Why Would Truck's Trailer Running Light Circuit Keep Blowing if It's Not a Short

Question:

I have a 2011 barrett livestock trailer and for some reason I am shorting out on the trailer side and blowing my running light fuse on the truck. I have traced all the wires I can see and do not see an issue. I am at a loss. I have break lights, turn signals, with no problem but I turn on my running lights and within 2 min it blows the truck fuse. There is a box on the front of the trailer that all the wires come into and then distribute out to the rest of the trailer but everything appears good in there connections are good and not coroaded. Possibly a short on that mother board is all I can think of. Any expert help would be appreciated. Thanks

asked by: Jason

Expert Reply:

It could be just that the running lights on your trailer just draw too much amperage for running light circuit on your truck. Since you said it's a livestock trailer I have seen some that have quite a few running lights all around them.

What you can do is try disconnecting a few of them on the trailer by either cutting the wiring to them or disconnecting the ground of the lights to see if the problem persists. If the problem stops you would need to either convert the lights to LED which draw less or find a way to get by with less lights.

I attached a link to a page that has all of the LED clearance lights we offer as well as a help article on troubleshooting trailer wiring.

expert reply by: Jameson C