@@christopherscott8853hard work is tough on exposed parts. You could protect the lighting better, but you could also just replace a cheap light or two when the time comes.
I have an older truck 2008, so maybe it's common and I don't know about it, but I am impressed that the truck was able to identify and notify you that you had a tail light out on your trailer!
My 21' F150 let me test all of my trailer lights through the Ford app so you could just press a button and watch them go through a sequence while you stood behind the trailer. Not sure if that was standard or part of the tow technology and max tow packages, but man was that feature cool.
@@JCunning9 .... not everyone realizes this but trailer lamps have only 2 filaments in each bulb so by turning on the 4 way flashers and the parking lights you are checking everything. IOW, the signals and brake lights use the same filament as the 4 ways. No need to go through the whole process unless you are wiring from scratch with a new harness. In that case you want to make sure right and left signals are on the correct sides.... but only necessary the first time.
In 1977 my father bought a light duty trailer that was "homemade" by a person who later became an industrial scale trailer manufacturer... so it is well made and still running after 45 years. It still has the original set of tail lights.. and the reg plate is bolted to the trailer metal.. we only ever get one plate in the life of the trailer. The wiring has been redone and is now clipped into the C channel frame of the trailer. Bearing buddies mean only one set of bearings replaced in those 45 years.
@@ronniecox109 No as this trailer was made in New Zealand.... It seems there were very good trailer manufacturers all around the world way back then... Today?
I don't know I'm with Bill. Those crimps places where the outer insulation is basically a heat shrink tube are tops for me! I know that I can crimp the wire correctly and it will be a reliable splice but because I am adding heat to a plastic tube to hopefully melt the solder correctly but can't go too far for fear of burning it you kind of stuck and I don't really care for that. Glad it works for some though. It just doesn't give me the warm-and-fuzzy like the crimp version
I use the plastic heat shrink splices at work, once you crimp and shrink the holding power is unbelievable and it makes your joint weatherproof. We also add some convoluted loom to cover the remaining exposed wire from the elements. Makes a really clean factory looking job and protects the wires for years. I work as a wire tech for a company that builds firetrucks, so we might use what we do to for over engineering purposes, but the results are hard to second guess. Either way his work looked good and he used some heat shrink to keep water out the connection.
If you're using heat shrink tubing, use uninsulated butt connectors. And use marine shrink tubing; it's lined with hot melt adhesive to stop any water entry via capillary action.
In Florida you can use a Motorcycle Size Tag for your trailer. Waaay less chance of it getting damaged at the smaller size. Hope that helps. Ask at your DMV, possibly your state does it as well. As Always, May God Bless you and yours! 😇
Great vid. Few things I've learned. My lights and wire been on my trailer for 17 years. Use sealed bulbs. Soldier all connections with shrink. And always connect all grounds directly to the plug then tow vehicle. You won't put lights on every few years.
Yup I've lost one with the plastic bracket. Learned my lesson and made one from a 12"x18" 16 gauge plate. Cut in half, double stacked to make it 1/8" thick, cut to fit around trailer lower frame and rounded the edges so there's no sharp corners and match the roundness of the license plate. Spray painted the plates to prevent rusting for as long as possible. I wanted to do 1/4" steel but didn't want to spend the $20 more one the plate.
Running an individual ground wire to each light is a good way to increase reliability of the lights, compared to frame ground. You can get those crimp connectors with the heat shrink and adhesive lining built in. They are very nice.
I use right side tail lights on my trls I work on. License plate not mounted with those brackets except the boat trl. I'm working on doing a full rewire and all new led flush mount lights on equipment trl and it will lit nice and have backup lights
I bought my Harbor Frieght trailer in 1995. Over the years I made some upgrades like LED lights. Still have that trailer. You just need to remember greasing the wheel bearings every 1000 miles.
Thanks for taking care of your trailer. It’s annoying when I see people driving down the freeway with 1 trailer light out. Or even all of them, and it’s nice to see you made the trailer safer and did LED tail lights !
