General Questions (Trailer/Trailering)

On Saturday, September 19, 2015 at 7:21:57 AM UTC-4, Casey Cox wrote:

7) anyone rewire their trailer with led lights? and did you put any on side, and source, ect

Reliable trailer lights seem a very cost effective upgrade to avoid LEO stops and rear-ending.

Two thumbs up for LED lights. Brighter, more reliable, cheap and easy upgrade. Peterson offers lights at several price points. Make sure that you buy lights that are legal for your country (DOT approved in the USA). Peterson sells some lights that are not USA legal. You can buy no-name lights for somewhat less. I know one thrifty guy who soldered raw LEDs and resistors into his old trailer light fixtures.

The wiring harness to the trailer is a single-point-of-failure. My solution is to wire a second redundant harness in parallel, periodically test the harnesses, and connect both while trailering.

I upgraded the harness connector to Powerwerk Powerpoles as the old style connectors are unreliable. I have the old style connectors wired into the trailer harness in parallel should I need to tow with someone else's vehicle..

Side lights as required by law in most states.

The LED lights are so cheap, reliable, and compact, I added small forward facing indicator lights mounted on the trailer fenders. The indicator lights are wired in parallel with the rear lights. I can see the indicator lights in the side view mirror. They confirm that power is reaching the rear mounted lights.

One of my gliders had a home built trailer with a wooden floor. The
glider had a hollow tail wheel axle. On the floor of the trailer next
to where the tail wheel sat were mounted two hinges on either side.
When the glider was pushed into the trailer (and into the nose cone),
the hinges were flipped up and a pin was pushed through the hinges and
the axle and safetied in place. The fuselage could neither go up/down
nor fore/aft.
On Saturday, September 19, 2015 at 7:21:57 AM UTC-4, Casey Cox wrote:

7) anyone rewire their trailer with led lights? and did you put any on side, and source, ect
Reliable trailer lights seem a very cost effective upgrade to avoid LEO stops and rear-ending.

Two thumbs up for LED lights. Brighter, more reliable, cheap and easy upgrade. Peterson offers lights at several price points. Make sure that you buy lights that are legal for your country (DOT approved in the USA). Peterson sells some lights that are not USA legal. You can buy no-name lights for somewhat less. I know one thrifty guy who soldered raw LEDs and resistors into his old trailer light fixtures.

The wiring harness to the trailer is a single-point-of-failure. My solution is to wire a second redundant harness in parallel, periodically test the harnesses, and connect both while trailering.

I upgraded the harness connector to Powerwerk Powerpoles as the old style connectors are unreliable. I have the old style connectors wired into the trailer harness in parallel should I need to tow with someone else's vehicle.

Side lights as required by law in most states.

The LED lights are so cheap, reliable, and compact, I added small forward facing indicator lights mounted on the trailer fenders. The indicator lights are wired in parallel with the rear lights. I can see the indicator lights in the side view mirror. They confirm that power is reaching the rear mounted lights.

--
Dan, 5J

Second that.

I converted my 1971 Cirrus trailer to use LEDs at the back and down the
sides. Best investment ever.

My Kestrel's trailer is a mobile disaster, so I am converting a new
trailer to replace it. This will also use LEDs. On rough roads there are
no filament failures, or bayonet connectors to corrode or vibrate loose.
The lights draw little current and are bright and clear.

Two things to worry about - if your cars electronics are confused by the
lack of load you can have problems.
The ones I used seemed sensitive to voltage drop. A poor earth cable
that would have meant dim but working lights caused darkness to ensue.

Newer LEDs may be better. Either way I am never going back...

Cheers
Bruce

On 2015-09-19 15:23, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Saturday, September 19, 2015 at 7:21:57 AM UTC-4, Casey Cox wrote:

7) anyone rewire their trailer with led lights? and did you put any on side, and source, ect

Reliable trailer lights seem a very cost effective upgrade to avoid LEO stops and rear-ending.

Two thumbs up for LED lights. Brighter, more reliable, cheap and easy upgrade. Peterson offers lights at several price points. Make sure that you buy lights that are legal for your country (DOT approved in the USA). Peterson sells some lights that are not USA legal. You can buy no-name lights for somewhat less. I know one thrifty guy who soldered raw LEDs and resistors into his old trailer light fixtures.

The wiring harness to the trailer is a single-point-of-failure. My solution is to wire a second redundant harness in parallel, periodically test the harnesses, and connect both while trailering.

