MyFishFinder Forum
My Fish Finder Main => General Fishing Discussion => Topic started by: taxid on May 17, 2019, 02:45 PM
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Gentlemen,
O.K not my boat trailer but a utility trailer but the same thing.
Did everything right (I think). However turn signals are reversed for some reason.
Anyway, connection to the rear LED lights themselves is easy as the different colored wires that come out of the light assemblies are already sealed into the lights so all one has to do is match the colors and connect to the harness wires of the same color.
Soooooo...
White is ground
Brown tail/ running lights
Green is right turn/brake
Yellow is left turn/ brake.
All are connected correctly and on the correct side with the correct colors, but as I said turn signals are reversed.
The rear light assemblies themselves are in the correct place and top is the top. As in left assembling is on the left side and right on the right side.
Any ideas? Defective equipment as in lights, connectors, etc?
I'm thinking of switching the green and yellow and see what happens.
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Truck may be wired backwards. Switching them should fix it.
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If it's wired backwards why would it work O.K. for the boat trailer?
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I'd switch the wires then, that should fix it, trailer must be wired backwards.
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If switching wires doesn't work check your ground must be very clean and connected to bare metal on frame.
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If switching wires doesn't work check your ground must be very clean and connected to bare metal on frame.
Thanks Iceman. I did that late last night when I had time. Ground down to bare metal all ground connections with a coarse circular pad a drill and reconnected. Today when have time will reconnect to the vehicle and see what happens. Then probably switch wires if need be.
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If switching wires doesn't work check your ground must be very clean and connected to bare metal on frame.
It's almost always the ground. Easier to run ground wires all the way to the lights. No more problems that way.
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It's almost always the ground. Easier to run ground wires all the way to the lights. No more problems that way.
Finally getting time to reconnect all the wires and we what happens. Just have to make a run to the hardware store.
Each light already has a ground. A white wire comes off each light.
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Problem solved!
Yellow wire on the right side and green wire on the left side works beautifully for the turn signals. Just the opposite of protocol. Go figure! Running lights and break lights work fine too.
Also found that since the trailer frame is ground, where the pin is located to remove it and tilt the utility trailer back for dumping, rocking the trailer up and down breaks the ground (where frame sits on itself) and causes the lights to flicker. A permanent bolt should take care of that problem!
I knew it was a grounding issue but was perplexed as all my ground connections to the frame were ground down to bare metal! Then my dad who worked as an I & R man for 21 years after 20 years in the military figured it out.
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Finally getting time to reconnect all the wires and we what happens. Just have to make a run to the hardware store.
Each light already has a ground. A white wire comes off each light.
The white wire from the harness and the lights normally connects to the frame. I just run the white wire from the harness directly to the lights, eliminating the frame as a ground. It saves a lot of problems due to corrosion.
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The white wire from the harness and the lights normally connects to the frame. I just run the white wire from the harness directly to the lights, eliminating the frame as a ground. It saves a lot of problems due to corrosion.
Interesting. So you run the one white ground white from the tongue to both running lights and rear lights? To the brown wires? My LED lights are sealed inside so I can't actually contact to the light but the brown wires would be the next best thing.
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I run the white wire from the tongue all the way to the white wire coming out of the the tail lights. If there is no white wire coming from the lights the mounting bolt serves as the ground. In that situation i put a ring terminal on the white wire and place it behind the mounting bolt of the taillight. Still have some corrosion issues but not nearly as many when using the frame as the ground.
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Also found that since the trailer frame is ground, where the pin is located to remove it and tilt the utility trailer back for dumping, rocking the trailer up and down breaks the ground (where frame sits on itself) and causes the lights to flicker. A permanent bolt should take care of that problem!
Run a heavy ground wire from one section of the trailer to the other. Put a small loop in it so it flexes and you can retain the tilt feature of the trailer. Besides, it will only rust eventually with the permanent bolt and you will again have grounds issues. Or run a white wire from the plug to all the lights as others have said.
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I run the white wire from the tongue all the way to the white wire coming out of the the tail lights. If there is no white wire coming from the lights the mounting bolt serves as the ground. In that situation i put a ring terminal on the white wire and place it behind the mounting bolt of the taillight. Still have some corrosion issues but not nearly as many when using the frame as the ground.
Makes sense! Why didn't I think of the main white wire connecting to the lights white wires? :whistling: :whistling: :whistling:
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Run a heavy ground wire from one section of the trailer to the other. Put a small loop in it so it flexes and you can retain the tilt feature of the trailer. Besides, it will only rust eventually with the permanent bolt and you will again have grounds issues. Or run a white wire from the plug to all the lights as others have said.
Makes sense but won't ever use the tilt option as it will be used to haul the kayak, and for moving a fish tank around the farm.
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Taxid, I had the same thing happen to me, turn signals are reversed? Bought a new truck, plugged it in and everything worked fine? May want to check the vehicle... wiring/harness?