I use the shrink connector’s also. I then use liquid electrical tape to cover them. Then wrap them with tape and cover them again with the liquid tape. The same with the ground before I paint it. No corrosion and it’s harder to pull apart. I’ve done this for years on utility and boat trailers. Even holds up when dipped in the salt water. Thanks for sharing. It’s really important to have trailer lights in good working order.
Nicely done. Some would just ignore such problems for a long time. U could also spray paint first and then add contact washers to bite into the material and also prevent loosening over time.
Gotta love Harbor Freight trailering lights. I just use the magnetic lights so I can stow them away and use one lighting system for my trailers. I gave up using bolt-on lights.
I think it's really interesting that modern trucks tell you exactly which light isn't working! I had that happen and all I had to do was recheck the wiring behind the lens and it worked great!
For a very short time when I was about 19 years 20 years old. I worked at a a place that did repairs on trailers. Even the most complicated trailers were simple, easy fixes and I am still so amazed at how much companies and people will throw money away because a simple problem on a trailer shows up and they just get rid of the trailer The shop I worked at routinely would replace the wires from front to back including any wires that was required with trailer brakes. Change out the trailer brakes but it's just amazing people will get rid of things that work. Just do a little maintenance on it. I'm glad you're on here showing people how to do some cool things
I like your tip on the metal license plate bracket I'd go on to add a small hinge at the top of that so that way if you back over something to run over something to play Just pushes out the way instead of ripping itself off
That's actually pretty cool that it tells you a trailer light is out. My 100k kenworth won't even do that on the 80k trailer that is attached to it. If it thinks something is wrong with a turn signal, it just hyper blinks in the cab, but the outside lights still blink normal.
I had to replace trailer signal lights several times and my newer truck lets me know that there's a light problem. It's one of those high-tech things that I like. Hope your lights hold up for you.
I've got a newer version of the same truck. A 2022 Chevy Silverado RST - Z71. My dash is about the same - and this actually happened tome last week-end! LOL When I left... everything was working. Later that afternoon... the truck told me the drivers side was out. Just like this.
Use marine grade but connectors. When you crimp, it has heat shrink tube as part of it and an epoxy that is activated by heat. So when you shrink the tubing, it melts a water proof epoxy sealing it and GLUEing the connection together. Making it stronger then the wire. If you pull on the wire, the wire will break apart and your connection will not pull or corrode.
A lot of people don’t know it but you are supposed to look down through the barrel of a solderless connector and see the Divot in the middle or the split down the middle and put one side of your crimper directly over the split so it will collapse inward on both sides of TWISTED wire equally. This is especially important on a heavy application With a lot of current draw.
I mounted all the lights on all the low bed trailers on 30 ga. galv. steel sheet stock, yes very thin, still capable of grounds, but bends out of the way instead of breaking any lights, works like a charm!
I have started to solder my wires and water resistance heat shrink tubing. I use a mini-butane torch. I have started going this route, with all of my outdoor equipment, vehicles, and even certain AC applications. The extra few seconds it takes is well worth it.
There was a TSB sent to all of the GM dealers that they were not supposed to solder any wiring in the vehicle. had the shrink tubes that you would clamp on the wire and then heat it up and you'd see the little stuff ooze out of it. The reason for not soldering is that GM figured that vibrations would crack the brittle soldered connection. Or maybe GM figured out that none of their techs knew how to solder correctly. So now you are damned if you solder damned if you splice and heat shrink.
@@scottp5331 I personally have never seen a soldered wire, come apart from either vibration or temp changes. Not sure why the would not want someone doing this. The heat shrink tubing is the kind with a water resistant glue that comes out, and is rated by 3M to last through temp and sun for years. Even exposure to dipping in water, like say a boat ramp. I guess they want us to buy a full wire connection from GM directly... a few hundred dollars or more.
Warms my heart to see someone using heatshrinks. Too many times, people use those butt connectors without sealing it off from the elements, and then they don't understand why the same electrical problems reoccur in only a few months.
Very cool. Consider getting a better set of crimpers (and aligning the slot of the connector with the half moon in the crimping pliers) and using dielectric grease. Just a thought.
You missed one key piece of information...the blue (can be any color) Heat Shrink to seal the connector from moisture. (I put a small amount of wheel axel grease in both ends of the connector to be sure NO water gets in), then I Heat Shrink it. Good Video!
