Got everything working except the dang l/h turn signal. It worked for a minute a couple days ago, so I thought all was gooder, but Nooooo. There has GOT to be a better way.
WildWildWest has rewired the horsetrailer a few times over the years, too bad the fix was not permanent
All I can offer is run a true wired ground to each light and back to the harness. The chassis ground will fail. Oh, I can also offer some encouragement in the form of this guy and him too
I pulled the chassis ground and cleaned a little, then put it back and still had the problem. I suppose I could run a ground all the way back.
"run a ground all the way back" ... lighting with ground wires connected together and all the way up to the vehicle are the only way to beat the chassis corrosion probs, long term.
That's a good idea fastest way to find the problem though is with one of these, start at the beginning and work your way back
Actual "Best way" is to run a jumper wire all the way back to the battery negative post for testing purposes. If you have for example 12.5V across the battery, anything different at test points (lower at a connection point) indicates a resistance dropping voltage. When testing turn signals the dash light and flasher will drop voltage a bit because of the lightbulb but not much. If your vehicle tail lights have been working(don't rule them out) it's good to start at the trailer harness(vehicle side) connection and work back
Light bulb voltage testers tell you if a bulb will light go/no-go they don't really show where your TRUE problem is. You could have 8-9V at your harness that may light the bulb but more resistance in the trailer makes it fail to light. If you knew you had 8-9V at the harness you'd probably fix the harness connection in a few minutes and be back in business
I don't even try to use a chassis ground. They just never last. Run all the grounds through the plug. Use jacketed cable and an RV style plug so you dont need an adapter (when going 7 pin to 4 flat) buy enough cable to reach the tail lights without splicing
I feel your pain. I bought a trailer last fall which was supposedly 'Amish built' in Elkhart, IN. The trailer was built well, but the second time I used it the running lights wouldn't work. I found the trailer light fuse in the truck was blown, replaced it and it immediately blew again. I found a short between ground and the running light wire at the trailer harness connector. Rather than mess around, I bought a new harness and re-wired it. There were 14 splices in the wiring on a 5x8 trailer, and not just where the rear lights and side lights were connected to the harness. Scotch locks must have been on special that day. No problems at all since I re-wired it.
That's the crazy part. Last time I had the tractor in the shop, I left the trailer there and they completely rewired it for me, including new lights. Worked for a minute. I'm still thinking it's in the harness in the Jeep.
ThAt could be. I like to take a battery and test leads and check each wire at the plug. That way you can eliminate the vehicle. Also check if there are fuses for the trailer lights on the jeep. My 05 Chevy truck has fuses and I blew one once and spent an hour looking at wiring before I found out no power at truck.
Last time I looked, no blown fuses. Would there be a fuse specifically for the L/H turn signal? That would seem odd. All lights on the Jeep work. This......... is what's in the Jeep, but labeled Draw-Tite.
Wouldn't that be the easy thing to do? I don't do easy. Well, the lights and wiring are all brand new as of, well now I don't remember, but not very old. Anything's possible.
Yes under the hood of my truck is a seperate fuse box and it was specifically for trailer turn. Had nothing to do with truck lights
What did you expect, Amish don't know nuttin 'bout wiring! Oh, and I agree, ground wire direct to each lite, good idea! If it doesn't fix the problem this time it will prevent one in the future. LED lites are nice too
