# Trailer Light Problem



## BigTerp (Jul 25, 2014)

Having an issue with my passenger side tail light. The tail light itself works but break/signal does not. Driver side light functions fine. Bulbs are good. I checked my truck connections with one of the little led plugs and all seems good. What could the issue be? I'm guessing something with my wiring?


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## Ranchero50 (Jul 25, 2014)

Yellow or green wire are the turns / brake bright bulb, brown in the marker lamps. White is ground.

When mine start acting up I usually just replace the wires and plug with one of the $15 20' kits from Wal-Mart.


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## BigTerp (Jul 25, 2014)

Thanks Jaime. Walmart carries just the wire/plug kit?

Considering redoing everything and going LED. Tired of dealing with blown bulbs, faulty connections, etc. Also rather lazy and wouldn't have to unplug every trip.


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## KMixson (Jul 25, 2014)

If it is working at the truck/trailer connection it seems that it would be a problem with the wiring on the trailer. Take a multi-tester and check for voltage at the bulb socket. If the bulb is an 1157 it will have two contacts on the base. One contact will be for the tail lamp and one contact will be for the stop/turn signal. Take the multi-tester with your tail lamps on and your turn signal or flashers on and check for voltage on both contacts. If you are not getting intermittent voltage on the stop/turn signal you will have to trace that wire for a broken connection. A common place for a break is at the connection from the truck to the trailer. The connector gets pulled apart by the wires too much and will break inside the connector. You will then have to replace the connector. If you checked the truck connector and it was good I would check the trailer connector. Another thing you could check for is a loose ground connection. I don't think it would be that with the symptoms you describe. Loose grounds seem to throw weird symptoms in my experience with wiring.


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## BigTerp (Jul 28, 2014)

Ended up ordering a whole new LED kit. Going to rewire the trailer at the same time.


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## dhoganjr (Jul 28, 2014)

LED is the way to go. 

I had a similar problem with passenger side tail light working and brake and turn signal not working. Turned out to be the ground on passenger side which I had mounted on the tail light mounting bolt stud. The trailer frame had rusted enough to lose good ground connection. I took it off and drilled a hole in the frame attached it with a stainless bolt, washers and nut with dielectric grease applied to all parts. 

This was with LED lights, been on there about 5 years. It is great to be able to pull up and back in without having to disconnect them. Really helps out at night having landing lights also.


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## BigTerp (Jul 28, 2014)

Thanks.

What is the best way to tackle the rewire? Don't want to have to take apart my trailer frame to get the wires run.


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## rusty503 (Jul 28, 2014)

My suggestion is to cut off the connector at the front of the trailer on the old harness. Separate out the wire colors. Next splice the front end of the old wires to the back end of the new wire harness(the end furtherest from the connector). Now at the lights cut the old wires off and start pulling those wires toward the rear. As you do, you will be pulling the new wires down the frame. It may help to have two people doing this but it is possible with one. Be careful not to pull too hard. Another suggestion is to pull a third wire on each side for your ground. Splice those wires to your white wire up front. This way you don't have to rely on the trailer for the ground.


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## lckstckn2smknbrls (Jul 28, 2014)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=361346#p361346 said:


> rusty503 » Mon Jul 28, 2014 6:36 pm[/url]"]My suggestion is to cut off the connector at the front of the trailer on the old harness. Separate out the wire colors. Next splice the front end of the old wires to the back end of the new wire harness(the end furtherest from the connector). Now at the lights cut the old wires off and start pulling those wires toward the rear. As you do, you will be pulling the new wires down the frame. It may help to have two people doing this but it is possible with one. Be careful not to pull too hard. Another suggestion is to pull a third wire on each side for your ground. Splice those wires to your white wire up front. This way you don't have to rely on the trailer for the ground.


+1 on the ground wire.


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## BigTerp (Jul 29, 2014)

Thanks!!

Pulling from the old wires was my plan, just wasn't sure if there was a better way.

Where do I connect my ground on each side if I pull a third wire along with my tail/stop wires? Obviously I'd have to get 16' or so x 2 of extra wire for the ground on each side.


