I just purchased a new utility trailer. I think manufacturers should put back up lights on new trailers. I guess the problem is most small tow vehicles don't have a 7 pin connector.
You are having fun with those led lights going in reverse at night 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁, i used to do the same but with my tricycle at night to test many led i put on the tricycle😅😅😅😅.
I ran a 5 pin. Going to add a 7 pin junction box and using the parking light wire to power my utility lights so I don't need a 7 pin since it would look obnoxious on my car lol. My old trailer had a 7 pin which i miss
My 4 pin wiring is the same as your trailer and I had just gotten the exact 7 pin and box combo off of Amazon. Can you please tell me what colors you used on the box and which colors the 4 pin wiring went to?
The easiest way it to hook up the wires from the Pigtail to the studs on the box. You can match the colors if you would like. Hook up the plug to your vehicle, then with a test light test each stud. Example turn on your parking lights then test each stud then when you find it write down what color it is. Then repeat for brake lights, left and right turn ect. The 4 pin color should be white fir ground. Brown wire for tail lights. Green wire for right turn and yellow wire for left turn. With tere being so many manufacturers for pigtails I am not sure if the colors on your would be same as mine. I have wired 2 so far and they were different. The best way is to just test them so you know for sure. Hope this helped.
@@steiger256 Your 4 wire configuration - normally also operates the STOP (brake) lamps - (five circuits run via 4 wires) & so there is (normally) a relay somewhere - usually fitted near the tow-bar socket outlet) that allows the brake lights to operate whilst two wires have power, yet disconnect one of the brake lights to use as a flashing turn/side signal - intermittently operating what would otherwise be - two permanently lit lamps. Most American cars were done that way - to "save" running more than four wires, through those old long vehicles.. A right pain in the B-Hind if adding more circuits later - or if being "towed" by a modern vehicle with 7 pin (flat or round) connectors with 7 individual circuits in each .. Sadly - many 4 wire circuit designers FAILED to understand that trailer hitch points - do NOT always make for good electrical connectors, and often "extinguish" lamps that should always be ON - and sometimes fail to light any -0 that should work when required( no earth connection at all) Many older vehicles were fitted with a BOG STANDARD, (and very seriously flawed) - 4 LIVE & a "trailer hitch" for the EARTH ONLY system, whereby every lamp relied on chassis earth to operate) via the hitch pin coupler only - IF & ONLY IF - it was kept squeaky clean and properly connected at all times, something that never always did work, as rust - slop/wear & any bumpy pot-holed roads soon made certain - that when a trailer was so connected - it frequently disconnected the earth - more often than it "made" any electrical connection. Hence why many early road accidents were down to misinterpretation of a towed trailer indicating LEFT then RIGHT then LEFT - when in fact - it was merely the incorrect disconnections of earth - occurring with side lights on only - & no turn operating - just a VERY bad earthing system. Or - the brakes lit but no lamp lit at the back (with another faulty earth again) ..
B/S = all seven pin flat connectors have not only an aux/rev connection pin, but also a SERVICE brake circuit pin (for providing power to operate electric override brakes - &/or to charge a service brake back-up battery, that automatically needs to provide independent power whenever the trailer disconnects when being towed, via the tow hitch breakaway failure system) .. The pin connections (a universal code) of the 7 pin connector plug/sockets are: Pin 1 = Left-Hand Turn (Yellow Wire) Pin 2 = Reverse Signal (Black Wire) Pin 3 = Earth Return (White Wire) - NB: Use the 7 pin connector itself & NEVER rely on the trailer hitch for earth (as that often may NOT make any connection) Pin 4 = Right-Hand Turn (Green Wire) Pin 5 = Service Brakes &/or Trailer Battery Charger (Blue Wire) Pin 6 = STOP Lamps (Red Wire) Pin 7 = Tail Lamps & Side Marker lamps - plus Clearance / Alley / lamps etc. (and there are another 5 pins that are available or additional circuits of higher current draw - if using the 12 pin flat connectors that most caravan's have to use nowadays) So - use either of those 2 unused pins (Pin 2, or Pin 5) for any aux circuit/s to suit yourself, if you do NOT have electric override brakes as you can have any secondary aux circuit for either a rev or a trailer aux battery charger, such that one of the two extra pins is for Reverse, and say - use the "service" pin circuit for an "always on when connected to the tow vehicle" powered feed - to CHARGE an on-board trailer service battery, so that the "LED REVERSE" (&/or any other work lamp you add there as well) can be powered directly with a work-lamp switch - when reversing with the tow vehicle & when trailer is parked & not attached to anything (when it is without a tow vehicle attached) so that you also now have a fully independent control panel of switched