Trailer Lights...

[kmaglothin]

I have an 87 RangerTrail trailer. Is is a 3 wire trailer...there are of course on most pigtails from the tow vehicle 4 wires. The white wire does not exist on the trailer. The way it has worked ever since I got it (in '87) is that until I make a turn or two and a little bouncing happens no trailer lights. I have done everthing I can think of to ground that white wire to the trailer and it makes no difference. I am assuming the lights are getting ground through the hitch...but what I can't figure out is why the white wire connected to the trailer bare metal - no paint) is not working. Now this has happened with three different tow vehicles wired correctly so the issue is with the trailer. Any thoughts?

 

[jtexas]

Re: Trailer Lights...

If your trailer has a flat four-wire connector with yellow, brown & green running back to the lights plus a white wire that you just connect to the frame, that's normal. <br /><br />The ground wire should have enough insulation stripped to wrap at least once around a bolt on the frame, like one of the bolts holding the winch in place or something. You need a tight connection.<br /><br />If your wire is connected tightly then either the plug is faulty or the light housings aren't making sufficient contact with the trailer frame. You can get a little 12V circuit tester about the size of a pen for a couple bucks and track down the fault in a few minutes. Or, if you run ground wires to the individual lights and it still doesn't work, then you know it's the connector (assuming the vehicle wiring is good).<br /><br />Test the lights before you hitch up, to avoid being fooled by the hitch/ball connection.<br /><br />good luck,<br />jtw

 

[kmaglothin]

Re: Trailer Lights...

Yep...it was the connector. Thank you so much!