Trailer updates

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I have the trailer all repainted and sided and thanks to the angle grinder (thanks, John L.) it went off without a hitch after I bought that piece of equipment. It looks good. I also took your advice and used pressure treated 3/4" plywood for the floor, and 1/2" for the side walls. I called around and found the lowest price on the wood and it was even here in town. Funny enough, I made a math mistake and was about $20 shy of the total necessary...and get this, the fellas just docked the amount for me! They have won ALL of my business from here on out. That was such a nice thing to do and above and beyond the call!

So, now I have the lights back on and the signals work, and they light up as they are supposed to, BUT when I hit the brakes the trailer lights go out.?. What do you think is wrong? I have installed a new harness on my truck as well as on the trailer. Thanks for all of your help folks! It sure takes a slice off of my phone bill pestering my Dad with all sorts of "stupid women" questions.lol.

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), December 30, 2001

Answers

Kewl! Ya done good!

-- john (natlivent@pcpros.net), December 30, 2001.

Could be a short on the brake light circuitry with load resistance from the bulbs preventing a fuse blow.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), December 30, 2001.

Doreen, unfortunately there is more than one 'standard' for trailer lighting and then of course there are all those home-invented standards as well!

In most circuits the brake and tail lights use double filament globes which share a common earth or ground. The brake lights are higher wattage than the tail light and hence draw more current. If there is a high resistance in the earth circuit the increased current of the brake lights will 'lift' the earth point of the tail light causing them to dim. Check that you do have a good earth circuit from the tail light fitting back to the ground of the tow vehicle and if by chance you have no earth wire at all and are relying on the connection through the ball coupling then I am afraid that is not really good enough, there should be an earth wire in the connector.

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), December 31, 2001.


Yes, it uses a dual filament bulb. I have the ground wrapped on the tongue of the trialer....perhaps I need to drill a proper hole and have a nut holding it down tightly? I should also replace the bulbs as they are at least five years old. That could be a bit of a factor as well. Thanks!!!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), December 31, 2001.

Hi Doreen, I have been travelling for a week and I have just noticed that no one has answered your query.

My best guess is that the light fittings at the rear of the trailer are not earthed, maybe they are fixed to a wooden part? You should run an earth wire from the fitting to the trailer frame. Then you need to ensure the frame of the trailer is earthed to the frame of the vehicle.

What is happening when there is no earth is that some of the bulbs (both on the trailer and on the vehicle) are providing an earth path for other bulbs. When you have both brake and trailer lights energised you are running out of earth paths so all bulbs go out.

I recommend using a nut and bolt to fix wires to the trailer frame and when you get everything fixed used some paint or something to protect these connections from corrosion.

Hope this helps.

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), January 06, 2002.



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