circuits on the trailer - via an aux work light switch - that can full power them from the trailer battery - to allow you to work at the back (or anywhere on or around the trailer at night, depending on how many aux circuits you run - off that trailer battery). ie: Have dedicated reverse LEDS plus say six or ten EXTRA (work lamps) that can be flicked on - when working around the entire trailer - or at the park site - without needing to be connected to any tow vehicle.. An always connected trailer battery system - (charged when being towed, via the service pin circuit) also allows you to "fit" a discrete vehicle alarm system - to ensure no one nicks your trailer - if left parked somewhere.. as an "incorrect" connection to anyone else's 7 pin trailer tow connection will automatically trip the "do not steal me" trailer alarm.. PLUS - if an alarm is to be fitted, I'd also make sure that you DO NOT use the normal circuits as labelled, but devise your own pins for wiring the various lamps, so that a L turn on tow vehicle - operates the LED brake lights, a R turn the bright reverse lights, the tail light tow vehicle circuit - ONLY one amber lamp glows, with say the brake circuit - wired where the R turn is supposed to be connected - to totally screw up a thief's attempt to tow away your trailer - with it's uniquely cock-up light pins .. wired to work ONLY when towed by your vehicle. NB: If you intend towing MORE Than just that trailer - then you would not only have to "change" your vehicle's own 7-pin connections - you would probably best also make a secondary cord-set - to plug into your lopsided outlet, and "correct" the oddball pin configuration you use - back into a normal trailer's 7 pin design, to allow your vehicle to tow someone else's normally wired trailer. Or - have two 7-pin outlets fitted to your tow vehicle - one wired correctly for anyone else's trailer to be towed by you, and the "OTHER" 7-pin socket wired to deliberately cock-up the circuitry of your tow vehicle & work trailer combo - to thwart anyone's attempt to "drive away" with (as in steal) your trailer - as it WILL NOT OPERATE the correct lights, unless connected to your odd-ball tow outlet. A pain in the B-hind maybe - but well worth disguising your own trailer/tow vehicle's connections by odd-balling these - to stop anyone nicking your wonderfully well thought out, & profoundly well-lit work/trailer.. Oh and if your tow vehicle doesn't have a reverse signal circuit anyways - fitting a flick switch somewhere near the Dashboard - will allow you to manually operate the trailer reverse lights, even if the tow vehicle doesn't have any reverse lamp circuit itself.? In other words .. if your vehicle DOES NOT HAVE ANY REVERSE LIGHT CIRCUIT (at all) - such as older tractors without signal/turn / brake or stop / reverse functions.. ALL YOU NEED are various push buttons for STOP & TURN signals And use a flick-over (SPDT) switch for (always on at night) tail lamps, With either option of a push/momentary switch or any SPDT/DPDT switches for reverse &/or aux work lamp circuits.. ONE SET OF THESE on the tractor driver's normal dashboard position and a secondary (parallel circuit) set - on the trailer itself. That way - your trailer itself, can become an ADDITIONAL LIGHTING SOURCE - out in the middle of a worksite paddock - well away from the vehicle that towed it there, such as being used for the control center / repair workshop for 24 hour harvesting operations - that need a suitable "site" to repair equipment or tools that need servicing - whenever one doesn't always have the tow vehicle available (it may be elsewhere - or it may be the tractor that is being used to tow another implement - whilst the one you are fixing sits beside the trailer / field workshop). IF (a big if) - !!! IF you also decide to have say a portable generator on the trailer - it can recharge the trailer battery whilst providing AC mains - for a welder & other mains operated repair equipment etc..
A few things. At 6:10 you say the existing wires on the trailer come in that huge insulated harness, THEY DON"T. the wires are all separated or not in one big harness. To me what you showed, is that you just cut into the harness and left all the connections elsewhere. Not good. You made more points of failure. 6:52 you put the lights right at the back end of the trailer where it is most likely to hit the ground if your go into a dip. You have NO protection if the rear end of the trailer bottoms out.. NOT GOOD. You put the light facing straight back. They should not be overlapping. They should be facing outward. With as little overlap as possible. There is NO use for them to light up what is directly behind you. Even if you had a camera like you have at 9:20. If you can't see or don't know what is directly behind you without a camera you shouldn't be backing there anyway. On my property there are two trees that I don't want to hit, so I want to light up them on the side, not directly behind me. @10:04 if you didn't have that camera, you couldn't see right behind you nor to the sides. NOT GOOD. and those posts on your house just disappear. is it better to see more of then to indicate that you are parallel to the house. 11:22 shows how you can't see the building harly at all after you pass the corner.
