Check out the new trailer lights

[Propless]

When I park the boat at night I have about 1” of clearance on each side of my boat and trailer and my house and a curb. So I added new backup lights to the back and sides of the trailer to help me see better. What do you think of them?

 

[Need A Vacation]

Nice!!!

What lights did you use?

 

[biffdotorg]

Did you wire it so that they automatically kick on when you go into reverse?

 

[Weeb]

Looks like you have more lights than a semi.

 

[rkim808]

NICE, I gotta do the same. When I get back home from later trips and it’s dark out, I can’t see a thing reversing. My wife and kids need to help me back her in. Please let us know what lights u used and how u wired it up.

Mahalo(Thank u),

 

[Need A Vacation]

I should have posted that I bought these led lights that have an ip68 rating (more than 3’ submerged) for reverse lights, but haven’t had a chance to install them yet.

My plan is to mount them just below the taillights. Come down with a bracket from the taillight studs to mount the lights to.

I have had a set of incandescent lights (pilot maybe) in a utility trailer that have worked great as reverse lights. Almost crazy how much it helps!!!

 

[Propless]

When I park the boat at night I have about 1” of clearance on each side of my boat and trailer and my house and a curb. So I added new backup lights to the back and sides of the trailer to help me see better. What do you think of them?

They are made by Whelen, they make light bars and other items for emergency service vehicles, NASCAR, and others.

I pulled a hot and ground wire through the frame and connected them to the ground wire and the power lead to the backup brake solenoid in the front near the coupler. When I put the truck in reverse they light up. All the connections were made with heat shrinking butt connectors with another layer of heat shrink over that.
I also added waterproof connectors inside the guide poles. I can lift them up and the waterproof connected is attached to the top of the inner wall on the metal guide post bracket. Just in case I ever need to remove them.


I attached a close up of one of the backup lights while off.

 

[Need A Vacation]

@Propless,

How are the reverse lights working?

Glad you installed them?

 

[drewkaree]

@Propless Need more information about those lights, model #, links to purchase, anything you could give us.

The wife had to back the trailer down in the dark, and had such a tough time, SHE ended our plans for the evening!

The oval lights on your guides as well - what and where were they from?

 

[zipper]

@drewkaree look up ce smith trailer guide post lights or VeVe guide post lights. You should find something like this.

 

[drewkaree]

I'll let you guys in on my idea here - I'm trying to find out if an electrical conduit fitting (a pulling elbow) will fit on top of my Veve guides to make the electrical hook up easier for my CE Smith, and seeing the oval lights makes me think those will cover the opening and hide all the connections. I would install reverse lights like @Propless did, and run the wiring for the reverse lights up to this same location. All connections would be up and out of the water, and you'd have a closer and more centralized location, as well as super easy access to connect anything up. One difficult pull through the frame, and any future electrical hook ups would be far easier, as well as using (slightly) less wire. Really, ease of hook up is the biggest idea.

Here's a pic of the fitting I'm looking to use

 

[Dixie Highway]

@drewkaree i wouldn’t even go that far, just don’t glue the light fittings. They are based on PVC pipe fittings, and in reality those fit pretty snugly together and will not fly off at anything south of 100 mph. If you’re really concerned, you can add a pin or something through the fitting to make sure they don’t. That way you could wire them up where they’ll be out of the water, and still have access just in case. Cleaner install, less fittings.

FinYii 4Pack Boat Quick Release Pins 1/4" for Bimini Hardware, Bimini Top Ball Pull Pin, Stainless Steel Marine Hardware Replacement Parts Amazon.com : FinYii 4Pack Boat Quick Release Pins 1/4" for Bimini Hardware, Bimini Top Ball Pull Pin, Stainless Steel Marine Hardware Replacement Parts : Sports & Outdoors

 

[Propless]

@Propless Need more information about those lights, model #, links to purchase, anything you could give us.

The wife had to back the trailer down in the dark, and had such a tough time, SHE ended our plans for the evening!

The oval lights on your guides as well - what and where were they from?

The lights on top of the guide poles are made by Pipe Lights. I used kit # 3-1020, they have 10 rear facing LED lights and side facing marker lights. I also installed the CE Smith # 27656A LED pole lights that fit on top of the Pipe Lights and guide pole. The CE Smith lights burn amber facing forward and red facing rearward.

I installed 6 White Whelen Ion T-series LED lights on the trailer, 4 on the back facing rearward, and one on each side of the trailer near the very back, They all light up when the tow vehicle is in reverse and provide ample lighting. I pulled a power and ground wire from the front of the trailer through the right side of the trailer and fished them through the rear crossbar as well. 1 small hole for wires and 2 small screw holes per light is all that it took to prep for the install. I tied the power lead into the blue brake solenoid wire inside the front of the trailer and tied the ground wire near near the same location.

The rear facing lights really help backing up at night and the lights on the side help since I park between my house and a curb that separates my driveway from my neighbor's. That extra light on the side allows me to see the tires easier and helps since I only have about 1" on each side to spare.

I tied the Pipe Lights and CE Smith top lights into the rear trailer light harness. I added a short harness to each trailer light that I ran into the metal Guide pole bracket. On the inside top of the metal arm I attached a waterproof connector, it's mate was added to the inside of the guide pole and connects the pipe lights and top pole lights. The connector isn't required, but it allows the guide pole to be removed and unplug if necessary.

I think the install came out well and very clean. I would recommend these to anyone who needs additional lighting while in reverse.

 

[Betik]

so I understand the red light and the back up light, but what are the greenish light on the swim deck ?

 

[drewkaree]

I think that's reflective material on the cover. My guess is either tape or reflecting fabric paint on the cover, just like the logo is added.

Either that, or reflection from the camera's lens

 

[Propless]

@Propless Need more information about those lights, model #, links to purchase, anything you could give us.

The wife had to back the trailer down in the dark, and had such a tough time, SHE ended our plans for the evening!

The oval lights on your guides as well - what and where were they from?

so I understand the red light and the back up light, but what are the greenish light on the swim deck ?

The green is a reflection from the overhead street lamp bouncing off the cover and my camera lens.

 

[Betik]

Wow it seemed as if it come from inside the cover

 

[Recoveringfiberglassaddic]

That is a sweet trailer mod @Propless!! I didn't even notice the guide pole lights until someone mentioned in further in the thread. Had to scroll back up to look past the backup light and fully appreciate the genius. Nice work.

I'm new to this whole jetboat thing but assuming they are PVCs that float up while trailering?? If so how much extra wire did you leave to accomadate the floating??

 

[2kwik4u]

Are the lights on the "sides" near the tires, ahead of or behind the tires? I've been considering adding some lights to my trailer to illuminate just ahead of the tire at night. Sort of like "puddle lamps" that you see on luxury cars to shine on the ground when you open the door.

Basically when trailering at night, I can't see the tire, only the yellow fender marker in the mirrors. While this gives me a general sense of where the tire is, I would prefer to have a little light on the ground just ahead of the tire so I can watch that space in the mirrors.

Any thoughts?

 

[jjmparsons]

I'm new to this whole jetboat thing but assuming they are PVCs that float up while trailering?? If so how much extra wire did you leave to accomadate the floating??

No movement or floating for the PVC's that I have installed on our trailer (not speaking for anyone else here). The trailer doesn't need to go that far in the water so mine are stationary.