Trailer wiring

[RockyF75]

Need to fix up a trailer i'm about to buy, and am thinking it will be easier to rewire it from scratch than patch up whats there.

Looking at these : http://www.allstatestrailerspares.com.a ... 10f7113623 - 4159B 7x5 Wiring Lume Inc 7 Pin Flat Plug

anyone bought from these guys?? and could I get similar from stupidcheap/ripco? As I dont really want to wait for stuff to come in the post.

Is it easy enough to do? I hate electrics, and have only had brief, unhappy experiences with it But i'm on a budget

And if they say complete wiring loom, does that mean the only other thing i need to buy is the lights? or is there something else inbetween the lights and loom that I'll need

Cheers

[-Scott-]

Middle of last year, I re-wired a 10m boat trailer - replaced every wire and light on it, including 10 clearance lights, while the hull (cat) was on it, on a loose dirt floor.

The owner (who did pay me by the hour) wanted all soldered and heat-shrinked joints, stainless fastners, with Never-seez, all metal sprayed with zinc, and everything siliconed too.

Took a heap more time than either of us expected (probably 3 full days, amongst other jobs) and I wouldn't be in a hurry to try it again.

If you plan to keep the trailer, you DON'T want to do it again. Do it properly, and you'll only need to do it once.

Start by drawing a picture, including individual bulbs, individual wires and where you need joints/earths. I didn't, and I regretted it.

Good luck,

Scott

[RockyF75]

Middle of last year, I re-wired a 10m boat trailer - replaced every wire and light on it, including 10 clearance lights, while the hull (cat) was on it, on a loose dirt floor.

The owner (who did pay me by the hour) wanted all soldered and heat-shrinked joints, stainless fastners, with Never-seez, all metal sprayed with zinc, and everything siliconed too.

Took a heap more time than either of us expected (probably 3 full days, amongst other jobs) and I wouldn't be in a hurry to try it again.

If you plan to keep the trailer, you DON'T want to do it again. Do it properly, and you'll only need to do it once.

Start by drawing a picture, including individual bulbs, individual wires and where you need joints/earths. I didn't, and I regretted it.

Good luck,

Scott

Its just 6 lights 2 stops, 2 indicators, and 2 parkers?? Crap, i thought you just run the cables sumwhere out of sight, put yellow to yellow, red to red etc etc No clearance lights for me, too much of a pita from the sounds of it

[-Scott-]

OK, so I'm still traumatised by the whole experience.

Ensure everything is well protected from rubbing/chafing. Trailer suspensions are generally more agricultural than cars, so everything bounces and vibrates much more.

Take your time to seal everything well - trying to make corroded lamp holders work really sucks!

Run an earth wire through the plug and socket. Some will tell you the trailer earths through the towball, and it might - some times. A separate wire is more reliable.

Make sure you get the connections right, according to the industry standard pin-outs. Don't wire it to suit your car - unless you're certain your car is right. Nothing's worse than borrowing a trailer which has been "fixed" to work with somebody's (defective) car. Sprint Auto were selling plugs with built-in LEDs, which help you work out if the car's right. Cost about $8, but only plastic. I've got one just for checking the car socket.

[RockyF75]

OK, so I'm still traumatised by the whole experience.

Ensure everything is well protected from rubbing/chafing. Trailer suspensions are generally more agricultural than cars, so everything bounces and vibrates much more.

Take your time to seal everything well - trying to make corroded lamp holders work really sucks!

Run an earth wire through the plug and socket. Some will tell you the trailer earths through the towball, and it might - some times. A separate wire is more reliable.

Make sure you get the connections right, according to the industry standard pin-outs. Don't wire it to suit your car - unless you're certain your car is right. Nothing's worse than borrowing a trailer which has been "fixed" to work with somebody's (defective) car. Sprint Auto were selling plugs with built-in LEDs, which help you work out if the car's right. Cost about $8, but only plastic. I've got one just for checking the car socket.

My car's got the 8(?) pin round socket, but i was gunna make the trailer 7pin flat cause it seems to be popular and I already have the adaptor thingy. I've hired and borrowed trailers b4 so i'll assume my cars wired correctly. The earthing wire, does that run seperate to the socket or is it one of the wires in the socket??

[-Scott-]

Earth is one of the wires in the socket.

[RockyF75]

Did it today, was easy . Well actually it was a PITA, but was straightforward enough. Just annoying and time consuming, and I found out that my car wiring is stuffed