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Bart,
I don't think it's the vehicle harness because the turn signals on the boat trailer aren't reversed when I hooked that trailer up.
Anyway, all is good now which is the most important thing. Will be using this small utility trailer it to haul my kayak on vacation in a few weeks.
Friends says the toll road extra charge for a trailer is going to kill ya, you should have put the kayak on the roof of your car.
Problem is the SUV did not come with crossbars installed, so I'd have to buy them and then buy and install a kayak mount on that. At least $350.00 not including my labor. And the reviews on the only crossbars made for my model Saturn Vue are terrible. For one thing the bolts are too long. And instructions are worthless.
I prefer not to lift the kayak on and off the roof of the vehicle as it's not a light one. But may go with a roof mount later.
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(https://i.postimg.cc/TyLPdZpZ/IMG-2535.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/TyLPdZpZ)
No joke . My buddy passed this set up on the NYS Thruway. Guess the guy didn't want to pay the extra toll. :laugh:
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(https://i.postimg.cc/TyLPdZpZ/IMG-2535.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/TyLPdZpZ)
No joke . My buddy passed this set up on the NYS Thruway. Guess the guy didn't want to pay the extra toll. :laugh:
Holy Batman! I wonder how much lower that made his mileage though? And what happens if the winds are strong? Or he runs into a lower overpass? If I was a LEO I would pull him over for his safety and the safety of others!
I saw something worse at a rest stop in Indiana once. Massive plywood box on top of a small vehicle. Base covered the entire roof of the car And they had it attached with bungee cords running over the top and trough the windows! :w00t: :w00t: :w00t:
I remember thinking there is no way in hell I'm getting behind that car. I need to get out on the road ahead of it STAT!
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When building my log home my contractor sent my wife to pick up a full size mirror thinking it would fit in the car. Wife shows up with it attached to the roof with string! Not in a box either! And it was in one piece!
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Bart,
I don't think it's the vehicle harness because the turn signals on the boat trailer aren't reversed when I hooked that trailer up.
Anyway, all is good now which is the most important thing. Will be using this small utility trailer it to haul my kayak on vacation in a few weeks.
Friends says the toll road extra charge for a trailer is going to kill ya, you should have put the kayak on the roof of your car.
Problem is the SUV did not come with crossbars installed, so I'd have to buy them and then buy and install a kayak mount on that. At least $350.00 not including my labor. And the reviews on the only crossbars made for my model Saturn Vue are terrible. For one thing the bolts are too long. And instructions are worthless.
I prefer not to lift the kayak on and off the roof of the vehicle as it's not a light one. But may go with a roof mount later.
Cool, glad to hear it is all working. I haven't taken a toll road in years... at my age and condition, I'm not lifting a kayak on and off the roof of a vehicle. That trailer sounds nice to me, I'd pay a couple extra dollars or avoid toll roads. I have a truck with a bed extender, my kayak is 79lbs so it is pretty easy on me. Good fishing!
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Cool, glad to hear it is all working. I haven't taken a toll road in years... at my age and condition, I'm not lifting a kayak on and off the roof of a vehicle. That trailer sounds nice to me, I'd pay a couple extra dollars or avoid toll roads. I have a truck with a bed extender, my kayak is 79lbs so it is pretty easy on me. Good fishing!
Thanks Bart. Good fishing to you too.
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If the vehicle is still not correct check the wiring on it.
Wife had a Chevy Colorado years ago that had a plug in connector. The one that you unhook part of a harness in the back by the spare tire, then plug that in and there is the 4 pin trailer connector. That thing would short out every few years, lights would be all crazy. Had to buy a new one then they would be fine. Salt must have got to it, no amount of cleaning it or dielectric grease would help it.
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If the vehicle is still not correct check the wiring on it.
Wife had a Chevy Colorado years ago that had a plug in connector. The one that you unhook part of a harness in the back by the spare tire, then plug that in and there is the 4 pin trailer connector. That thing would short out every few years, lights would be all crazy. Had to buy a new one then they would be fine. Salt must have got to it, no amount of cleaning it or dielectric grease would help it.
The vehicle wiring is fine. As indicated the lights work fine on the boat trailer so it's not the vehicle.
That said utility trailer lights are fine now too by switching the green and yellow wire.
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(https://i.postimg.cc/TyLPdZpZ/IMG-2535.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/TyLPdZpZ)
No joke . My buddy passed this set up on the NYS Thruway. Guess the guy didn't want to pay the extra toll. :laugh:
What the...
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(https://i.postimg.cc/TyLPdZpZ/IMG-2535.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/TyLPdZpZ)
No joke . My buddy passed this set up on the NYS Thruway. Guess the guy didn't want to pay the extra toll. :laugh:
Nah, he just forgot the ball mount for the trailer hitch...