Brake Lights and Turn Signals Do Not Work on Aluminum Frame Trailer
Question:
I removed all the old LED lights, wires and harness. I used a steel brush wheel on my drill to make a clean ground and dielectric grease on every ground connection, plus drilled out the holes and used aluminum rivets to fasten the heat shrink ring connectors since the trailer is an I beam aluminun trailer instead of steel self tapping screws like the former owner did. One ground is at the tounge and the other 2 are to the main frame of the aluminum trailer. This is a 4 prong system I replaced every thing from front to back, reinforced the 4 wires with heavy duty heat shrink to prevent gouges in the wires from the hole it s through before the wires run back as well as I put a rubber grommet in the hole. It has 4 side markers as well installed correctly. So this is where I am stumped. Because I have 3 other trailers. 1 2019 tandem axle bass boat trailer, 1 2013 triple axel 40foot aluminum trailer for my tuna charter boat, and a 2011 tandem 16foot open utility cleaning rig. All 3 of them work perfectly. All of them I rewired front to back besides the bass boat as it is a 2019 and brand new obviously. So it isnt the truck, I checked every fuse and checked all the harnesses under it. The lights are optronics and when I first plug in the trailer the drivers side brake and blinker work flawlessly. But after about 10 minutes, nothing but just a running light and the passenger is just a running light. There is a faint very light blink but not what an LED brake light should be, so there is something. So if you have any suggestions on what to do to fix this please let me know. Thank you in advance
asked by: Jeffrey
Expert Reply:
It sounds like you certainly know what you are doing and are taking all the proper precautions for wiring the trailer. However, aluminum frames can be very tricky to work on even for the most experienced installers as they just do not provide a good ground for the lights. I suspect that the rear two tail lights are losing their ground. In most cases, you can get away with with three separate ground points. However, on an aluminum frame trailer you will need to run the ground for the two tail lights up to the trailer connector and then ground all three wires to the trailer coupler.
I suspect that the above will fix your issue but if it does not then please let me know and I would be happy to offer further troubleshooting advice.
Product Page this Question was Asked From
- Trailer Wiring
- Trailer Connectors
- Trailer End Connector
- 0 - 5 Feet Long
- Plug and Lead
- 4 Flat
- Draw-Tite
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