Here’s my suggestion. Keep the lights you have but double down and add in a set of Flowing LED Turn Signal Strips. They’ll last forever, low power needed to work, and way better visibility for the drivers behind you.
Good to use the heat shrink on those connections but make sure you use the kind that has an inner coating of hot glue that seals the connections from moisture. I myself just twist the wires together using the WWII linesman's tie and then solder them together and then put on the heat shrink. If you really want to make your setup last decades, go inside the lamp fixtures and spray paint the other ends of the wires because they can suffer from the corrosion that happens with dissimilar metal contacts, not to mention moisture creeping through the inside of the wires.
Highly recommend the integrated heat shrink connectors. Make a much more waterproof connection than heat shrink over the older style. Or for really good watertight connection that's later serviceable you could go all out with deutsch connectors but that's a bit overkill.
I would have done more than this, but it's still an improvement over the previous condition. Also, you don't necessarily need the more expensive and harder to find hot melt sealant type of shrink tubing. RTV or E6000 work just as well, and you might already have at least one of them.
I'd use solder heatstrinks instead, it's basically a heatstrink witb built in solder in the middle, so you put it over one wire tie the wires together put the solder part right over the wires and heat it up using a lighter or heat gun and it seals it and it's soldered so no chance of kt coming loose especially if you tie the wires together good
I also have a trailer I bought 23 years ago but up here in Minnesota with the salt they use on the roads in the winter is petty rough on it. I also have replaced tail light several time over the years. Its a 5x8 and I payed $600 for it back then and it payed for it self 10 times over, but its time for a new one. I have been looking and something comparable to the one I bought 23 years ago is about $1500.
I know you like your connectors, but if I can give a suggestion, look in to in to solder/seal connectors, they're even easier to use and are waterproof. :)
Nice job in my old job I always haul a trailer because of the job equipment and the lights were always not working properly but I went to a place here locally called burton auto and industrial amd I bought a set of the led trailer lights and from there on two years pass and no problem the led tail lights last along time
Maybe someone mentioned this already but I saw you used heat shrink over the crimp connectors. Just so you know there are crimp connectors with heat shrink built into the outer coating instead of the hard plastic that work really slick. I wouldn’t use anything else if I was going to do a wiring project on a vehicle or trailer
Trailer lights can be a pain. Manufacturer's don't seem to care if they have good connections either. After grinding the metal, I always smear a little dielectric grease on the terminal before tightening the bolt. That way it won't corrode in a year or two.
I use LED lights made in Argentina, Baiml brand, they are more than 10 years old and just a couple of bulbs burn out. instead of being screwed they go inside a rubber support embedded in the chassis
I have a rubber/plastic thing for the plate, but I put with it a piece of metal so it doesn’t flex in the water (it’s a boat trailer), super efficient. Put one on my motomarine after😅
It would be a lot easier to just get some crimp connectors that are heat shrink ones than using the cheap crappy ones that aren't waterproof and then putting heat shrink on top of those.
Eliminate the weak frame ground. Use a grounded outdoor extension cord with 3 conductors as wiring. Run the cord to each light. Crimp and heat shrink connections. Use loom or other protection. Lasts for years.
preinsulated wire connectors like the one you ued need to be crimped odwn with its correct crimper. because it has a different shape. The one you used is not gonna have enough strenght to hold the cables in. I tested it and with some movement and a firm pull I was able to take the cables out everytime
@@hausplans oh cool i haven't seen that video yet. Gonna check it out. I'm electrician and I never crimp stuff if it doesn't have the cricket system. It strains your hand very easily and the result is not a good connection
Serious question from someone who’s just curious, where would the electricity go if it needs to follow a ground path? I mean the car and the trailer are on rubber wheels. There’s gotta be somewhere it could go that I don’t know about so I’m asking here for my own education.