I upgraded the harness connector to Powerwerk Powerpoles as the old style connectors are unreliable. I have the old style connectors wired into the trailer harness in parallel should I need to tow with someone else's vehicle.

Side lights as required by law in most states.

The LED lights are so cheap, reliable, and compact, I added small forward facing indicator lights mounted on the trailer fenders. The indicator lights are wired in parallel with the rear lights. I can see the indicator lights in the side view mirror. They confirm that power is reaching the rear mounted lights.


--
Bruce Greeff
T59D #1771

I replaced the incandescent lighting on my Cobra trailer over ten years ago.. LEDs have improved and prices have dropped a lot since then!

I also added a 3rd brake light LED at the top of the trailer tail fin. On the Cobra, this needs to be mounted on a wedge so the light, which typically has a narrower beam with LEDs, goes back parallel with the ground.

To get the 3rd brake light to work without more wiring going to the tow vehicle, I used a 12 volt relay as a simple logic circuit. The relay coil is powered by one brake light, while the power for the relay's normally open contact is obtained from the other brake light. When you apply the brakes, both brake lights come as does the 3rd brake light. If you turn on the turn signal, the 3rd brake light doesn't come on as the relay either doesn't have voltage to the coil or to the contacts.

But, if the brakes are applied when the turn signal is also on, then the 3rd brake light will flash with the turn signal flashing one brake light. Not a problem.

bumper

On Saturday, September 19, 2015 at 1:57:37 PM UTC-4, BruceGreeff wrote:
Second that.

I converted my 1971 Cirrus trailer to use LEDs at the back and down the
sides. Best investment ever.

My Kestrel's trailer is a mobile disaster, so I am converting a new
trailer to replace it. This will also use LEDs. On rough roads there are
no filament failures, or bayonet connectors to corrode or vibrate loose.
The lights draw little current and are bright and clear.

Two things to worry about - if your cars electronics are confused by the
lack of load you can have problems.
The ones I used seemed sensitive to voltage drop. A poor earth cable
that would have meant dim but working lights caused darkness to ensue.

Newer LEDs may be better. Either way I am never going back...

Cheers
Bruce

On 2015-09-19 15:23, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Saturday, September 19, 2015 at 7:21:57 AM UTC-4, Casey Cox wrote:

7) anyone rewire their trailer with led lights? and did you put any on side, and source, ect

Reliable trailer lights seem a very cost effective upgrade to avoid LEO stops and rear-ending.

Two thumbs up for LED lights. Brighter, more reliable, cheap and easy upgrade. Peterson offers lights at several price points. Make sure that you buy lights that are legal for your country (DOT approved in the USA). Peterson sells some lights that are not USA legal. You can buy no-name lights for somewhat less. I know one thrifty guy who soldered raw LEDs and resistors into his old trailer light fixtures.

The wiring harness to the trailer is a single-point-of-failure. My solution is to wire a second redundant harness in parallel, periodically test the harnesses, and connect both while trailering.

I upgraded the harness connector to Powerwerk Powerpoles as the old style connectors are unreliable. I have the old style connectors wired into the trailer harness in parallel should I need to tow with someone else's vehicle.

Side lights as required by law in most states.

The LED lights are so cheap, reliable, and compact, I added small forward facing indicator lights mounted on the trailer fenders. The indicator lights are wired in parallel with the rear lights. I can see the indicator lights in the side view mirror. They confirm that power is reaching the rear mounted lights.


--
Bruce Greeff
T59D #1771

Car part stores are carrying LED replacement bulbs nowadays that will probably
fit your existing sockets.

On Sunday, September 20, 2015 at 1:40:37 PM UTC-4, wrote:

Car part stores are carrying LED replacement bulbs nowadays that will probably
fit your existing sockets.

These might make sense in your car, but new LED light fixtures eliminate bulb contact corrosion which is a large source of unreliability.

Ok thanks guys. Led's it is.

I'm taking pictures to document my first glider and trailer repair. I will search for a free web site or blog to load them up. Any recommendations on that?

Anyone use All-Grip, or Interlux boat paint to paint their fiberglass trailer?

Today I pressure washed 40 yrs or mouse **** out of the trailer and the ground behind the trailer started stinking. Also started pressure washing the paint off the trailer. I was going to use a stripper but after I hit it with the pressure washer it came off fairly easy.