LED clearance lights and floor building questons

[Esteban]

I'm about to start building the floor. I'm wondering how to run the wiring to the LED running lights on the sides which will cover the trailer frame. The insulated floor I'm about to build will have 1/2" plywood on top, a 1" high middle layer with a wood frame and insulation, and a bottom 1/4" plywood road side skin of to help protect the insulation.

I'm considering routing out a narrow channel about 1/4" deep and 3-3/4" long in the lower 1/4" plywood from under the trailer to the sides where the side running lights will go so I can more easily poke the LED light pigtail from the outside wall under the floor and above the trailer frame to come out maybe about an inch or so on the inside of the trailer frame. There the pigtail can be connected to the trailer lights wiring.

I can also mark the outside walls with a sharpie pen to know where to drill a hole, once the walls are installed, to line up with the routed grooves in the floor to be able to poke the pigtail through.

Does this seem like a good method to make it easy to install the outside clearance lights?

Also do LED clearance lights and the wire pigtails lay flat against the outside wall or do they need a depression for the pigtail plug in the wall?

BTW I received a free catalog from Del City for most of the electrical supplies I'll need. It's so well illustrated with color photos and technical data that it makes a nice reference book for electrical ideas and solutions too. delcity.net
_________________

[halfdome, Danny]

You question is another reason to let your sides cover the chassis. To install my clearance lights was a simple task of drilling a hole for the connector (in the overhang area) and then running the wires from under the trailer. I't was very easy to do. Danny

[Esteban]

Danny, you're saying it's easy enough to drill the holes for the wires through the side wall and floor after they're up - so there'd be no need to rout out a shallow channel in the bottom of the floor for the wires to pass above the trailer frame? I just had a newbie fear I might end up drilling into the trailer frame by mistake.

[halfdome, Danny]

Danny, you're saying it's easy enough to drill the holes for the wires through the side wall and floor after they're up - so there'd be no need to rout out a shallow channel in the bottom of the floor for the wires to pass above the trailer frame? I just had a newbie fear I might end up drilling into the trailer frame by mistake.

You can either run your wire harness along the frame by securing it with cable clamps (I think that's what their called) or use the clamps to fasten to the underside of the floor and up and over the chassis cross members. You can get them at Home Depot. For your highway lights there's no need to drill a hole in the floor as they are all exterior. Make sure you goop any holes in your floor to keep out water. Danny

[G-force]

All my trailer wiring for the clearance lights and everything else up to the point of penetrating the galley area in the battery box area are going to be external. I see no reason to try and hide it in the walls and such...would make it impossable to get to later if I needed to. Most clearance lights have the wires coming out the center of the rear...can make them difficult to mount someplace you dont want to drill a hole clear through. I am welding short pieces of angle along the bottom of the frame where I want the clearance lights positioned which makes rear access easy for the wiring and hold down screws. The wiring loom will be supported in a plastic conduit secured with Adel clamps...they look like the plastic ones pictured above, but are stainless steel with a rubber cushion in them. It is all we use to support wiring looms and hose in boats. Simply secure it to the bottom of the wood frame with a woodscrew.

[Miriam C.]

Danny, you're saying it's easy enough to drill the holes for the wires through the side wall and floor after they're up - so there'd be no need to rout out a shallow channel in the bottom of the floor for the wires to pass above the trailer frame? I just had a newbie fear I might end up drilling into the trailer frame by mistake.

Steven, I ran my top lights inside the walls and drilled down. The trailer wires are under the trailer and the side clearance lights are down where the frame is. Drilled a hole in the side of the frame. I tied a knot in the wire so it can't be pulled out of the wall by a tree limb or other stuff.

[Esteban]

Danny. G-force, and Miriam, thanks for your ideas. I guess I'll drill a hole at an angle through the sides, above the frame, to the underside of the floor for to run the pigtails through. I'll run the main under the floor trailer wiring inside loom held up with clips like the ones Danny pictured. I have a 2"x2" tube frame and don't want to drill any holes into it which might cause the frame to rust and weaken. We welded gussets to the frame for attaching the floor.

I swung by a NAPA auto parts store to look at LED clearance lights. The ones they had out on the sales floor had a build-in pigtail and could be mounted flat to the sides of a teardrop. They wanted almost TWENTY BUCKS each for them. Del City charges around $7 per LED light plus 70 cents for a pigtail.

[G-force]

I found these at Lowes, made by Peterson. $10 each as I remember.

[ARKPAT]

That is what I'm using but got them a Wolly World.




Pat

[halfdome, Danny]

I found these at Lowes, made by Peterson. $10 each as I remember.

Those are the same ones I have on my fenders. Amber on the front, red on the back. The amber ones are great for backing up at night and to just check where the TD Is while driving. Got them at Walmart, Joe's Sports and Auto carries them too. Great little lights . Danny

[Woodbutcher]

I ran plastic conduit sandwiched in my floor . The box in the front comes under my headboard. The middle boxes have a wooden cover near the door. I went up into my wall from there. The boxes in the rear are in the galley floor. I am able to pull out or add wires to most everywhere except the ceiling. The running lights in the rear are the only wires under the floor. Only about a foot of those show. Had I planned it better I could have hidden them as well. The front running lights are drilled through the body into the headboard area box. It's a little more work and some extra weight but I have a lot of flexability.




Here is the middle box with the cover.

[J.T.]

are the clearance lights required on the TD's? on the 110 power side, what would be wrong with useing a power strip for the gallay area, with the male end hiding behind an access plate on the left side? then use some 12 ga extention cord into the cabin area for a 110 ac outlet . then run everything else off of 12 V DC. When out in the boonies? just use the 12 V stuff. If you have access to 110 AC then plug in the power strip?
I know that some of you are whizes on building these things but I'm trying to K.I.S.S..lol

[G-force]

On trailers under 80" wide, you are required two amber clearance on the side near the front, and two red one on the side in the rear. Also, you are required to have reflex (reflectors) in the same pattern: amber on front sides, red on rear sides. Also, red reflex in the rear. Over 80" wide, there are more requirements.

[looped]

i plan to run these in red and amber on mine for the sides

oops nix those found some that match better.

and these on the rear mounted in the galley door





and one of these on top




just hoping this isnt too much overkill

[brian_bp]

i plan to run these...

...and one of these on top


just hoping this isnt too much overkill

Is the one on top intended as a Center High-Mounted Stop Lamp (CHMSL third brake light)? If the trailer has combined stop/turn lamps (not separate turn signals), then a central brake light will need a converter circuit to run it properly, so it doesn't flash with the turn signals.

I don't think a CHMSL is overkill at all... people expect them now, so a vehicle without is less noticeable when it brakes.