Use commercial truck sealed lights. You'll never change them again. And use heat shrink on the connectors. Not surprised you've used so many. My 20 plus year old trailer still has the originals.
i just wonder if the truck even said "nope, there isn't a working trailer-light" 'cause of the fact, that you're using a LED instead of a normal lightbulb. when it worked, then it's good (seems so, even when i'm wondering that you only had 3 cables, and put the ground wire direct at the frame) - we here use to route all the cables, so that the frame doesn't need to put the "ground" from a vehicle. good, 'cause of europe, we need 2 wires more (for the turning signals, 'cause they're amber and are located seperately to the brake-lights).
FYSA use dielectric grease on your connectors and grounds. It will keep out water and corrosion. Also go with sealed LED lights since they are now cheaper and last a very long time.
I’ve seen license plates attached to the fender. Just bend it with the contour and put 4 bolts in it. It changes the orientation but it’ll never get ripped off.
Thank you for maintaining your trailer lights. Here in north Florida, most contractors don’t care and for some reason, neither do the police.
6 sets of tail lights in 23 years? Somethings wrong here....lol.
@@christopherscott8853
Never owned a trailer or dont use one much?
@@markchidester6239 Correct, but needing to replace every 3.8 years seems excessive....unless it's physical damage?
@@christopherscott8853hard work is tough on exposed parts. You could protect the lighting better, but you could also just replace a cheap light or two when the time comes.
Who cares 🤣
I have an older truck 2008, so maybe it's common and I don't know about it, but I am impressed that the truck was able to identify and notify you that you had a tail light out on your trailer!
My 21' F150 let me test all of my trailer lights through the Ford app so you could just press a button and watch them go through a sequence while you stood behind the trailer. Not sure if that was standard or part of the tow technology and max tow packages, but man was that feature cool.
Yeah, it’s pretty cool and that truck is already five years old
@@JCunning9 What did that 21 set you back at? Family has always been f150 fans but prices now are up there.
@@JCunning9 .... not everyone realizes this but trailer lamps have only 2 filaments in each bulb so by turning on the 4 way flashers and the parking lights you are checking everything. IOW, the signals and brake lights use the same filament as the 4 ways. No need to go through the whole process unless you are wiring from scratch with a new harness. In that case you want to make sure right and left signals are on the correct sides.... but only necessary the first time.
Here in the UK, our cars tell you an indicator bulb is out, by flashing the remaining indicator(s), and dashboard repeater, at double the normal rate.
In 1977 my father bought a light duty trailer that was "homemade" by a person who later became an industrial scale trailer manufacturer...
so it is well made and still running after 45 years.
It still has the original set of tail lights..
and the reg plate is bolted to the trailer metal..
we only ever get one plate in the life of the trailer.
The wiring has been redone and is now clipped into the C channel frame of the trailer.
Bearing buddies mean only one set of bearings replaced in those 45 years.
Very nice
If the lights were metal also theyd last longer
Was it a Hooper out of Ga?
@@ronniecox109
No as this trailer was made in New Zealand....
It seems there were very good trailer manufacturers all around the world way back then...
Today?
👍
Use a hinged license plate bracket they work great and thanks for maintaining your tail lights so many do not I see it daily
They make connectors that have heat shrink with sealant. For exposed splices I have found nothing better .
P.S. For a quick splice .
I have it’s called rosin core solder lol
I don't know I'm with Bill. Those crimps places where the outer insulation is basically a heat shrink tube are tops for me!
I know that I can crimp the wire correctly and it will be a reliable splice but because I am adding heat to a plastic tube to hopefully melt the solder correctly but can't go too far for fear of burning it you kind of stuck and I don't really care for that.
Glad it works for some though. It just doesn't give me the warm-and-fuzzy like the crimp version
I use the plastic heat shrink splices at work, once you crimp and shrink the holding power is unbelievable and it makes your joint weatherproof. We also add some convoluted loom to cover the remaining exposed wire from the elements. Makes a really clean factory looking job and protects the wires for years.
I work as a wire tech for a company that builds firetrucks, so we might use what we do to for over engineering purposes, but the results are hard to second guess. Either way his work looked good and he used some heat shrink to keep water out the connection.
@@SteezinSeason420 nope lol
@@SteezinSeason420 hello, 1975 called and they want their solder, extension cord and soldering iron back😂
If you're using heat shrink tubing, use uninsulated butt connectors. And use marine shrink tubing; it's lined with hot melt adhesive to stop any water entry via capillary action.
