LED lights for boat trailer wiring tips

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I ordered a set of LED trailer lights from Amazon. They were obviously mailed from China and each unit has three wires from the back; black, red and green. I double checked with them by Email and here are the wiring specifics. The black is the ground. The red is for the turn light/ brake light. The green is for taillight which illuminates when the vehicle lights are on.

Soooo, for a normal North American boat trailer harness this what worked for me:

Rear Left light

Black to ground or to white ground wire from harness
Red to yellow from harness
Green to Brown from harness


Rear Right Light

Black to ground or to white ground from harness
Red to green from harness
Green to brown from harness

Works fine. Here is a pic. PS. No moaning about Amazon please. There are other postings for that. Thanks.

 
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Do not over tighten the bolts holding the light to the frame. Some lights have been cracked and when submerged water gets in.

I hope you did not use any of those cheesy blue connectors where you squeeze with pliers and then flip the cap over.

I use liquid tape on every crimp connector to seal it.
 
Looks great to me. One question do you get things into Canada without import duty or is that why they are opening shop in Vancouver BC now?
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Do not over tighten the bolts holding the light to the frame. Some lights have been cracked and when submerged water gets in.

I hope you did not use any of those cheesy blue connectors where you squeeze with pliers and then flip the cap over.

I use liquid tape on every crimp connector to seal it.


License plate light? (required in US)
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: Donald
Do not over tighten the bolts holding the light to the frame. Some lights have been cracked and when submerged water gets in.

I hope you did not use any of those cheesy blue connectors where you squeeze with pliers and then flip the cap over.

I use liquid tape on every crimp connector to seal it.


License plate light? (required in US)
If it was OEM, yes.
 
Those trailer lights look very nice and I'll bet the bulbs won't burn out like incandescent either. How much did they cost?
 
Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot

Rear Left light
Black to ground or to white ground wire from harness
Red to yellow from harness
Green to Brown from harness


Rear Right Light
Black to ground or to white ground from harness
Red to green from harness
Green to brown from harness


WEIRD!!!!!
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Do not over tighten the bolts holding the light to the frame. Some lights have been cracked and when submerged water gets in.

I hope you did not use any of those cheesy blue connectors where you squeeze with pliers and then flip the cap over.

I use liquid tape on every crimp connector to seal it.


Agree on the blue pieces of junk. I soldered the connections joining each set of two wires than used shrink tubes over top. ( had to try remember to slide the tube over first).
 
Originally Posted By: JohnnyJohnson
Looks great to me. One question do you get things into Canada without import duty or is that why they are opening shop in Vancouver BC now?


We actually use Amazon.ca so all the items are priced with any applicable duties built in. US made goods are duty free anyway (for now). Pricing is in Canadian dollars. Amazon’s expansion into Vancouver might help. Seems like our Chinese made stuff clears in LA but now might clear in Vancouver.
 
Originally Posted By: Yah-Tah-Hey
Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: Donald
Do not over tighten the bolts holding the light to the frame. Some lights have been cracked and when submerged water gets in.

I hope you did not use any of those cheesy blue connectors where you squeeze with pliers and then flip the cap over.

I use liquid tape on every crimp connector to seal it.


License plate light? (required in US)
If it was OEM, yes.


The left lighting unit has a built in LED license plate light but the ground clearance is too low to hang the plate below it. Thanks for asking.
 
Originally Posted By: Dave1027
Those trailer lights look very nice and I'll bet the bulbs won't burn out like incandescent either. How much did they cost?


They were $35 Canadian compared with $70 Canadian at the local stores. Multiply by 0.7 for US dollars.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
FYI - boat trailers are famous for having flacky grounds. I typically wire use a ground wire, not trust the frame.


Agree. Gets sort of weak, from light to bracket, bracket to fender, fender to main frame, frame to vehicle.
 
Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
Originally Posted By: Donald
FYI - boat trailers are famous for having flacky grounds. I typically wire use a ground wire, not trust the frame.


Agree. Gets sort of weak, from light to bracket, bracket to fender, fender to main frame, frame to vehicle.


I went ahead and ran a white ground wire from where the harness to the vehicle meets the trailer frame, used a plumbers tape to pull the wire through the boat frame to an exit point adjacent to the axle. I then ran the wire to the ground wire of the tailight and after soldering connections bolted them to the mounting bolt of the light against the frame. I then made up another connector to cross over to the other taillight. Works great.
 
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