Wiring a trailer

Peahead

Well-Known Member
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I am high and dry with motor issues for a second time this month so without fishing I have some time to repair all the thousands of things that need fixing. First and today I will work on the trailer wiring and installing a new 1800 lb winch ( old one broke also this week) ....I wanna redo the whole trailer wiring and figure I should do it myself since I figure it shouldn't be too difficult ( even though I have never done it) and also I can't find anyone to pay to do it for me thats close enough to my home. U haul or Crappy tire don't want to rewire trailers no matter how much I want to pay em

I bought a wiring kit that has the flat connector ( 3 male and one female for trailer ) and about 20 feet of cable ( with yellow, green, brown and white wires) I know the brown and yellow wires go to left light and green and brown wires go to right light and I understand the white wire ( ground) should be attached to the trailer frame near the front (close to the connector plug)

This is a stupid question I guess but the kit seems incomplete to me as it only comes with one brown wire and doesn't provide a second brown wire to Y off to the second tail light ??? Seems odd that they leave that extra wire out ? Am I missing something here ?

Also what is the best way to feed all the wiring inside the trailer frame ?? That seems like the toughest part withut a proper tool to feed the cable ...... thx !!

Greg
 
You could use the old wiring to pull the new one through. Or make up a "fish". I make them out of old controll cables by pulling the wire out of the sleeve, they work great.
Usually, the kits rarely give you enough stuff to complete the installation, most times the wires arent even long enough. Sounds like youll have to add another "brown" wire. Make sure to solder all connections and ensure good ground continuity. If you do it right, the only prob you should have is to replace bulbs from time to time. Make sure also to put lots of grease on the bulb socket as they will rust.
One more thing, use loom if possible to prevent chafing.

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Fill the dam tub!
 
jump the brown wire from side to side at the back as you have the three markers ther anyways.
 
Hey Charlie , where did your post go ?

Got the winch installed and the wiring went well this afternoon but did take a while as Charlie suggested it could. I am also including here what I found out by doing my own wiring :

Firstly, thanks Charlie, IFL and dss for your help !
IFL, I decided to pull the new wire through the trailer frame using the old wire as you suggested and it worked really well.
I deciding to jump the brown wire over to the other side of the trailer at the Y of the trailer where it splits a few feet back from the coupler.
My Wesbar tailights have a sealed lamp module assembly that is one waterproof unit ( so when you replace it, you must replace the whole modular unit ) One of those units was 'shot' so have to order one of those.
Also of note.... the 3 wires coming from the Wesbar lamp module assembly are coloured red , black and white......so other than the ground( white) wire it was a bit confusing as to what coloured wire from the trailer attaches to the tailights. The white wire of the tailight modular assembly needed to be used to ground to the trailer frame in my case because the tailight mounting bolts weren't grounding to the frame in my case (If the tailight bolts act as ground you don't need to use the white wire) As it turned out the green wire on the trailer rt side connects to the red wire on the rt tailight. The yellow wire on the left side of the trailer connects to the red wire on the left tailight. The black wires on both the two tailights connected to each of the brown wires on both sides of the trailer. Viola !!

All worked well! Thanks for your tips !!
 
I don't know... I thought I posted, too! :)
Came back to check your update, wella - nothing! :D
 
much easier to get the magnet lites the tow trucks use good for any truck or trailerstick em on fenderspull wire back to truckplug in and done,good for any truck or trailerno maintenance.
 
quote:Originally posted by bee15

much easier to get the magnet lites the tow trucks use good for any truck or trailerstick em on fenderspull wire back to truckplug in and done,good for any truck or trailerno maintenance.

That is an awesome idea especially for temporary use and I do use my trailer only once or twice per year. The only problem is that the rear trailer 3 marker lights ( needed for trailers over 80"wide ) and the trailer side lights are apparently needed as they are required by TC. I do however suspect that all a cop is looking for when he sees a trailer is that your brake, signal and running lights all function.
 
I got fed up with trailer wiring and lights and worked intermitenly need frequent maintenance and are hard to get at. So I now hang my LED lights on a 8 ft 2x4 off the back of my boat and just run the wires along guides on the trailer. The lights never touch the water and need little maintenance. You might want to try this out.

Long live wild salmon!!!
><))))>
 
quote:Originally posted by Whole in the Water

I got fed up with trailer wiring and lights and worked intermitenly need frequent maintenance and are hard to get at. So I now hang my LED lights on a 8 ft 2x4 off the back of my boat and just run the wires along guides on the trailer. The lights never touch the water and need little maintenance. You might want to try this out.

Long live wild salmon!!!
><))))>
The thing I like about your 'lights on a 2x4' idea too is that it is often the ground that is the problem with trailer lights not working ( a bad connection to the trailer frame) - in the case you present the flat connector you connect to your vehicle would carry the gound to the lights so no need to ground to the trailer!!
 
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