LED Clearance Lights 2017 07 10

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I have to admit I am a trucker and have a little bit of red neck in me.

I like a lot of lights on my vehicles, to the point that some people might think I have gone overboard.

On my old 24 foot trailer I added lights right before I sold it. I have not done that to this trailer until now. Hope it does not mean a sale is in the near future. I cannot afford that with the cost of the repair to the dragster engine (broke the crankshaft in Bowling Green, but that is another topic for another page witch I will get to (someday)).

In my old trailer the top rail was a square tube and I was able to fish the wire for the top lights through the tube without having to take the inside of the trailer apart to connect the top lights together.

I guess I could have glued the wire to the inside of the groove on the outside of the trailer but I just could not bring myself to do that.

In order to run the wire to connect the top lights the trim on the inside of the trailer had to be removed. In order to remove the trim all the florescent lights, tent holders, and everything else that I had mounted to the top inside edge of the trailer had to be removed.

Quite a task. Once that was done, there was a nice recess and the wire fit right in that space. To ensure that the insulation on the wire did not develop wear from road vibration, I set it into a bead of silicone and then reassembled the trailer.

It took most of the day to put everything back together, but amazingly I did not end up with any extra screws!

Originally the trailer came with five side marker/clearance lights. Not enough in my mind! I now have ELEVEN side maker lights and a stop/turn signal light.

I guess it is a good thing I used LED lights otherwise I would be blowing fuses. I have to say though I like the “glow” of a filament bulb. These LED lights are bright if you look at them square on, but not so bright if you are looking at an angle. They have a harshness to them that I do not like. The two lights behind the tire well serve two functions. The one furthest back is connected to the brake/turn light on the rear of the trailer and the one directly under the top marker light on the trailer is just another marker light.     

No good deed goes unrewarded. For some reason, one of the rear marker / brake / turn signal lights decided to malfunction in the middle of this project. I ordered two new ones so I would have a replacement. They were ordered though Amazon. Amazon was a re-seller and they actually came from “Auto Restyles”. I say they, but only one came in the box. The Pick Sheet in the box says they only sent one. So now I have to fight that battle to get the second one. It really shouldn’t be much of a fight as I have a bill that says I paid for two and I have their Pick Sheet that says they only sent one. I do have to spend the time to get them to straighten it out. Just so you know, these lights are not cheap.  

I still have to do the bottom edge of the left side of the trailer, but that is the easiest edge. The shot from the right rear corner is a little misleading as the right side markers look brighter in the picture than they really appear in real life. It is raining again here in Rochester NY, but it added a nice effect to the night shots.

All in all, I like them.  What do you think?