Reverse or Back-up lights

[Siouxgirl2]

I don't see very much in the forum's about reverse or backup lights added to the trailer build? I am considering this as I often get to a camp spot late at night after getting my daughter out of school.

How many of you have them? If you did... would you do it again and did you find them worthwhile? If you wouldn't add them... why? Also... if you could give some feedback on how you did the wiring? Thanks,

Loyal

[droid_ca]

I dont have my trailer yet but I definitely am going to have lights of some sort even if it is just the porch lights

[dh]

In a 7 pin connector the center pin is reverse lights. Just wire them up to the center pin and ground like you would the Tail/Stop/Turn lights. A 5pin flat will also work for reverse lights, but the 7pin allows for electric brakes and charging the trailer battery while towing.

[bdosborn]

I added backup lights after the first time I tried to back into our driveway at night as I couldn't see a thing. I used LEDs, which aren't terribly bright. I haven't tried them at night yet so I don't know how well they work. You can see them at the end of this video.

Tail Light Linky

Bruce

[Yota Bill]

In a 7 pin connector the center pin is reverse lights. Just wire them up to the center pin and ground like you would the Tail/Stop/Turn lights. A 5pin flat will also work for reverse lights, but the 7pin allows for electric brakes and charging the trailer battery while towing.

That is not always the case. There are no specific standards that are followed when wiring a trailer, and many manufacturers, and especially home builders, do things completely different. You must test the connector and never assume anthing is wired the way you are used to.

[proformance]

In a 7 pin connector the center pin is reverse lights. Just wire them up to the center pin and ground like you would the Tail/Stop/Turn lights. A 5pin flat will also work for reverse lights, but the 7pin allows for electric brakes and charging the trailer battery while towing.

That is not always the case. There are no specific standards that are followed when wiring a trailer, and many manufacturers, and especially home builders, do things completely different. You must test the connector and never assume anthing is wired the way you are used to.

Not entirely true.

There is a SAE (Standards of Automotive Engineering) trailer connector format that is practiced throughout the Automotive Manufacturing Industry. But, you are correct that there a a lot of hack repair shops that pay no attention to this format and basically wire as they please. If you have an OEM harness/connector on your vehicle, it should follow the SAE format.

[Justin & Katy]

I put reverse lights on our teardrop and i would do it again. Not only did i put them on the back of the trailer, I put one on each side as well to illuminate the surrounding area. I would highly reccomend them.

[proformance]

then with a 7 way plug you have a red wire going to your vehciles altenator or the positve post on your battery to recharge your teardrops battery.


on the teardrop the red wire goes to your teardrops positive post on the teardrops deep cyle battery.

Slowcowboy.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with this concept.

You should never tie the tow vehicle battery (positive) directly to the trailer battery positive and/or alternator B+ post. This has the potential to leave you stranded with a dead battery and/or other more serious negative effects.

The positive lead from the TV battery to the trailer battery should always pass through a relay. This relay should only be activated when the TV ignition is activated (not accessories, "Ignition").

The concept here is that only when the engine is running, will the trailer be able to draw power from the tow vehicle battery. This prevents the trailer from unknowingly/un-intentionally draining the TV battery and leaving you stranded.

There should also be an inline fuse in this positive supply lead at or near the +12V source (TV battery).

[halfdome, Danny]

I've put 2 back up lights on all my builds.
They really are helpful for who is helping you in a spot at night and warns traffic your backing up. Danny

These are halogen driving lights from Walmart. I weld the brackets to my side table receivers.

[Yota Bill]

In a 7 pin connector the center pin is reverse lights. Just wire them up to the center pin and ground like you would the Tail/Stop/Turn lights. A 5pin flat will also work for reverse lights, but the 7pin allows for electric brakes and charging the trailer battery while towing.

That is not always the case. There are no specific standards that are followed when wiring a trailer, and many manufacturers, and especially home builders, do things completely different. You must test the connector and never assume anthing is wired the way you are used to.

Not entirely true.

There is a SAE (Standards of Automotive Engineering) trailer connector format that is practiced throughout the Automotive Manufacturing Industry. But, you are correct that there a a lot of hack repair shops that pay no attention to this format and basically wire as they please. If you have an OEM harness/connector on your vehicle, it should follow the SAE format.

There are common ways to wire them, but there is nothing stating it has to be done in any particular way, with any particular color code or terminal position. I have seen many commercially built trailers and vehicles wired in many different ways, from the manufacturer.

I built a series of service trucks a few years ago, all new equipment (truck, body, PTO, hydraulics, 5 ton crane, air compressor, welder/generator, etc.) which had the colors for the turn signals as green with a red trace and yellow with a red trace, and they were placed next togethor. The brake light wire was coded red, and the trailer brake color was black with a red trace, also next to each other but on the other side of the connector from the turn signal wires. There were two seperate grounds in the connector, 1 black and 1 white. One of the aux power wires was light blue.

I might be slightly off on those colors, since it has been a few years, but it was something similar to that.

Again, never assume any position or wire color is a certain function. It is very simple to test it first and make sure.

[Siouxgirl2]

Well, it seems a few of you have added these to your build and from the sound of it... I wouldn't regret it. I loved the pictures and the great video and see a variety of placement options with some good info on wiring.

I am assuming that all of them except for the fog lights were LEDs and bright enough?

I figure it's easier if I plan it now rather then trying to add them down the road.

Thank you for the feedback as I had been scouring the threads and builds without seeing much on them. You have helped give me a resounding "yes" in my head to add them.

