question about lights

[eavega]

I knew my trailer wiring was somewhat screwed up, but it was a low-priority item as opposed to the re-build work on my boat. Now that the boat is done, it was time to address the wiring. Apparently the previous owner had some problem with the original lights and wiring, and their solution was to just run new wiring with a new connector along the exterior of the trailer to new lights. I had to remove the old wiring and correctly wire up the new lights (previous owner had crossed the turn signal wire, so you hit the left turn signal and it blinked the right one on the trailer). I noticed that the trailer four amber lights on the sides. Two on each side, one close to the rear of the trailer, one towards the front. There was no attempt to wire them in when the new wiring was installed. My question; would these lights wire to the tail light wires (running lights) or to the turn signal wire, or both? there is only one wire on each of these lights, so I figured it had to be one or the other. There is no regulation in GA regarding amber side-lights on trailers, so leaving them disconnected is also an option. I figured if they are there, though, more visibility is always better.

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

-E

 

[dbkerley]

Re: question about lights

Best thing I ever did was to get a good quality LED kit and replace everything. That said, I still have to do that on our current project and I watch them flicker from the poor ground every time we roll down the road.

 

[109jb]

Re: question about lights

To answer the original question, the amber marker lights wire to the tail light wire that comes on when the headlights come on. This is usually a brown wire. If you have a separate license plate light that gets wired in there too.

 

[BeaufortTJustice]

Re: question about lights

They would be run off the tail light/running light wire as the pos+. Sounds like each light is individually grounded to the trailer by one of the mounting screws or a small, short wire run to a ring terminal/self tapping screw nearby, which is common with the smaller marker lights.

 

[109jb]

Re: question about lights

Oh, by the way. The marker lights are a federal requirement so you should hook them up.

 

[Pelletmonster]

Re: question about lights

To answer your questions on the amber marker lights..

your gonna wanna hook your marker lights up to your taillight wire on ur harness 9 out of 10 times it"ll be your brown wire.. if no brown color wire hook the trailer up to your vehicle turn the taillights on only and get a test light to figure out what wire is "hot" with your taillights being on... if ya can solder these connections or use a gel filled scotch lock.. due to being in and out of water eventually the connection will rott..

hope this helps! and good luck

 

[alilley]

Re: question about lights

me personially i woulld hook up the marker lights just to make things a little easier in the night time now with that being said i do drive a truck for a living and it is a federal law that all light be in working order if they are on a vehical (where is spell check on this thing) so if ia cop wanted to be a pint and if you were to get stopped he could write a ticket for every light that was on it what was not properly working (at least that is how it is with the trucks and it feel that cars should be held up the same standard)and a side note there yes i will admitt i have pulled one with a marker light out and it does amke a differance during night time you would not believe how much more you can see right next to your trailer when you have them on but the answer t oyou question is they get hooked up with your tail/marker lights

 

[dutchdog]

Re: question about lights

I found some really cool led marker/turn signal lights on e-bay. I put them on my trailer and you can really see it at nite. They have 11 leds per light.