That’s how I do it.
You can also use RTV or E6000.
This is the way.
In Florida you can use a Motorcycle Size Tag for your trailer. Waaay less chance of it getting damaged at the smaller size.
Hope that helps. Ask at your DMV, possibly your state does it as well.
As Always, May God Bless you and yours! 😇
👍
Never thought of that. But I've never seen it either.
@@joewoodchuck3824 I hope it works where you are. As Always, May God Bless you and yours! 😇
Great vid. Few things I've learned. My lights and wire been on my trailer for 17 years. Use sealed bulbs. Soldier all connections with shrink. And always connect all grounds directly to the plug then tow vehicle. You won't put lights on every few years.
Thats pretty cool. Nice job man.
Thanks!
I love how you heat shrink the butt connectors! Very thorough and professional. Nice video. Thanks.
Thanks
Yup I've lost one with the plastic bracket. Learned my lesson and made one from a 12"x18" 16 gauge plate. Cut in half, double stacked to make it 1/8" thick, cut to fit around trailer lower frame and rounded the edges so there's no sharp corners and match the roundness of the license plate. Spray painted the plates to prevent rusting for as long as possible. I wanted to do 1/4" steel but didn't want to spend the $20 more one the plate.
Sounds like your license plate isn’t not going anywhere now👍
Put a swing hinge on the license plate
Upon being hit the plate swings , moves
Here, we just bolt it to the fender.
@@mrsducky3428 yeah thing about that is almost no one adds a license plate light to it as well.
Instructive and very clear steps! Thanks for posting video and very clear audio!
You are welcome!
Good to see you're hanging out with the new guy.
Glad to see the heat shrink over the butt connectors. Keeps the connection waterproof, too.
Running an individual ground wire to each light is a good way to increase reliability of the lights, compared to frame ground.
You can get those crimp connectors with the heat shrink and adhesive lining built in. They are very nice.
I got that type of connector for the full trailer rewire, you should check out the video. They did work really nice and it was faster👍
I use right side tail lights on my trls I work on. License plate not mounted with those brackets except the boat trl. I'm working on doing a full rewire and all new led flush mount lights on equipment trl and it will lit nice and have backup lights
I bought my Harbor Frieght trailer in 1995. Over the years I made some upgrades like LED lights. Still have that trailer. You just need to remember greasing the wheel bearings every 1000 miles.
Have you got Bearing Buddies??
Thank you! I didn't know that! Mine is from 2020 but I'll add that to the yearly maintenance 👍
Damn the truck can tell you when a light is out? I remember having to change the flasher relay every time I hooked up or disconnected the trailer
The magic of CAN BUS.
Thanks for taking care of your trailer. It’s annoying when I see people driving down the freeway with 1 trailer light out. Or even all of them, and it’s nice to see you made the trailer safer and did LED tail lights !
I use the shrink connector’s also. I then use liquid electrical tape to cover them. Then wrap them with tape and cover them again with the liquid tape. The same with the ground before I paint it. No corrosion and it’s harder to pull apart. I’ve done this for years on utility and boat trailers. Even holds up when dipped in the salt water. Thanks for sharing. It’s really important to have trailer lights in good working order.
I recommend the hinged trailer bracket, that way it doesn't bend when you lift it up to move it around or hit a steep slope.
That a good idea
Nicely done. Some would just ignore such problems for a long time.
U could also spray paint first and then add contact washers to bite into the material and also prevent loosening over time.
Gotta love Harbor Freight trailering lights. I just use the magnetic lights so I can stow them away and use one lighting system for my trailers. I gave up using bolt-on lights.
I think it's really interesting that modern trucks tell you exactly which light isn't working! I had that happen and all I had to do was recheck the wiring behind the lens and it worked great!