Ok. Normally I do not respond to comments like this, But in this case I will. I understand everyone does things differently and has there own opinions. This video was to just show different ways to wire backup lights. The wires you saw hooded to the box were from the previous wiring harness. I hear you say more points of failure. I will agree Normally there would be, But not in this case. This trailer is only used in summer never in winter with salt conditions. You also comment on the lights being mounted on the rear of trailer. There is no other place to mount the lights. The license plate hangs down 6 inches below the lights. In the past 12 years of using this trailer on roads and off road in woods collecting firewood have I ever bottomed out the plate. I'm sure there fine. For the overlap . It is a 12 foot utility trailer. I am not trying to light up the world around me. I like light straight behind me if I am just plain backing up, or backing up in the garage. I fo not back up in the forest so it works well. There was no backup camera in the SUV. The video was to show what it looked like at different angles. The car used was way to old to have a backup cam. Not to mention I would hope I would not need a backup cam for a 12 foot trailer. You can wire your trailer how ever you like. You can mount your lights wherever you like. You can overlap your lights however you like. Ots your trailer, Wire it how you want. I think you are putting to much though into this video.
@@steiger256 Nothing to stop anyone who always bottoms out a trailer (as they obviously do) to fit lights on a high (over the top) bar - so that only low tree branches will wipe them off... Oh & I wonder what they would yell about MY trailer's existing wiring harness eh? It doesn't have a huge (insulated) wiring harness - it has 32mm Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) undergound water pipes as it's "wiring harness protection" - so getting into that - is a right pain in the posterior, as it's also 4mm thick walled to start with and run inside the C channels of the trailer frame - for added protection.. & that talk of "Insulated harness" be buggah'd too. Be useless if any wiring harness WAS NOT insulated - as how the hell does one keep any wire from "shorting out' without insulation...?
I just purchased a new utility trailer. I think manufacturers should put back up lights on new trailers. I guess the problem is most small tow vehicles don't have a 7 pin connector.
You are having fun with those led lights going in reverse at night 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁, i used to do the same but with my tricycle at night to test many led i put on the tricycle😅😅😅😅.
Absolutely great video thanks alot! Like all your different views when backing up
I ran a 5 pin.
Going to add a 7 pin junction box and using the parking light wire to power my utility lights so I don't need a 7 pin since it would look obnoxious on my car lol. My old trailer had a 7 pin which i miss
They are bright alright!
Great video. Thanks for sharing.
Your welcome
I see the lights have a positive and negative wire. Do I just connect the positive up to the adapter?
I just ground the negative right to the trailer, Then hook the positive to the plug or box.
What size wire did you run from box to lights
I am thinking it was 14 gauge, But it could have been 16 gauge. Either will work.
My 4 pin wiring is the same as your trailer and I had just gotten the exact 7 pin and box combo off of Amazon. Can you please tell me what colors you used on the box and which colors the 4 pin wiring went to?
The easiest way it to hook up the wires from the Pigtail to the studs on the box. You can match the colors if you would like. Hook up the plug to your vehicle, then with a test light test each stud. Example turn on your parking lights then test each stud then when you find it write down what color it is. Then repeat for brake lights, left and right turn ect. The 4 pin color should be white fir ground. Brown wire for tail lights. Green wire for right turn and yellow wire for left turn. With tere being so many manufacturers for pigtails I am not sure if the colors on your would be same as mine. I have wired 2 so far and they were different. The best way is to just test them so you know for sure. Hope this helped.
Steiger 256, thanks a lot for the reply! Got her done using the tester! Really appreciate the help and the super fast reply!
@@patricklogston4031 Glad I could help. Hope it works well for you.
@@steiger256 Your 4 wire configuration - normally also operates the STOP (brake) lamps - (five circuits run via 4 wires) & so there is (normally) a relay somewhere - usually fitted near the tow-bar socket outlet) that allows the brake lights to operate whilst two wires have power, yet disconnect one of the brake lights to use as a flashing turn/side signal - intermittently operating what would otherwise be - two permanently lit lamps.
Most American cars were done that way - to "save" running more than four wires, through those old long vehicles..
A right pain in the B-Hind if adding more circuits later - or if being "towed" by a modern vehicle with 7 pin (flat or round) connectors with 7 individual circuits in each ..