Loyal

[proformance]

Hey Slow, your welcome to disagree.

I was not saying there is not a charge wire available within the 7-way plug, I am stating that this wire should never go directly from the 7-way to the TV battery or alternator B+. It should always pass through a relay activated solely from the TV ignition, to insure the TV is isolated from the trailer when the TV ignition is off. I posted my comment to aid persons who may read your post, then attempt to self-wire their TV based on this brief reading, and find themselves in a potentially vulnerable and/or dangerous position.

The concept/method you have posted regarding the RV solenoid is in effect a similar concept to my post. But the primary difference is your post requires the user to remember to turn on and off the RV solenoid when operating trailer lights, to insure the trailer is isolated from the TV preventing the possibility of draining the vehicle.

The method I describe is a fail safe method to insure your trailer is isolated. And, my method does not rely on the operator to remember to turn off the TV.

In addition, your method requires the operator to remember to have the solenoid activated when towing to insure the trailer battery charges. Again, my method runs seamlessly without any interaction from the operator.

Now, lets address the safety aspect. Lets say you have a minor short in your trailer, or an electrical component that is not operating properly unknowing to you, one that only draws approx 10 amps. Yet you have a 30 amp fuse in the supply wire between the TV and the trailer which will not be effected by the 10-amp draw. You pull off the highway, park your TV and trailer over night, wake up the following morning, and your TV has a dead battery because you felt there was no need to isolate the trailer from the TV with the solenoid, because you were not operating that may have potentially drained the battery. Well, your $#!% out of luck and stranded Lord knows where and for how long.

Lets take this one step farther. Your TV has a mechanical issue, maybe a fuel leak within the engine compartment or similar. You disconnect the battery while performing repairs and now assume there is no electricity in the TV. But, your trailer which remains plugged into the TV will back feed through the wiring providing power to the TV, and now you have the potential of an unexpected electrical spark and/or worse problems. All because you neglected/forgot to isolate the trailer battery from the TV.

These are all things that have un-expectantly happened to people in the past, which is why almost all trucks MFG today incorporate a relay as I have described.

By the way, I'm not un-educated when it comes to automotive electrical systems. In fact, I have been designing automotive electrical systems for almost 25-years. I make a living in the automotive and motor-sports industry as an electrical engineer and manufacture. I have designed and manufactured automotive electrical systems for Toyota, Ford, Mitsubishi, Hundia, Edelbrock, Saleen and many more. Outside of the OEM passenger vehicle market, I design and manufacture electrical systems for race vehicles that won races around the world, everything thing from the Indy-500 to the Baja-1000. I also spent several years as a electronics service provider to the the factory March Formula-One and Minardi Formula-One teams in Europe.

Now this may not mean anything to you, but I am all for safety and reliability, especially when it comes to a person's well being. (You tend to get this way in my industry, especially after loosing over 12-personal friends to on-track accidents that in hind-site, should have been prevented with more fore thought.) And, when I post, I post from experience and knowledge to aid and educate others with less experience and knowledge, not from the seat of my pants and/or what I may have heard 2nd-or 3rd hand.

You are welcome to wire your trailer and TV as you wish. But if I observe a post that may lead someone down a path that has potential to leave them in a dangerous situation, I will speak-up and in an attempt to educate and hopefully prevent them from any ill happenings down the road.

Good Luck

[proformance]

Slow, I'm not concerned with you, your memory and/or the method in which you have wired your tow vehicle. You are obviously intelligent enough to not leave yourself in a vulnerable position. Please do not take this personally.

My understanding of this website/forum is, it is not only a social environment but also a place where readers may post inquiries and/or recommendations related to the manufacturing of personal trailers and/or tow vehicle.

So, within that concept, we the posters also have an opportunity to post opinions and views based on what may or may not be the most safe method. I choose to remain passionate about advancements in safety and reliability, not go with the concept "It's been done this way since 1950, it must be the accepted most safe method." If this was the case, we would all be driving 1950 or earlier vehicles. But we don't drive 1950 vehicles because persons have discovered methods of manufacturing more reliable and safer vehicles.

Now, when it come to your particular application, as I said, you may wire any method you wish. But for myself, I will evaluate all potential negative effects of what I may be producing, and do my utmost to insure not only myself will be as safe as current technology, knowledge and experience may provide, but also others will be equally safe. This is especially true when it comes to making a recommendation to someone with an inquiry for greater knowledge and understanding. And, I know when to humble myself when a person with greater knowledge may suggest a more safe method of producing the same results.

I am new to this forum and I greatly appreciate and enjoy the opportunity to obtain greater knowledge from those with far more experience in the manufacturing of personal trailers than myself. This opportunity will significantly aid me in improving my end product with respects to usability, reliability and safety. And, at the same time, I appreciate the opportunity for myself to be able to post knowledge I may posses which may provide other persons with a more usable, reliable and safer end product.

Note:
Just because an industry has performed a task in the same manner for 30+ years, does not mean there are not safer and more reliable methods of obtaining the same results. Realize, the RV industry in business of making money. And for this reason, they may in some cases not always manufacture to the most safe and reliable method current knowledge/technology affords. Their number one goal is to insure they are turning a profit for themselves and their investors.

[Miriam C.]

Love a vigorous debate as long as it doesn't turn into a fire fight. You boys have made some good points so let's leave it at that!

[Mukilteo]

Wasn't this supposed to be about backup lights?