car's power supply. I started replacing all of my lights with LED, and just stopped short of installing some on the wheelbarrow.

# Waterproof
# Less power used
# Dustproof
# If a bulb goes there are plenty of others
# Brighter
# less bulky
# That's it.

Originally Posted by RustyArc

Just need to get motivated to wire the whole thing up. In theory I'd like to solder and heat-shrink all the connections, but if lazyness kicks in I'll just use splicing connectors like were there before.

After soldering use resin cored or dual walled heat shrink.
It has a resin in it that makes the joint waterproof.
It's only a fraction more expensive and makes the world of difference.
Never, never use those white or blue splicing connectors that you squash and clip the little lever thingo.
They're an auto electricians best friend. They're alwys fixing them.
Do it properly and do it once

Originally Posted by bigboofhead

After soldering use resin cored or dual walled heat shrink.
It has a resin in it that makes the joint waterproof.
It's only a fraction more expensive and makes the world of difference.
Never, never use those white or blue splicing connectors that you squash and clip the little lever thingo.
They're an auto electricians best friend. They're alwys fixing them.
Do it properly and do it once

I could not agree more. I have fitted LED lights to my trailer. Best lights ever. Soldered and sealed completely. I have had far less trouble since then. Now I need to find an affordable (Cheap) way to connect trailer wiring to vehicle. Biggest problem there is corrosion from water and dirt in plug/socket.

I am thinking of an in line socket as well as plug which can be sealed with PVC pipe and end caps (50mm PVC Pipe). Mount an end cap on draw bar to fit plug/pipe into. That seals the plug and stops it from getting damaged when the trailer is not in use. It may be neccesary to trim the plug/socket to fit in the PVC pipe

In-Line socket as fitted to modern cars sits in the back of the vehicle when not in use (Station Wagon). It also has a PVC end cap fitted which connects to the PVC pipe on the plug when in use to seal both. It can also be sealed with a length of PVC pipe and end cap when not in use.

The cable would be sealed to the end caps using suitable sized plastic cable glands which are available from electrical supply stores. The following link is an example but is a bit too big for the average trailer. I still have to work out details like connecting plug and socket while inside pipe.

Dean


ELECTRICAL NYLON CABLE GLAND 25MM ELECTRICIAN TOOLS | eBay

Originally Posted by bigboofhead

After soldering use resin cored or dual walled heat shrink.

Yeah, I probably should get motivated and do it right - dodgy trailer wiring is a right pain in the *rse. I've got a few bits of adhesive-lined heatshrink lying about, though I'm not sure if any of it is thin enough to shrink down nicely on a couple of wires...

The other thing that gets me is that the wires are run through holes in the steel with no kind of grommet or gland, ensuring that over time with vibration the steel edge will work through the layers of insulation on the wire.

I'm a bit occupied at the moment with converting a 36 year old cherrypicker to electric drive, but I'll get on to the trailer soon and post how it turns out.

Finally got around to installing the LED tail lamps - I replaced all the cabling at the same time, not only so I had the reverse light wire from the plug, but pulling out the old stuff showed a number of places where the insulation had been removed down to exposing internal wires in the multi-core cable - might explain the blinking of the side position lights which I thought was down to a dodgy earth...

I decided to solder and heat-shrink everything, and discovered that my gas soldering iron really suffers in the icy winds we had today in Canberra, so I got an extension cord and broke out the old Scope beast (anyone who knows classic Aussie soldering irons should know what I'm talking about). I had to extend the wires off the LED units to do all the connections under the trailer which added a lot of time, and soldering on your back with molten lead above your face ready to drip is exciting to say the least...

Anyway, it all went together and despite not testing my wiring before heat-shrinking and cable-tieing all the joins, it all works correctly.

I'm not 100% convinced the reversing LEDs are as bright as I'd like, and as with all white LEDs, they're not exactly white, and I suspect I'll find they have a weird colour rendering, so things like green bushes won't show up as clearly as with incandescent, but when reversing in the dark, they'll be a lot better than the nothing I had before.

If I get motivated I'll take some pics.

I think everyone with a trailer has faced the same problem you have described - every rego check mine were being re-done until I said no more, fitted a set of LEDs and they are just the best - so good that I even decided to re-do the tail lights on the Navara with a set of LEDs. Take the time, solder finish and enjoy long and uneventful usage of your trailer.

Brosh

I would also like to endorse comments about never using those clip things the trade uses to join wires. I am just about to rewire my trailer as all these joints now unreliable and lights blink on and off when the wire wiggled. Also thoroughly endorse irritation with trailer manufacturer running wires through holds in frame without deburring...sloppy and lazy and a pain for me as owner. I struggled with how to join wires better than the blue and white things. I first thought about the crimp on bayonet type connectors that you get at Repco etc but they are such poor quality. I thought about those multigang connectors in my car wiring loom and then decided to terminate the 5 core at the point of each junction, connect a 7 pin plug (say the female bit), then run two sets of 5 core out of the male bit, one off to the left tail lights and one off to the right. The 7 pin plugs have lugs that allow me to attach it to the body and so immobilise the joint. Still thinking about how and whether I should weatherproof the plug as well for extra reliability. This has cost me more than $100 in materials (ie 2xmale, 2x female plus 6m of 5 core). Does this sound dumb or overkill. Sick of unreliable trailer lights.

I forgot to mention in last post, I am also looking to tidy up the dangly trailer connection to tow bar. That is, I would like the trailer connection plug to somehow "retract" into the trailer chassis tube when disconnected but I cannot think of a way to do this nicely.

For this exact reason I favour sealed LED trailer lights that come factory fitted with the wiring that way the only connections required are at the plug.
This keeps everything neat and tidy and waterproof and really easy for an amateur to fit..
In regards to your plug delema I also favour fitting a female plug to the drawbar and make up a patch lead (Two male ends) which I remove when not being used.. This lead is easy to repair/replace if needed..

Cheers..

The female socket on the drawbar is a neat soltion, and I notice some hire places do that and have a variety of short "patch" leads to match the socket on the vehicle.

As for using intermediate sockets, I'm in two minds, as I find that they often have connection problems of their own, particularly the flat ones. That said, perhaps in a permanently-connected situation they'd be less of a problem.

I'm quite enamoured of the socket-on-trailer approach for wiring- biggest cause of my trailer wire failure is the drawbar grinding the wire into the ground and wearing away the insulation, so having the flylead removable is a nice way of safeguarding against this.