Sadly - many 4 wire circuit designers FAILED to understand that trailer hitch points - do NOT always make for good electrical connectors, and often "extinguish" lamps that should always be ON - and sometimes fail to light any -0 that should work when required( no earth connection at all)
Many older vehicles were fitted with a BOG STANDARD, (and very seriously flawed) - 4 LIVE & a "trailer hitch" for the EARTH ONLY system, whereby every lamp relied on chassis earth to operate) via the hitch pin coupler only - IF & ONLY IF - it was kept squeaky clean and properly connected at all times, something that never always did work, as rust - slop/wear & any bumpy pot-holed roads soon made certain - that when a trailer was so connected - it frequently disconnected the earth - more often than it "made" any electrical connection.
Hence why many early road accidents were down to misinterpretation of a towed trailer indicating LEFT then RIGHT then LEFT - when in fact - it was merely the incorrect disconnections of earth - occurring with side lights on only - & no turn operating - just a VERY bad earthing system.
Or - the brakes lit but no lamp lit at the back (with another faulty earth again) ..
So how are those lights after a year still good? Any issues?
I have had no issues with them. They still work perfectly. The trailer is stored inside tho.
by the way...what travel trailer is that?
It is a Grand Design 2800bh
My heavy duty (7,500 lb) trailer has a factory 7 pin. Center pin is a ground and has no backup link available
B/S = all seven pin flat connectors have not only an aux/rev connection pin, but also a SERVICE brake circuit pin (for providing power to operate electric override brakes - &/or to charge a service brake back-up battery, that automatically needs to provide independent power whenever the trailer disconnects when being towed, via the tow hitch breakaway failure system) ..
The pin connections (a universal code) of the 7 pin connector plug/sockets are:
Pin 1 = Left-Hand Turn (Yellow Wire)
Pin 2 = Reverse Signal (Black Wire)
Pin 3 = Earth Return (White Wire) -
NB: Use the 7 pin connector itself & NEVER rely on the trailer hitch for earth (as that often may NOT make any connection)
Pin 4 = Right-Hand Turn (Green Wire)
Pin 5 = Service Brakes &/or Trailer Battery Charger (Blue Wire)
Pin 6 = STOP Lamps (Red Wire)
Pin 7 = Tail Lamps & Side Marker lamps - plus Clearance / Alley / lamps etc.
(and there are another 5 pins that are available or additional circuits of higher current draw - if using the 12 pin flat connectors that most caravan's have to use nowadays)
So - use either of those 2 unused pins (Pin 2, or Pin 5) for any aux circuit/s to suit yourself, if you do NOT have electric override brakes as you can have any secondary aux circuit for either a rev or a trailer aux battery charger, such that one of the two extra pins is for Reverse, and say - use the "service" pin circuit for an "always on when connected to the tow vehicle" powered feed - to CHARGE an on-board trailer service battery, so that the "LED REVERSE" (&/or any other work lamp you add there as well) can be powered directly with a work-lamp switch - when reversing with the tow vehicle & when trailer is parked & not attached to anything (when it is without a tow vehicle attached) so that you also now have a fully independent control panel of switched circuits on the trailer - via an aux work light switch - that can full power them from the trailer battery - to allow you to work at the back (or anywhere on or around the trailer at night, depending on how many aux circuits you run - off that trailer battery).
ie:
Have dedicated reverse LEDS plus say six or ten EXTRA (work lamps) that can be flicked on - when working around the entire trailer - or at the park site - without needing to be connected to any tow vehicle..
An always connected trailer battery system - (charged when being towed, via the service pin circuit) also allows you to "fit" a discrete vehicle alarm system - to ensure no one nicks your trailer - if left parked somewhere.. as an "incorrect" connection to anyone else's 7 pin trailer tow connection will automatically trip the "do not steal me" trailer alarm..
PLUS - if an alarm is to be fitted, I'd also make sure that you DO NOT use the normal circuits as labelled, but devise your own pins for wiring the various lamps, so that a L turn on tow vehicle - operates the LED brake lights, a R turn the bright reverse lights, the tail light tow vehicle circuit - ONLY one amber lamp glows, with say the brake circuit - wired where the R turn is supposed to be connected - to totally screw up a thief's attempt to tow away your trailer - with it's uniquely cock-up light pins .. wired to work ONLY when towed by your vehicle.
NB:
If you intend towing MORE Than just that trailer - then you would not only have to "change" your vehicle's own 7-pin connections - you would probably best also make a secondary cord-set - to plug into your lopsided outlet, and "correct" the oddball pin configuration you use - back into a normal trailer's 7 pin design, to allow your vehicle to tow someone else's normally wired trailer.
Or - have two 7-pin outlets fitted to your tow vehicle - one wired correctly for anyone else's trailer to be towed by you, and the "OTHER" 7-pin socket wired to deliberately cock-up the circuitry of your tow vehicle & work trailer combo - to thwart anyone's attempt to "drive away" with (as in steal) your trailer - as it WILL NOT OPERATE the correct lights, unless connected to your odd-ball tow outlet.
