chronic trailer light problems

[Bassboy1645]

Looking back on my open water seasons my most frequent mechanical problem is burned out bulbs in trailer lights and or lights not working at all! I buy the "waterproof" type light housings and I disconnect my lights usually before backing in but this dosent seem to help much. Im guessing the gravel and rocks get kicked up by the tires and crack the plastic housings??. Also does sodering the wires to connect the lights help with the lights working longer?? So far I using wire connectors and a good pliers crimping and I wrap the entire hook ups in electircal tape wit ha slight coat of glues or epoxies. They still corrode a litte easier than I thought they would. Any tips ideas or suggestions?? Im rewireing my trailer tues, and I will soder this time. thanks for the help!

[PDOGG]

LED lights, solder, and shrink tube has worked well for me.

[dkf]

Ditto to what PDOGG said.

Crimp connectors are the worse and always fail. Everything on my boats and trailers gets soldered and shrink tubed with the shrink tubing with the glue inside. You could always mount the lights on post style guide ons that keep the lights up and out of the water. Some company even makes lights that sit right on top of the pVC guide on post tubes.

[BoxMN]

LED lights are worth their weight in gold... I suggest everbody go out and replace theirs. But they are spendy. We usually always would unplug lights, and that worked for many years. But after replacing a broken housing and with LED, wow, it is nice not unplugging nor worrying. And they are brighter.

[wallyeye]

I had the same problem and replaced my tail lights with the submersible ones which have a sealed bulb capsule. This type of light doesn't allow you to replace a single bulb you have to replace the whole thing if they every blow out but there is no possible way for water to get at the bulbs. I know wesbar makes them along with some other companies. They only run about $20 each.

[MuskieJunkie]

An old timer told me once "just rip all the old wires out and re-do it." You can chase those shorts all season and still have problems. As for the soldering and shrink tubing, that's the right way to do it.

[Bassboy1645]

That is what I did.....Replaced all wires and lights. Works great on uncles truck but only half works on mine grrr! lol Im changing truck wiring on the next shop day i get

[lawdog]

That's why you always have to check the trailer with the vehicle you are going to use to pull it. On my current '05 Silverado in my 7 pin connector, two wires are switched out of their normal standard location based on every wiring diagram I've ever seen, even the adaptor that came with the truck must be built that way I think as its the only one of the three adaptors I have that works in my pickup no matter what trailer I use. On my trailer with the brakes and the 7 pin connector, I had to switch those two wires in the plug to make the lights work and then they were fine. I don't know if that's a Chevy deal now or if they are just screwed up or what??? Just something for you to consider.

[Valv]

Here's picture of the correct wiring diagram for a 7 pin trailer connector/plug:

[DitchPickle13]

Nice chart, Valv.

Box is right on...LED is the way to go. I can hardly count how many bulbs I blew through before getting LED lights. They're only around $60 as opposed to about $30 for a complete front to back wiring set, but the time saved and peace of mind are well worth it for this guy!

[Musky_Madness]

LED Lights...just get it over with, you'll never look back. You can load unload your trailer in the dark with them plugged in and light up the lake like a Christmas tree!

[wingnutken]

You can buy the sealed submersible LED lights to replace your trailer lights but a cheaper way is to just buy the LED bulbs. The reason so many people have trouble with the bulbs is because they get so hot and even if you unplug them before you back into the water they will blow out when they hit the cold water. LEDs do not get hot and they are not that expensive if you know where to look. Go to hsolist and look up

U.S.homedirect (Contact Us Please) com, they are priced way cheaper than superbright and their quality is excellent. I replaced all the bulbs inside my ice castle for 100.00. Sixteen bulbs total and that included shipping.