Recommended Wiring for Clearance Lights on Homemade 16 Foot Car Hauler Trailer

Question

Question:

I have an older, homemade, tandem axle, 16foot car hauler trailer that Im in the process of having rebuilt. Only lights currently on it are the taillights, but Im thinking that I need to have some clearance lights. I want to replace all of the wiring on this trailer for pulling behind my RV. Im thinking of using the 8foot junction box with 7 pin connector on the front, but with trailer brakes and adding the clearance lights, not sure what all else Id need. Or where the clearance lights should all go for sure. Any help is appreciated.

asked by: Josh

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Expert Reply:

Depending on the size of your trailer there are some requirements for lighting. I've attached an article to assist. When wiring a trailer, I do like the option of including a junction box. I personally really like the Epicord 7-Way Molded Trailer Plug with Junction Box - 10' Long # 277-000141. This will allow you to use ring terminals # 44-5310A to make your connections.

For clearance lights, you want to splice into the running light circuit (normally the brown wire) on your trailer. You can run them in parallel basically daisy chaining the power wire and grounding the negative wire on each light to your frame. I recommend using wire # 16-1-1 to wire these clearance lights using butt connectors like # 05731-5. You will want to use amber lights on the front and sides of the trailer and red on the rear for your clearance lights. I also recommend using the reflective lenses for both.

For your trailer brakes, I recommend using # 10-1-1 or # 10-2-1 if you want to use a common ground. The electric brakes will require a thicker gauge wire like this.

I've linked the page to your clearance light options to assist.

expert reply by: Jason S

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Answer 1

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Answer 8

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Answer 9

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