Can Trailer Lighting Be Grounded to Main Ground Wire

Question

Question:

I am rewiring my boat trailer with LED lights. Instead of grounding my LED lights to the trailer I wanted extend the ground wire thru the trailer and connect directly to it. 1. is that a good Idea? 2. If I do, the harness is 16 ga. can I connect 14 ga to it and use the 14 ga as the ground for the LED lights? Thanks

asked by: Lou

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Expert Reply:

If you wanted to run a ground wire from each of the assemblies to the main ground wire of the trailer wiring you certainly could. 14 or 16 gauge wire would work well too since LED lights do not draw that much amperage.

expert reply by: Jameson C

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Answer 1

So I know the wiring harness you're describing, the 4-round, and there isn't an adapter to get it to go to a 4-flat. That's okay though because there is a really simple solution. What you can do is just cut off your round 4-way and add a…

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Answer 2

The four wires of the Wesbar 4-Pole Flat Connector #W787264 that you referenced are color coded by the standard 4-way colors. White is the ground, brown is the tail light, green is right turn and stop and yellow is left turn/stop. The wire is also…

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Answer 3

The Hopkins Endurance Easy-Pull 4-Pole Connector #HM48044 is a 4 foot long vehicle side 4-way trailer connector. It isn't exactly like the Wesbar #W787264 but it is the opposite end and the same length so it will work for you.

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Answer 4

The Westin Fey Diamondstep Rear Bumper - Black Powder Coated Steel #61000 does have room to make a cutout for your trailer wiring. It does not come with the cutout for wiring. It comes with the cutout for the license plate light on each side that do…

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Answer 5

With your trailer having the different colored wires you are going to need to identify each wire function to know exactly what wires to connect your new 4-Way #W787264. This 4-way uses white for ground, brown for running/clearance lights, yellow for…

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Answer 6

As long as the THNN wire is copper and the proper gauge for what you are wiring on your trailer you can use it. I have attached a helpful article that explains wiring a trailer and the minimum required wire gauges. We recommend at least 10 gauge wire…

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Answer 7

Your trailer wiring is pretty standard in colors so it would be pretty easy to wire up a standard 4-way to it. The colors would mainly match but where you have a yellow/beige you'd just run the solid yellow to it and the green/beige would get the…

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Answer 8

The vast majority of tailgate light bars like the Rampage SuperBrite LED Tailgate Light Bar part #RA960134 come with a wiring harness that has a built-in trailer connector so you can plug them into the the rear of the vehicle without splicing. If you…

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Answer 9

The Hopkins Endurance Easy-Pull Harness w/ 4-Pole Flat Connector #HM38134 you referenced has 18 gauge wires for the brown (taillight), green (right turn and brake), and yellow (left turn and brake) wires. The white (ground) is a 16 gauge wire.…

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Answer 10

Thank you for the photo of the connector on your trailer. That really helps when we are trying to find a solution for someone. Chances are you have a Jayco trailer, and we have an adapter, part #30104 that allows you to use the 4-way connector you…

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Answer 11

The Hopkins Replacement Multi-Tow 6-Way and 4-Way Trailer Connector part #40965 is a fit for the 2019 Nissan Titan. It plugs into the OEM connector near the spare tire. I have attached a photo for your reference.

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Answer 12

LED lights don't typically draw very much amperage, but since you will be installing 20 of them on one circuit the best option is to use a heavier gauge wire like 10 gauge part #10-1-1 (sold by the foot). With 10 gauge wire you could run all of…

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