For a very short time when I was about 19 years 20 years old. I worked at a a place that did repairs on trailers. Even the most complicated trailers were simple, easy fixes and I am still so amazed at how much companies and people will throw money away because a simple problem on a trailer shows up and they just get rid of the trailer The shop I worked at routinely would replace the wires from front to back including any wires that was required with trailer brakes. Change out the trailer brakes but it's just amazing people will get rid of things that work. Just do a little maintenance on it. I'm glad you're on here showing people how to do some cool things
Thanks 😊
👍🏽 Thank you for doing that. Now you have kept yourself and others safe. ❤🎉
I like your tip on the metal license plate bracket I'd go on to add a small hinge at the top of that so that way if you back over something to run over something to play Just pushes out the way instead of ripping itself off
Oooooh, that is a good tip
My boat trailer has a hinged plate mount.
That wiring is as good as it gets apart from just soldering the wores and heat shricking. Nice work man.
Thanks 👍
Me with my 1980’s homemade trailer I bought from some dude that still has the original taillights and they both work fine
This guy is going places, maybe the 7th times a charm....
So easy..but yet so perfect...i love work like this
That's actually pretty cool that it tells you a trailer light is out. My 100k kenworth won't even do that on the 80k trailer that is attached to it. If it thinks something is wrong with a turn signal, it just hyper blinks in the cab, but the outside lights still blink normal.
Well done! New ones look great.
🫡
I had to replace trailer signal lights several times and my newer truck lets me know that there's a light problem. It's one of those high-tech things that I like. Hope your lights hold up for you.
Thanks 😊
Nice job like the shrink tube over crimps, I’m gonna do my boat trailer👍
👍
Add petroleum jelly to the openings of the crimp to seal them up.
I've got a newer version of the same truck. A 2022 Chevy Silverado RST - Z71. My dash is about the same - and this actually happened tome last week-end! LOL When I left... everything was working. Later that afternoon... the truck told me the drivers side was out. Just like this.
Most people wouldn't care. I'm happy to know that there is one person that cares about their trailer lights.👍
Bro like you keep the world going. Respect
Use marine grade but connectors. When you crimp, it has heat shrink tube as part of it and an epoxy that is activated by heat. So when you shrink the tubing, it melts a water proof epoxy sealing it and GLUEing the connection together. Making it stronger then the wire. If you pull on the wire, the wire will break apart and your connection will not pull or corrode.
A lot of people don’t know it but you are supposed to look down through the barrel of a solderless connector and see the Divot in the middle or the split down the middle and put one side of your crimper directly over the split so it will collapse inward on both sides of TWISTED wire equally. This is especially important on a heavy application With a lot of current draw.
Very informative
Thanks
Great Work from Dublin Ireland 🙂👍🇮🇪🍀
Thanks
Had the same thing happen, resolved the same way and agree 100%!
👍
Learned my lesson with plate brackets. I always bolt mine to the fender or the drop down ramps. Never had a cop stop me.
You can tell this man has his life together in just a 60 sec vid I aspire to on his level by 30!!😂😂
It’s not always together😂
I mounted all the lights on all the low bed trailers on 30 ga. galv. steel sheet stock, yes very thin, still capable of grounds, but bends out of the way instead of breaking any lights, works like a charm!
Very nice!
I have started to solder my wires and water resistance heat shrink tubing. I use a mini-butane torch. I have started going this route, with all of my outdoor equipment, vehicles, and even certain AC applications.
The extra few seconds it takes is well worth it.
There was a TSB sent to all of the GM dealers that they were not supposed to solder any wiring in the vehicle. had the shrink tubes that you would clamp on the wire and then heat it up and you'd see the little stuff ooze out of it. The reason for not soldering is that GM figured that vibrations would crack the brittle soldered connection. Or maybe GM figured out that none of their techs knew how to solder correctly. So now you are damned if you solder damned if you splice and heat shrink.
@@scottp5331 I personally have never seen a soldered wire, come apart from either vibration or temp changes. Not sure why the would not want someone doing this.
The heat shrink tubing is the kind with a water resistant glue that comes out, and is rated by 3M to last through temp and sun for years. Even exposure to dipping in water, like say a boat ramp.
I guess they want us to buy a full wire connection from GM directly... a few hundred dollars or more.
Warms my heart to see someone using heatshrinks. Too many times, people use those butt connectors without sealing it off from the elements, and then they don't understand why the same electrical problems reoccur in only a few months.