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## riverbud55 (Jul 29, 2014)

never use the trailer frame for the ground on a boat trailer or for that mater any trailer,,,, run a ground wire and solder all connections then liquid tape then heat shrink tubing it will solve 80% of all problems


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## riverbud55 (Jul 29, 2014)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=361399#p361399 said:


> BigTerp » Tue Jul 29, 2014 5:03 am[/url]"]Thanks!!
> 
> Pulling from the old wires was my plan, just wasn't sure if there was a better way.
> 
> Where do I connect my ground on each side if I pull a third wire along with my tail/stop wires? Obviously I'd have to get 16' or so x 2 of extra wire for the ground on each side.



I'm guessing it must be a tube steel framed trailer,,, take your 3 wires for each side of the trailer , ground, running and stop/blinker, put 1 end of the group of wires in a vise and put the other end in a drill motor and twist the wires together to make a cable of three wires,,, temporarily tie the ends up so you have some thing good a strong to pull on the tie and twist your old wire to the new ones,,, use black tape over the connections so its smooth, need to keep the joint as small and smooth as possible ,,,, lube up the wire before you start pulling your wire,,, their is wire lube but some liquid dish soap works just a well ,,, dont pull hard,,, best to have someone pushing wires as you pull,,,,

Using LEDs and having a ground wire and soldered connections you will probaly never have another issue

connect your ground wire to the lights ground wire and the other end to the plug

THROW THE CRIMP ON CONNECTORS AWAY!!!!


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## riverbud55 (Jul 29, 2014)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=361402#p361402 said:


> riverbud55 » Tue Jul 29, 2014 5:55 am[/url]"]never use the trailer frame for the ground on a boat trailer or for that mater any trailer,,,, run a ground wire and solder all connections then liquid tape then heat shrink tubing it will solve 80% of all problems




And the one thing I forgot about and maybe most important on a boat trailer use marine grade wire,,, being tinned its meant to be getting wet with little or no corrosion ,, will also make a better soldered joint, well worth the extra 10 or 15 bucks

Do it right the 1st time and it will be done the last time


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## BigTerp (Jul 29, 2014)

Thanks for the tips!!

So my wire harness will have 1 white wire for ground. Instead of connecting that to my trailer frame (like it currently is) I am going to splice the harness ground wire into my 2 ground wires that will run back to each taillight? They will then connect to each ground (white) wire on the taillights. I'm assumming this will use my vehicle harness' ground instead of the trailer for ground?

I have a bunch of tinned heat shrink connectors and some left over tinned wire from when I wired my boat. What size AWG wire will I need for my ground wires?


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## rusty503 (Jul 29, 2014)

Having led lights you can use 18Awg. There will be little actual current flow. However your best option is to use the same size as what's in the new harness. 16AWG may be a better bet but not absolutely necessary.


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## KMixson (Jul 29, 2014)

I agree with the ground being soldered to the ground on the wiring harness. Just because your ground wire is bolted to the frame does not mean it is grounded. If it is bolted to the frame you have to make sure you have a good clean, paint free, rust free area to bolt it to and that the bolt is tight. Over time the bolts seem to work loose. If you have a break-back/tilt trailer that is one more problem area to deal with on ground to the trailer. Then you have the front of the trailer to deal with. The hitch makes an awful ground conductor. You would be surprised to learn how many are grounded through the hitch.


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## BigTerp (Jul 29, 2014)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=361434#p361434 said:


> BigTerp » Today, 12:42 pm[/url]"]So my wire harness will have 1 white wire for ground. Instead of connecting that to my trailer frame (like it currently is) I am going to splice the white harness ground wire into my 2 ground wires that will run back to each taillight? They will then connect to each ground (white) wire on the taillights? I'm assumming this will use my vehicle harness' ground instead of the trailer for ground?



Thanks again!!

Just trying to make sure what I'm thinking above the correct way to ground my lights?


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## rusty503 (Jul 29, 2014)

Correct.


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## kissfan4 (Aug 1, 2014)

LED is the way to go without a doubt!


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