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Well I did not think something like this would lick me. I mean I can read a schematic and everything. So why is wiring a boat trailer so dang hard. Here is the issue I have. I went and picked up the universal 4 flat kit at sports. (my truck is already wired for the 4 flat) Well I get home rig up my nifty removable mounts for the top of my boat and wire the ligths up just as it says. It has a nifty little splitter so it goes like this.
BB _G Y_ BB
So that is brown brown open terminal Green and than Yellow Open Brown Brown. Pretty straight forward.
Now here is my issue brakes work great blinkers work great and last y running lights work great. So you are asking what is the problem. Well when I turn on the lights and apply the brakes I lose all my trailer lights, how ever the blinkers work just fine with the lights on. I have double checked the grounds, I know the truck side is good as I have towed other trailers with no issue.
Any ideas? If you need me to take some pics I can do that.
Just in ase you need to know the truck is a 1990 Chevy k1500
Thanks
Majja
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With the lights on, when you apply the brakes, all the lights on the trailer go out. GROUND PROBLEM. The ground connection is strong enough to provide some lighting functions but not all. This is called a weak ground. When the taillights and brake lights are used at the same time, it creates the maximum amp load of the lights on the trailer. Check the following to restore proper ground:
[ol][li]The connector on the vehicle should have a ground wire secured tightly to a clean surface on the frame. A wire attached to the body or a surface with undercoating or rust can cause a ground problem [li]The connector on the trailer should have a wire from the connector secured tightly to a clean rust free surface on the trailer. [li]Each tail lamp assembly at the back of the trailer also must be grounded. This is done in one of two ways. The first is by a separate wire coming from the back of each tail lamp assembly being secured to the frame. The second, and most popular, ground is achieved through the bolts of the tail lamp assembly. In this case, the lamp housing must be attached to the frame of the trailer. There must be a solid (clean and rust free) electrical connection. [li]The last possibility to explore is in the trailer design. If the trailer has a tilting bed, it is possible the ground is not passing through the pivot point resulting in a poor ground. The solution to this is to route a ground wire from the connector at the front of the trailer to each lamp assembly at the back of the trailer bypassing this pivot point. [/li][/ol]NOTE: It is not recommended to ground thru the trailer coupler to hitch ball.
Good Luck and I am sure this will resolve the issue.
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jbinuath is right, sounds like the ground. some trailers use the ball as the ground connection, try cleaning the ball and the trailers hitch and spray WD-40 on them.
later chuck
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99 percent of the time time, wiring problems on trailers are a bad ground
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Thanks guys I will check all grounds again when I get home today.
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One other question do I run the ground form the 4th wiring hole or do i run it from the bolts on the lights?
Thanks It is not clear on that one.
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You can try running a wire from the fourth hole and test it that way, but make sure its a solid ground to the trailer. Otherwise you may have to ground each light with a seperate wire back to the ground on the plug or to the trailer itself. I tend to do it the hard way and ground each light with a seperate wire to the trailer and ground the wire out of the fourth hoile as well. Too many times it just doesn't last and I only want to do it once.
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Did you fix the problem? How about an update.
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Sorry for the lack of update I have been out of town on work most of this month. yea I got her fixed. Did as you said and took the ground all the way to the plug and presto. All lights function beautifully. Once again thanks for all the help
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