Tail light placement question.

[Thomcat316]

Quick question for all - any reason to not mount the tail lights on the trailing edge of the new fenders? They will be about two feet from the back of the trailer.

Thanks!
Whitney

[madjack]

...you can PROBABLY get away with it...note the law sez "as far to the rear as is practical"...for safeties sake, I would want something directly on the rear or at least some reflectors.....................
madjack

[Dale M.]

Here is message tread how the government thinks you should do it...

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=44221

Dale

[Thomcat316]

hmmm....

Make it pretty.....make it legal....Make it pretty.....make it legal....

Might just wait to see if I ever get a compliance ticket - I see some of what passes for "lighting" locally and shudder, and I don't think any of them get tickets....


I'm planning on mounting Optronics Bigass Bright LED(tm) modules, which will be plenty visible.

[dh]

You could mount the tail lights on the hatch and marker lights on the fenders... I picked up some nice surface mount LED tail stop turn lights at O'Riley's, they're maybe 1/2'' thick and have nice 'chrome' bezels.

[Thomcat316]

My only problem with mounting lights directly to the trailer is that there are no vertically flat surfaces back there - I'd have to build an underslung light box and use lights like you have, either flush or surface mount. I don't have a real problem doing that, but I'd like to keep things as simple as possible for now, and mounting the lights to the back curve of the fenders accomplishes that nicely.

Eventually I'll have all the wiring done and will most likely go over to said wiring/lighting box, but for now....

On that same "eventually" timeline, I'm thinking of red tail/stop/turn, amber turn, and white backup, along with amber and red marker lights as appropriate. Anyone see an issue with that?

Sort of like Slowcowboy's setup, but under the rear curve instead of following it, and inline across rather than over/under.

[bobhenry]

Man if this is the unit you are talking about you are all but invisable.....



I am a big advocate of lights lights and more lights. I am sure you could find a 3rd brakelight and turn combo to mount higher in the hatch. I had the same problem with the barn and added a 3rd brake light up high to wake up the nut behind me. I want to be seen in the dark and during bad weather and lights are the best way to to do it.



I hid the 3rd brake light in this little lantern. Probably not DOT approved but the lite inside was so who knows !

There are dual element clearance lights The 2 red rear clearance lights could be revamped to light one element with the running lights and one with the brake circuit this would help a bit to get lighting up higher on the trailer.

[planovet]

Might just wait to see if I ever get a compliance ticket - I see some of what passes for "lighting" locally and shudder, and I don't think any of them get tickets....

How do you know? Most people don't brag that they got a citation.

It all depends on the cop. While I would probably not write that citation, another officer might. Why take that chance and invite the po-po to pull you over?

My "store bought" trailer has the lights mounted on arms at the rear instead of the back of the fenders because it's the legal thing to do. It's also the safest thing to do if you want someone to see you.

I also added a light on the hatch just in case. If someone is riding your a$$ they might not see your other lights in time to stop.

Just my $.02.

[dh]

How tight is the curve? You could use oblong truck lights that mount in ruber grommets, the gromets will compensate for a slight curve. Are you (or did you) epoxy your camper? If so, making epoxy bases on curved surfaces is easy with thichened epoxy.

[Nobody]

My 10-LED lights are 3x7", about 3/4" thick, mounted horizontally on the upper curve of the hatch. They're surface mount & unless you have a pretty sharp radius they'll mount easily on the curve using a flexible rubber or other soft backing plate (or even a little silicone sealer as a 'base'. Mine are very visible from the rear at almost any conceivable angle, & man! they're bright. Got 'em from a vendor on eBay but I've seen the same from several online sources at under $12 each. They work well with the small LED side marker lights...

[Thomcat316]

Y'all have talked me into it...

I'm cutting the formers for the light box this weekend, and will be installing (from the outside in) red tail/stop/turn, amber turn, and white backup lights.

If it gets too crowded back there when I lay it all out I'll be installing the backup lights on brackets under the trailer right behind the axle.

They will all look like this - sort of going with the riceboy clear lens look (the bottom one):


Same thing for the sidemarker lights:



....and here I thought i was done with vacuum bagging.


Oh, and as for the relative brightness of the current tail light setup...

Man if this is the unit you are talking about you are all but invisible.....

...you're not all that accurate. I can do something I've never been able to do before - check my clearance when changing lanes by checking to make sure the car or truck I'm moving in front of is lit up by the trailer tail lights. I'm very impressed with current LED lights, to say the least.

That said, I'm heeding the advice given and looking for a tail/stop bar that will fit behind the Fantastic Fan. Closest so far is an 11-LED bar that's a bit too long at 17"x1-3/8", but I'll keep looking.

[emiller]

I mounted mine high and on the side

[aggie79]

I was going to mount one set on the fenders and the second set on the hatch, but I liked the look of the tail lights being paired together.



It looks like they are place on a flat area, but all of my hatch is curved. The rubber gasket that came with the lights was thick and pliable, and allowed me to put them on the curve without any additional work.