Trailer lighting is essential to ensure your trailer is in compliance with your state’s Motor Vehicle department. Importantly, trailer lighting is essential for safety. It allows other drivers to see your trailer and your intentions. You can’t have a boat or trailer without lights. You shouldn’t compromise on quality when it comes to trailer lights. They are an essential piece of boating safety gear.
How to Make Your Trailer Lights Work
Trailer wiring includes a plug to connect to the tow car’s lighting circuitry, an matching connector on the trailer and a wiring harness that runs along the length of trailer frame. There are also a variety turn signal, stop, tail and side markers lights around the trailer’s perimeter.
Multi-function lighting can combine seven functions into one compact fixture. This makes it much easier to mount lights and wire them.
Shining in a Difficult, Tough Environment
Trailer lights are subject to constant abuse from:
When hot or warm light bulbs are suddenly immersed in cold water, they can suffer thermal shock. Submerging the lights in cold water can result in short circuits, corrosion, burnt filaments, and cracks within plastic lenses. Saltwater corrosion is more severe.
You can get covered with road grime that can cause corrosive damage to your connections.
You will be exposed to damaging vibrations from the highway that can break or weaken incandescent bulb filaments.
A drop in voltage caused by high current draw of several lights from the towing vehicle all to the trailer’s rearlights.
Protruding light covers can attract hard objects, such as fences and high curbs.
Trailers More Than 80 Inches Wide
Trailer lights & brake cables are required to be installed in two categories. Those less than 80 inches in width and those larger than 80 inches have different legal requirements. Trailers smaller than 80 inches wide must have turn signals, side markers lights, tail lights, brake lights, turn lights, side reflectors and side lights. A license plate light must be installed on all trailers. If the trailer is longer than 80″ in length, additional side marker lights are required.
For trailers that are more than 80 inches wide, you will need additional lights to help define its perimeter. The trailer’s rear is required to have three red identification lights. These lights are sold as a single-bar bar and are mounted at the required spacing (similarly to tractor-trailer rigs’ tops and rears). Clearance lights, which are intended to notify drivers about the width of your trailer’s trailer, must be placed on each side.
Matching an existing set of lights
You may need to quickly fix lights that aren’t lit. Use a wire brush to clean the mounting bolts before purchasing replacement lights. A lot of lights ground through the mounting hardware to the trailer frame. This is why lights often stop working.
If your trailer lights are having problems or look a bit beaten up, it is advisable to replace them all. A new kit with wiring harness and light kit can cost only $25 and take about one hour to install. A box-section trailer frame may make it difficult to run wires. You might want to pull a messenger to help you get the wires out. You will need to remove the trailer plug from your old harness. Then, tie the end the new harness to the old. Carefully pull the old harness off the trailer’s rear.
Wiring color-codes or converters
The basic color-coding of wires is easy (as illustrated in the Wiring Harness Colour & Function Chart). The ground wire is the white wire. Although the trailer hitch acts in this capacity, it should still be connected to the vehicle ground. The brown wire, which is used for taillights, runs to both the rear red lights and the clearance and identification lights. The yellow wire (think starboard), is for left turn indicators.
You should not use “wire nuts” from the home to attach your trailer. Use waterproof adhesive-lined connectors for your trailer’s wiring. This will prevent corrosion. A quality tool such as Ancor’s Stainless Steel Wire Stripper Crimper is recommended.
Japanese, American and European cars use separate circuits to turn and brake. You will need a 5-to-4 wire converter if your vehicle has amber rear turn indicator lights or uses a different area in its light fixture to turn and brake. These converters can be installed as a permanent part or the wiring harness for your tow vehicle.
LEDs and incandescent lamps
LEDs replace the traditional trailer lights that burn out due to vibration and cold water. There are many benefits to LEDs:
Higher life expectancy: LED lighting has a longer service life than incandescent light bulbs, which can last for up to 3,000 hours. Additionally, there are no filaments that could be damaged by vibration. This practically guarantees that the bulbs will last a lifetime and will not need to be replaced again.
LEDs are impervious against road grime and submersion. They are permanently sealed with a welded polycarbonate lens, so they are not subject to corrosion or shortening.
Thermal shock is not an issue: LED lights produce very little heat, so immersion in water is not a problem.
Low voltage drop: LED lights draw less current than comparable incandescent lamps, so there is a minimal voltage drop.
Low profile LED lights: LED lights are very slim and can be collided with protruding lights less often.
The LED lights are activated instantly.
Waterproof Lights
When submerged, a submersible light lets water in to the unit. The socket and bulb are protected by an “Belljar principle” air pocket. This allows only a limited amount of water to get in, but does not allow water to contact the bulb. The bulbs of some lights are also protected from corrosion and thermal shock by being enclosed in waterproof “capsules”.
Lights that can be waterproofed, like the Sealed Oval Trailer Light Kit (see below), are sealed so water cannot get inside. All LED lights are sealed permanently.
Crossover and Split Wiring Harness
A “split-Y” wiring harness is used in most trailers. It splits at the trailer’s tongue and runs down the length of the frame. All our Trailer Light kits come with this type harness.
Crossover wiring can be used to wire your trailer. This runs along one side of the trailer, and between the taillights.
Examining Your Lights
Make sure you do a thorough inspection of the light fixtures before you start to trailer your boat. The lights must be connected to the trailer using a helper. This will allow you to check the turn signals, taillights, and brake lights. An additional inspection should be done every season. Make sure to inspect all wiring harnesses. Secure any exposed sections to the trailer frame with wire ties and cable clamps. You should inspect the wiring for any potential short circuits. Check the wiring plug at each end of the coupler, and clean the contacts using 400-grit sandpaper.
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