Trailer Rewiring East Metro

My boat trailer has multiple wiring issues andprobably needs rewiring. I am looking for any recommendations of who does this work in the east metro area.

Thanks

PM Sent

Handy Hitch in Maplewood has helped me in the past.

Handy hitch.

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Handy hitch.

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Sadly, Handy Hitch is out of business. They did good work at a reasonable rate.

Its really not that hard to do it yourself. If you go to the local auto parts store they have packages with the multi strand harness with directions. All the wires are color coded and on the back of most trailer lights there is small print that tells which wire goes where. The brake lights have a brighter filament and the running lights have a dimmer filament in the bulb. If you get the wires hooked up wrong it doesn’t matter you can always change them around. The white wire on both sides of the plugin connector has to be grounded to the tow vehicle and the trailer. Ground through the connector and not through the hitch, although that works too but gets faulty at times. Use dilectic grease on both connectors so they don’t oxadize and loose connection and on all connections. clean with a small wire brush all the older posts on the lights. If your old harness worked just write down what color wire went to each post.

I’d agree with Mossy above. If it’s a total redo vs troubleshooting, DIY it.

And if you haven’t already, NOW’S the time to go with LED lights. Every since I rewired all 3 of my trailers with LEDs, trailer light problems have become non-existant. They are so much more robust and reliable and they are so bright they’re almost blinding, even during the day.

If the wire is run inside the trailer channels so that it is not exposed, you can use the old wire to pull the new wire. What I usually do is attach a strong cord or fish tape to each side of the old wire back by the tail lights. Then pull the old wire forward to the tongue, dragging the cord or fish tape behind it. Disconnect the old wire and attach the new wire to the cord. Pull the cord with the new wire attached back toward the back of the trailer. Repeat on the other side.

With trailer lights, vibration/ chaffing protection moisture-proofing is everything. ALL SPLICES must be done with the marine/waterproof heavy-duty crimp connectors. I take the extra step of doing heat shrink tubing over the top of the crimp as an added layer of protection.

Any place the wire passes through a metal hole, that wire must be protected with a rubber grommet or with chaff resistant wire loom or conduit.

Last note is that usually LED trailer lights require that each light be grounded back to the trailer individually. The old incandescent lights would run off a common ground, but LED lights seem to like a really good ground, so each one needs to be grounded on its own. The instructions may say that you can try a common ground, but I’ve done this twice and it didn’t work, so I ended up redoing things anyway. I’d just ground each light and be done with it.

Grouse

I echo all that TFG said, and I will add that for wiring, I scrapped the kit wiring and just used exterior extension cord. It gives you an extra layer of insulation. I also
solder each connection and shrink tube them.

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I echo all that TFG said, and I will add that for wiring, I scrapped the kit wiring and just used exterior extension cord. It gives you an extra layer of insulation. I also
solder each connection and shrink tube them.

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X2, what Ralph said

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I echo all that TFG said, and I will add that for wiring, I scrapped the kit wiring and just used exterior extension cord. It gives you an extra layer of insulation. I also solder each connection and shrink tube them.

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I would agree that soldering each connection is the gold-plated solution, but I left that out because not everyone knows how to solder and has the gear. Plus, it adds time to the process. But yes, this would be the top shelf way to go.

I’ve been using the heavy duty, waterproof crimp connectors (as recommended by Ralph in a previous thread). You can get them at Fleet Farm and they cost more and are worth every penny.

You crimp these on as usual, but then you hit them with a heat gun and the ends heat shrink around the wire making the crimp moisture resistant. To that I add the belt + suspenders approach of doing heat shrink tube over the top of the whole thing. I can’t see how this connection would ever come apart.

At each light fixture, I use “bullet connectors”. These are little plug-in connectors that make it so you can unplug an individual light quite easily. This has worked fantastic when I’ve had to replace a smashed or broken tail or side light. Slice open the heat shrink tube, unplug the connecter, put a connector on the new light, plug in, re-heat-shrink over the connection. I’ve changed a side marker light in 5 minutes.

The exterior extension cord method gets mentioned a lot, and I looked at doing it that way. My one concern is that while a pre-fab trailer wire kit has the plug already bonded on, extensions cords need that to be spliced on. So add 4-6 more splices and 4-6 more opportunities for issues and then you don’t get the neat color coding of all the wires.

Grouse

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At each light fixture, I use “bullet connectors”. These are little plug-in connectors that make it so you can unplug an individual light quite easily. This has worked fantastic when I’ve had to replace a smashed or broken tail or side light. Slice open the heat shrink tube, unplug the connecter, put a connector on the new light, plug in, re-heat-shrink over the connection. I’ve changed a side marker light in 5 minutes.

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Ooh. I like that idea! Next boat is getting that treatment.