I've seen a couple of threads recently on trailer lights not working and thought I'd do a little thread to offer some help. These are things that I use/do on trailers when I wire them up. I'm sure there are different or better ways but these work for me. If it helps one person then great. Feel free to offer what works for you.
Trailer lights are very simple. They need two things, a 12 VDC+ source and a good ground. That ground needs to tie, in some way, all the way back to the source. i.e. the negative terminal on your battery. Without one or the other the light will not work.
Do not use things. You are begging for trouble shooting nightmares if you do. I use regular butt splices to splice wires together.
A good set of crimpers is a must. Throw these in the trash or give them to your kid to play with.
Buy a crimper that resembles this. They put a much better crimp on a terminal.
This is the ground lug that usually comes on a trailer light. You can use it if you want to but when attaching it to the trailer make sure there is clean bare metal under it. After attaching it you can hit with a some spray paint to seal it up.
More to come.
Trailer lights are very simple. They need two things, a 12 VDC+ source and a good ground. That ground needs to tie, in some way, all the way back to the source. i.e. the negative terminal on your battery. Without one or the other the light will not work.
Do not use things. You are begging for trouble shooting nightmares if you do. I use regular butt splices to splice wires together.
A good set of crimpers is a must. Throw these in the trash or give them to your kid to play with.
Buy a crimper that resembles this. They put a much better crimp on a terminal.
This is the ground lug that usually comes on a trailer light. You can use it if you want to but when attaching it to the trailer make sure there is clean bare metal under it. After attaching it you can hit with a some spray paint to seal it up.
More to come.
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