Trailer looks great!
Nicely done!! And cool dog! He looked spunky
🐶👍
Very cool. Consider getting a better set of crimpers (and aligning the slot of the connector with the half moon in the crimping pliers) and using dielectric grease. Just a thought.
Check out the full trailer, rewire video. I get some better crimpers and use dialectic grease.
Great job, well done!
TY
Theres something so satisfying about repairing something you own
I agree
Cute little helper you got there !❤
New tail lights great! Dog adorable 🕊
👍🐶
You missed one key piece of information...the blue (can be any color) Heat Shrink to seal the connector from moisture. (I put a small amount of wheel axel grease in both ends of the connector to be sure NO water gets in), then I Heat Shrink it.
Good Video!
Thanks
Your dog is adorable
🐶👍
Here’s my suggestion. Keep the lights you have but double down and add in a set of Flowing LED Turn Signal Strips. They’ll last forever, low power needed to work, and way better visibility for the drivers behind you.
Very clean work buddy
Congratulations. You did it.
Thanks!
Good to use the heat shrink on those connections but make sure you use the kind that has an inner coating of hot glue that seals the connections from moisture. I myself just twist the wires together using the WWII linesman's tie and then solder them together and then put on the heat shrink.
If you really want to make your setup last decades, go inside the lamp fixtures and spray paint the other ends of the wires because they can suffer from the corrosion that happens with dissimilar metal contacts, not to mention moisture creeping through the inside of the wires.
😊 honestly the through connectors with the heat shrink is the best way if I have them all use a bullet connector and heat shrinking as well
I used heat shrink connectors in my full trailer rewire video, you should check it out👍
Highly recommend the integrated heat shrink connectors. Make a much more waterproof connection than heat shrink over the older style. Or for really good watertight connection that's later serviceable you could go all out with deutsch connectors but that's a bit overkill.
Also some heavier duty tail lights would prolly keep ya from having to replace em so often.
I would have done more than this, but it's still an improvement over the previous condition. Also, you don't necessarily need the more expensive and harder to find hot melt sealant type of shrink tubing. RTV or E6000 work just as well, and you might already have at least one of them.
You kinda need a tool for those connectors, you can make ‘em work without it but the connector is much more secure when you use it. Those are awesome.
Check out the full trailer rewire video, I bought a nice crimping tool and heat shrink crimps
I'd use solder heatstrinks instead, it's basically a heatstrink witb built in solder in the middle, so you put it over one wire tie the wires together put the solder part right over the wires and heat it up using a lighter or heat gun and it seals it and it's soldered so no chance of kt coming loose especially if you tie the wires together good
I also have a trailer I bought 23 years ago but up here in Minnesota with the salt they use on the roads in the winter is petty rough on it. I also have replaced tail light several time over the years. Its a 5x8 and I payed $600 for it back then and it payed for it self 10 times over, but its time for a new one. I have been looking and something comparable to the one I bought 23 years ago is about $1500.
Yeah, they’ve definitely gone up in price
Nice install video. Some White Lithium grease on those connections would be good. 😉
I know you like your connectors, but if I can give a suggestion, look in to in to solder/seal connectors, they're even easier to use and are waterproof. :)
I love fixing and modding things like this, I think a trailer will be perfect for me. 😂
Also helps to run actual ground wires back to the plug so you know it’s grounded properly
A good trailer is always good to have. Especially when you have bigger garbage or need to get soil for your garden etc.
Agree
Quality content right there 👌
Thanks
Nice job in my old job I always haul a trailer because of the job equipment and the lights were always not working properly but I went to a place here locally called burton auto and industrial amd I bought a set of the led trailer lights and from there on two years pass and no problem the led tail lights last along time
Loves these videos!!
Well done, just want to add that 3m makes a great heat shrink butt connector that will extend the life of those splices. Just a thought.
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Maybe someone mentioned this already but I saw you used heat shrink over the crimp connectors. Just so you know there are crimp connectors with heat shrink built into the outer coating instead of the hard plastic that work really slick. I wouldn’t use anything else if I was going to do a wiring project on a vehicle or trailer
I got some of those and used them for the full trailer rewire video. You’re right they are much quicker and probably a better seal
I rewired one a while back and it took a little wire with zip ties and cable wraps to prevent the steel from rubbing through like the old wire did.