A pain in the B-hind maybe - but well worth disguising your own trailer/tow vehicle's connections by odd-balling these - to stop anyone nicking your wonderfully well thought out, & profoundly well-lit work/trailer..
Oh and if your tow vehicle doesn't have a reverse signal circuit anyways - fitting a flick switch somewhere near the Dashboard - will allow you to manually operate the trailer reverse lights, even if the tow vehicle doesn't have any reverse lamp circuit itself.?
In other words .. if your vehicle DOES NOT HAVE ANY REVERSE LIGHT CIRCUIT (at all) - such as older tractors without signal/turn / brake or stop / reverse functions..
ALL YOU NEED are various push buttons for STOP & TURN signals
And use a flick-over (SPDT) switch for (always on at night) tail lamps,
With either option of a push/momentary switch or any SPDT/DPDT switches for reverse &/or aux work lamp circuits..
ONE SET OF THESE on the tractor driver's normal dashboard position and a secondary (parallel circuit) set - on the trailer itself.
That way - your trailer itself, can become an ADDITIONAL LIGHTING SOURCE - out in the middle of a worksite paddock - well away from the vehicle that towed it there, such as being used for the control center / repair workshop for 24 hour harvesting operations - that need a suitable "site" to repair equipment or tools that need servicing - whenever one doesn't always have the tow vehicle available (it may be elsewhere - or it may be the tractor that is being used to tow another implement - whilst the one you are fixing sits beside the trailer / field workshop).
IF (a big if) - !!!
IF you also decide to have say a portable generator on the trailer - it can recharge the trailer battery whilst providing AC mains - for a welder & other mains operated repair equipment etc..
@@QUIX4U nice.... thanks for the info
A few things.
At 6:10 you say the existing wires on the trailer come in that huge insulated harness, THEY DON"T. the wires are all separated or not in one big harness. To me what you showed, is that you just cut into the harness and left all the connections elsewhere. Not good. You made more points of failure.
6:52 you put the lights right at the back end of the trailer where it is most likely to hit the ground if your go into a dip. You have NO protection if the rear end of the trailer bottoms out.. NOT GOOD.
You put the light facing straight back. They should not be overlapping. They should be facing outward. With as little overlap as possible. There is NO use for them to light up what is directly behind you. Even if you had a camera like you have at 9:20. If you can't see or don't know what is directly behind you without a camera you shouldn't be backing there anyway. On my property there are two trees that I don't want to hit, so I want to light up them on the side, not directly behind me. @10:04 if you didn't have that camera, you couldn't see right behind you nor to the sides. NOT GOOD. and those posts on your house just disappear. is it better to see more of then to indicate that you are parallel to the house. 11:22 shows how you can't see the building harly at all after you pass the corner.
Ok. Normally I do not respond to comments like this, But in this case I will. I understand everyone does things differently and has there own opinions. This video was to just show different ways to wire backup lights. The wires you saw hooded to the box were from the previous wiring harness. I hear you say more points of failure. I will agree Normally there would be, But not in this case. This trailer is only used in summer never in winter with salt conditions. You also comment on the lights being mounted on the rear of trailer. There is no other place to mount the lights. The license plate hangs down 6 inches below the lights. In the past 12 years of using this trailer on roads and off road in woods collecting firewood have I ever bottomed out the plate. I'm sure there fine. For the overlap . It is a 12 foot utility trailer. I am not trying to light up the world around me. I like light straight behind me if I am just plain backing up, or backing up in the garage. I fo not back up in the forest so it works well. There was no backup camera in the SUV. The video was to show what it looked like at different angles. The car used was way to old to have a backup cam. Not to mention I would hope I would not need a backup cam for a 12 foot trailer. You can wire your trailer how ever you like. You can mount your lights wherever you like. You can overlap your lights however you like. Ots your trailer, Wire it how you want. I think you are putting to much though into this video.
@@steiger256 Nothing to stop anyone who always bottoms out a trailer (as they obviously do) to fit lights on a high (over the top) bar - so that only low tree branches will wipe them off...
Oh & I wonder what they would yell about MY trailer's existing wiring harness eh?
It doesn't have a huge (insulated) wiring harness - it has 32mm Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) undergound water pipes as it's "wiring harness protection" - so getting into that - is a right pain in the posterior, as it's also 4mm thick walled to start with and run inside the C channels of the trailer frame - for added protection..
& that talk of "Insulated harness" be buggah'd too.
Be useless if any wiring harness WAS NOT insulated - as how the hell does one keep any wire from "shorting out' without insulation...?