I am intetested in adding lights to thr trailer so it is really visible to other drivers. Why some one needs to be 13 inches from my tramsom is beyond me.
Adding lights to side and back of frame is pretty conventional.
What would be better would be side and rear lights at the tramp level. This may mean another 4 wire connector
Mounting is up in the air too, but fast and solid are key.
Make a small lightbar (metal strip with lights attached) and hang it off your sterns (a clip through your pintles maybe)
so it is in the face of the car behind you
I don't really have much of a tailgater issue with my boat turned around the bows face the car behind me and if they get too close they will have a mast punch through their front window
MN3
Try side guides. You can buy them made of PVC reinforced or make them yourself with PVC. They will make your lights more visible and allow you to see the position of your trailer backing up when your boat's not on it. Also they will keep your lights well above the water. If you use them, be careful not to get the rigging hung up when walking your mast up.
LED Light Kit will get you noticed
I once had an 8 ft length of gutter downspout that I mounted tail lights to, and would bungee it to the rear crossbar when trailering. For the wires, I pulled them into some small rubber tubing to prevent tangles. This can be removed when launching and the lights never get near the water.
I have since mounted LED submersible taillights to the trailer, on mounts that are slightly elevated, keeping them out of the water. For the sidelights, I measured the ID of the square tubing of the cross bars that support the hulls. I made a square mold out of telfon cutting board material, with two holes at the bottom for the wiring. I added a good ten feet or so of leads to the lights, pulled the wires through the bottom of the mold, sprayed the mold with some oil as a release agent, suspended LED side lights in the mold, then flooded the mold with thickened epoxy, until the level reached the plastic lens.
In the end I had a light that had the entire back (and wiring connections) encased in a square block of epoxy that I could tap into the end of the square tube. All wires for each light run all the way to the front of the trailer with no connections. This would not be practical for incandescent bulbs as it would prevent replacement. But LEDs don't require replacing for years.
The only dicey part of the project was the heat from the block of curing epoxy. When hard enough, I put the assembly in water to cool it down as I thought the lens might melt.
Another issue is to make sure you have holes somewhere in the square tube for water to escape or modify the light mounts accordingly.
It's been a couple years now with no issues.
I probably went kinda nuts with this, but the boat is kept at the harbor and corrosion is an issue. For this latest boat, I have put considerable effort into little things to make them work better, and this is just one of them. I got tired of dicking around with lights every time I was going to trailer it somewhere. Now, I expect they will work every time.
Bill Mattson
Hobie 16 #58342
Santa Maria, CA
I probably went kinda nuts with this
:victory:
MN3
I've got total enclosed led light straps on mine on the front under the triangle to just light her up for better visibility but will do the same for the back too
Is the 'triangle' the dolphin striker?
~~ Some people just haveta tail gate or close to it. They have done it to me and I sure of just about everyone else. I have a 19' camper with a rear mounted camera and extended mirrors and it's hard to see them. Ya just haveta ignore it and hope that nothing happens or tap the brakes !!! I have lots of lights on all my Trl's. Maybe ya can mount a remote control M60 machine gun & Rocket launcher... Maybe they'll get the ''hint'' 😀 . Good luck ~~~ Paul
~~popeyez7~~
~18 Hobie mag~
~17 Hobie w/ super jib~
~2 Kayaks
~ jet-boat 150 hp.
~~ Vietnam Vet. 69-71 ~~
Triangle=that area on your trailer before the tongue, probably. Is there a technical name for it?
Make a small lightbar (metal strip with lights attached) and hang it off your sterns (a clip through your pintles maybe)
so it is in the face of the car behind you
This is exactly what I use for my Dart 15.
The person I bought it from used a square aluminum extrusion, (with a slot on each side), about 1” square. The slots allowed SS bolt heads to be slid along the extrusion to wherever needed, then lights & reflectors mounted.
Fittings were also attached that allowed the light bar to drop into the rudder mounts, & of course a quick connect to the wiring harness. He used sealed LED units, it’s pretty slick. Simply drop the bar, total weight 3 lb, into the gudgeon & plug in.
I don’t trailer that cat anywhere, but I moved the pin spacing so I can drop the lights onto the back of a Jon boat I use for the small lakes & rivers.
E C Hilliard
Nacra 5.7
Bombardier Invitation
ctcatamaran,
You don't need to wire LED lights separately from regular ones. They require so little power, they can be spliced into your current harness. If you hang a bar across the back, make sure it is stable enough to not spin around the suspending wire at highway speeds. The lights on my trailer are still mixed because I found difficulty locating LED side lights with my bracket needs, and they all perform well.
Consider using a small two conductor plug to connect/disconnect the lights in the bar to your trailer harness.