Trailer lights can be a pain. Manufacturer's don't seem to care if they have good connections either. After grinding the metal, I always smear a little dielectric grease on the terminal before tightening the bolt. That way it won't corrode in a year or two.
Put something around the wires 🙏
I use LED lights made in Argentina, Baiml brand, they are more than 10 years old and just a couple of bulbs burn out. instead of being screwed they go inside a rubber support embedded in the chassis
I solder and heat shrink tube the wires. Better connection. Crimping is ok in a pinch.
I didn't even know trucks had trailer light diagnostics. Nice.
Only thing I would suggest would to be throw dielectric grease on the connections to help water proof them a bit
Nice work my friend, keeping good equipment in serviceable condtiotion.
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I have a rubber/plastic thing for the plate, but I put with it a piece of metal so it doesn’t flex in the water (it’s a boat trailer), super efficient. Put one on my motomarine after😅
Adorable dog
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It would be a lot easier to just get some crimp connectors that are heat shrink ones than using the cheap crappy ones that aren't waterproof and then putting heat shrink on top of those.
Nice, I like to solder the connections, since my guys beat the stuff up. And yeah, those plastic license plate brackets don't hold up
Eliminate the weak frame ground. Use a grounded outdoor extension cord with 3 conductors as wiring. Run the cord to each light. Crimp and heat shrink connections. Use loom or other protection. Lasts for years.
The age of the trailer is always a testament to how tough the things are my dad has a trailer that is 35 years old.
Nice
preinsulated wire connectors like the one you ued need to be crimped odwn with its correct crimper. because it has a different shape. The one you used is not gonna have enough strenght to hold the cables in. I tested it and with some movement and a firm pull I was able to take the cables out everytime
You should check out the full trailer rewire video. I ordered a quality crimper that’s designed for the heat shrink connectors i use.
@@hausplans oh cool i haven't seen that video yet. Gonna check it out. I'm electrician and I never crimp stuff if it doesn't have the cricket system. It strains your hand very easily and the result is not a good connection
Serious question from someone who’s just curious, where would the electricity go if it needs to follow a ground path? I mean the car and the trailer are on rubber wheels. There’s gotta be somewhere it could go that I don’t know about so I’m asking here for my own education.
Do yourself a favor and run a separate ground wire to each light. Your welcome.
Nice to see you used the heat shrink butt connectors, good job,
Use commercial truck sealed lights. You'll never change them again. And use heat shrink on the connectors. Not surprised you've used so many. My 20 plus year old trailer still has the originals.
I like the idea of sealed truck lights
If you put hot glue in the ends of the heat shrink before you heat it up it helps make the connection water tight.
i just wonder if the truck even said "nope, there isn't a working trailer-light" 'cause of the fact, that you're using a LED instead of a normal lightbulb. when it worked, then it's good (seems so, even when i'm wondering that you only had 3 cables, and put the ground wire direct at the frame) - we here use to route all the cables, so that the frame doesn't need to put the "ground" from a vehicle. good, 'cause of europe, we need 2 wires more (for the turning signals, 'cause they're amber and are located seperately to the brake-lights).
One of the prongs was broke on the plug-and that was causing the problem
You can spray your connector with wd40 as well it will keep it from going green. And you did the wiring the perfect way. 😊
WD40 wouldn't last more than few weeks.
Use dielectric grease.
FYSA use dielectric grease on your connectors and grounds. It will keep out water and corrosion.
Also go with sealed LED lights since they are now cheaper and last a very long time.
The tail lights were LED. I couldn’t find LED marker lard lights in our are, didn’t want to have to wait to order some
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Yeah I noticed that. You did great work all the way around. 100X better than most I see on trailers.
I’ve seen license plates attached to the fender. Just bend it with the contour and put 4 bolts in it. It changes the orientation but it’ll never get ripped off.
Unfortunately in my state are the cops will actually write you a ticket for having your license plate vertical.
@@hausplans That’s too bad.