Trailer L E D rewiring and install done!!

[hoverman]

Woooohoooo....im finally done....decided to install all led's and new wiring on the trailer today......taking some advice on here i ran a seperate ground for the left and right stop/turn lights...ran the individual ground wires all the way to the front of the trailer and grounded them to the frame. I soldered all the wires and used dielectric grease with heat shrink tubing on all connections and used new ground points for the side marker lights. Then I ran individual wires for each side marker to the front and tied them into the new trailer harness. Made all connections at the farthest most forward point i could to decrease the chance of any connection getting submerged and I only had to use 1 scotch lock for the running lights and packed that full if dielectric grease too.....just tested all the lights and yea baby they all work...not bad for working in 102 heat today ...lol....

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Trailer L E D rewiring and install done!!

you will love em.....so much brighter, and no more burnt bulb worries. i cant wait until they are required. its nice to follow a trailer with LEDs IMO.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Trailer L E D rewiring and install done!!

Glad it works. But to rain on your parade -- the purpose of running individual ground wires directly to each fixture is so the frame is NOT the ground point. You tie all those ground wires directly to the white wire in the plug leaving the frame totally out of the picture. It is the frame ground point that generally presents lighting problems.

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Trailer L E D rewiring and install done!!

Glad it works. But to rain on your parade -- the purpose of running individual ground wires directly to each fixture is so the frame is NOT the ground point. You tie all those ground wires directly to the white wire in the plug leaving the frame totally out of the picture. It is the frame ground point that generally presents lighting problems.

true, mine has grounds at each individual light. no problems ever with grounding, lighting, etc even after being submerged.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Trailer L E D rewiring and install done!!

Individual grounds is going to make your troubleshooting one day twice as hard because you now will have two wires to determine where the break is in. You should always ground your lights at the mounting point.

 

[RoyR]

Re: Trailer L E D rewiring and install done!!

Replaced my wiring harness too yesterday. I switched to disk brakes so need the 5-pin plug for the reverse solenoid. Also used electrical grease on all the crimp-on. That heat was brutal, going to be another scorcher today!

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Trailer L E D rewiring and install done!!

What kind of crimp on connectors are you usingI I wouldn't use anything other than the type that are already waterproof with the built in adhesive and would never use the ones that pierce through the insulation to contact the wire.

 

[RoyR]

Re: Trailer L E D rewiring and install done!!

You have really good advice, but always too late...Already did everything you said I shouldn't have done

What kind of crimp on connectors are you usingI I wouldn't use anything other than the type that are already waterproof with the built in adhesive and would never use the ones that pierce through the insulation to contact the wire.

 

[hoverman]

Re: Trailer L E D rewiring and install done!!

Glad it works. But to rain on your parade -- the purpose of running individual ground wires directly to each fixture is so the frame is NOT the ground point. You tie all those ground wires directly to the white wire in the plug leaving the frame totally out of the picture. It is the frame ground point that generally presents lighting problems.

yes that was the original plan but it would have been quite a few wires to tie together....i was thinking if there were a water proof terminal block that could be mounted on the front of the trailer as to avoid submersion...that would be the way to go and would be much simpler...but for now im happy that there are no open wires or connections that can be submerged or get excessively wet... i was going to use individial grounds for the side marker lights as well but i would have had 9 wires on the starboard side and 12 on the port side .....like i said a terminal block would have been the ideal way to go and that would allow to leave the trailer out as a ground source.....sigh...

 

[hoverman]

Re: Trailer L E D rewiring and install done!!

Replaced my wiring harness too yesterday. I switched to disk brakes so need the 5-pin plug for the reverse solenoid. Also used electrical grease on all the crimp-on. That heat was brutal, going to be another scorcher today!

the heat was brutal but glad to get it done.....im thinking of switching to disk brakes myself ..how much investment for the swap? i figured for the disk,master,lines etc...about 600.00 or so??? am i close for a 2 axle set up meaning only 1 axle has the breaks on them...??

 

[RoyR]

Re: Trailer L E D rewiring and install done!!

They are on sale right now... You just need flex hose to convert the steel lines to allow for flex. It's a floating caliper.

KODIAK 10" Trailer Disc Brake Assy, S-CAD (onsale at the moment for $106.00)
http://shop.easternmarine.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=catalog.prodInfo&productID=6721&categoryID=302

TITAN / DICO Model 60 Lever Lock Disc Actuator w/Solenoid
http://shop.easternmarine.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=catalog.prodInfo&productID=5436

With all the other stuff, I needed to buy some tools too, it was about $450.00.

They do run hot though, not sure what is going to happen when I go down the hill to the lake, and then launch the boat? Probably will have to wait for them to cool down a bit.

 

[pugbro]

Re: Trailer L E D rewiring and install done!!

All of the advice here is great so I decided to put myself in the company of the "GREAT ONES" by adding my 2 cents worth.
I have found that in ALL my wiring projects(boat and auto) that require splices, to spend another dollar and get the waterproof shrink tubing to go over all the splices. The heat shrink works well with soldered splices and crimp type splices.
I usually allow approximately 1 inch over-lap in both directions...Make sure you get the waterproof type that has the sealant inside the tubing that is activated by the heat and "oozes" out each end of the heat shrink and seals off the connection...Regular heat shrink will only trap water and cause problems. I have found that FASTENALL has the best variety as far as size and color.


KEEP IT FUN..KEEP IT SAFE!