I bought a trailer for the Prindle 18, but the tail lights were junk and the side markers non existent.
I put LED tail lights on and thought I would skip the side markers, I am not sure if they are required technically or not.
Driving home in the dark last night I found that I really missed the side lights. Looking at photos of cat trailers it looks like many are built of 2 inch square tubing like this Sprint trailer, and many have side markers that look like they fit exactly into the tubing.
Searching the net I am not finding anything like that, a couple of round ones that might fit Anyone have a source for such?
Ideally I would love to have side marker/turn signal LED combinations but that doesn't seem likely.
Thanks
Kevin
I have a similar trailer and my marker lights are also LED. They hang below the tubing from a bracket. I suppose some people may reverse the bracket so that the light is in the tube. Hanging them down, outside and slightly inboard protects them better though- and the marker lights seem to get damaged more than the tail lights.
My two cents.
Thanks Bob, there is hope!
Any idea who makes it?
Any idea where to get em?
Kevin
Edited by cellguru on May 29, 2013 - 11:45 AM.
CellGuru wrote: Thanks Bob, there is hope!
Any idea who makes it?
Any idea where to get em?
Kevin
Kevin,
http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Lights/Optronics/MCL36AB.html
Good prices, quality stuff and good delivery times.
Buy an extra cover lens for when you bust one:
It's just a basic piece of flat stock bents to hole the light inside the tube. Pick up a piece at Home Depot and create your own.
bacho wrote: Pick up a piece at Home Depot and create your own.
The whole light assembly including the bracket is $6.95.
Your fabrication time is more valuable than that, and he needs the marker lights as well.
klozhald wrote: [quote=bacho]Pick up a piece at Home Depot and create your own.
The whole light assembly including the bracket is $6.95.
Your fabrication time is more valuable than that, and he needs the marker lights as well.
Doesn't look like it comes with the bracket? If the ends of trailer cross-arms are the open ends of 2" square tube you'll need something to bolt that light onto. Just a 2x4 inch piece of metal with a 90 degree bend and two holes will work.
I upgraded all my lights to LED on a trailer that already had side markers, but the existing bracket holes didn't match the lights I could find at Walmart, so I glued them on with 3M Trim Adhesive.
One thing that is important with side lights is to make sure you really have a ground. These are commonly grounded directly to the cross arm, but if your trailer has stacked arms the galvanized surfaces may not provide a good ground. A welded trailer is all ground though.
Here is my quick and dirty side markers, been using them for three years now no problem, trailer is really lit up at night, I like being able to see the sides of the trailer in my rear view mirrors at night.
You can see how the stacked galvanized arms might not be a good conductor for a ground, to be safe I ran a ground wire all the way to the main fore and aft trailer structure which is grounded from the vehicle.
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Damon Linkous
Also, I created a new album in Beachcat Technical for "Trailer Lighting". Please everyone add your pictures and tips for doing trailer lighting there as well, help the next guy out, pictures are worth a thousand forum posts. π
http://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures/?g2_itemId=102499
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Damon Linkous
Thanks for all the ideas, I am still working through it here.
I am with you Damon, I really like seeing the trailer in the dark, and the tail lights on this trailer are situated so far inboard you can't see the integrated side markers.
I am looking at fabricating a bracket that would protect the light from getting stepped on and acting as a step and a tie down loop.
I will keep you posted and post photos once I figure it out.
Kevin