back up lights

cmack wrote:
I mounted a camera with night vision on the spare tire mount. Works much better than any lights ever did on previous trailers. I found backup lights on a trailer to be useless because you can't see directly behind the trailer.

While it's true they will not magically allow one to see through the trailer to the objects behind, they will allow spotters to see objects, and drivers to see spotters, with the added benefit of notifying others behind you at gas stations, etc. that you are intending on backing up in the very near future. Backing at night, without spotters in any case, is a fraught with peril, so the camera is an extra feel-good device on par with the lights. Ideally, we would have spotters every time we back up. It IS a trailer, after all.

I mounted a camera with night vision on the spare tire mount. Works much better than any lights ever did on previous trailers. I found backup lights on a trailer to be useless because you can't see directly behind the trailer.

On my previous class C I tapped into the reverse power lead and mounted low profile flood lamps... Very broad light pattern.
On my current trailer I woozed-out and use a magnetic base flood lamp that I slap on the bumper before I back into a camping spot. Powered by a 12v jump box stored in a rear compartment.

skipnchar wrote:
IN MY opinion, the best way to help you see when backing into a space in the dark is to disable the back up lights completely. I have a switch on my truck that allows me to turn out the lights. With them on it lights up the front of the trailer which ruins your night vision and puts almost zero light behind the trailer where it's could be of help. With no back up lights your natural night vision can be a big help in backing as can be a spotter.
Good luck / Skip

After viewing incandecent light, natural night vision takes 10 minutes to achieve 10% of it's capability and up to 45 minutes to reach 80%. That is why military pilots and ship crewmen, who rely on natural night vision, preflight or prepare for duty in red lighted areas. Unless you're going to wait 45 minutes befor backing up, you are probably fooling yourself by doing it in the daark.

BurbMan wrote:
I have a set of driving lights mounted on the rear bumper. They are wired directly to the RV battery through a relay that is triggered by the reverse lead in the pigtail, so they come on automatically when I shift into reverse. Not only nice for backing the TT in a site after dark, but also when backing out of gas stations, etc. The only regulation is that they must be configured to only come on when in reverse, they can't be wired into a manual switch.

Those look like the same ones I mounted. Very bright! I also installed a SPDT toggle switch to either have them on manually from the trailer battery, or through the 7pin connector when the brake pedal is pressed. Very handy.

Hope you get it figured out.. Good luck.

Toyhaulers have white lights on the rear you do have to switch them on from inside of the trailer.

Thanks everyone.

I think I am going to look around for some place to mount some aftermarket head lights or fog lights just behind the back axle and underneath the frame and on an outward 30 degree angle now that I have read all the posts.

It will light up the area I need to see
It shouldn't blind neighbors while I back up
It won't be visible while on the highway, legal or illegal, if no one sees it, then no reason to ever have that discussion.

Thanks again everyone. This is better than what I would have done without all the input.

skipnchar wrote:
IN MY opinion, the best way to help you see when backing into a space in the dark is to disable the back up lights completely. I have a switch on my truck that allows me to turn out the lights. With them on it lights up the front of the trailer which ruins your night vision and puts almost zero light behind the trailer where it's could be of help. With no back up lights your natural night vision can be a big help in backing as can be a spotter.
Good luck / Skip

I agree if one disables the back-up lights on the tow vehicle it helps, but having lights on the back of the trailer at the same time would be even better. Have wanted to this on my own TV & trailer for some time now.

I would check your state's vehicle code for the answer. As an example here are two section of the California Vehicle Code that pretty much give the answer, at least for California.

Backup Lamps

24606. (a) Every motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, of a type subject to registration and manufactured on and after January 1, 1969, shall be equipped with one or more backup lamps either separately or in combination with another lamp. Any vehicle may be equipped with backup lamps.

(b) Backup lamps shall be so directed as to project a white light illuminating the highway to the rear of the vehicle for a distance not to exceed 75 feet. A backup lamp may project incidental red, amber, or white light through reflectors or lenses that are adjacent or close to, or a part of, the lamp assembly.

(c) Backup lamps shall not be lighted except when the vehicle is about to be or is backing or except in conjunction with a lighting system which activates the lights for a temporary period after the ignition system is turned off.

(d) Any motor vehicle may be equipped with a lamp emitting white light on each side near or on the rear of the vehicle which is designed to provide supplemental illumination in an area to the side and rear not lighted by the backup lamps. These lamps shall be lighted only with the backup lamps.

Rear-facing Auxiliary Lamps

24616. (a) A motor vehicle may be equipped with one or two rear-facing auxiliary lamps. For the purposes of this section, a rear-facing auxiliary lamp is a lamp that is mounted on the vehicle facing rearward. That lamp shall meet the photometric and performance requirements of the Society of Automotive Engineers Standard J1424 for cargo lamps.

(b) A rear-facing auxiliary lamp may project only a white light, with the main cone of light projecting both rearward and downward. The main cone of light shall illuminate the road surface or ground immediately rearward of a line parallel to the rear of the vehicle for a distance not greater than 50 feet. The main cone of light may not project to the front or sides of the vehicle.

(c) A rear-facing auxiliary lamp may be activated only when the vehicle is stopped. A vehicle equipped with a rear-facing auxiliary lamp shall also be equipped with a system that allows activation of the lamp only when the vehicle is in the "park" setting, if the vehicle is equipped with an automatic transmission, or in the "neutral" setting with the parking brake engaged, if the vehicle is equipped with a manual transmission.

(d) A vehicle equipped with a rear-facing auxiliary lamp may have an activation switch accessible to the operator from the rear of the vehicle.

Seeing as to how OP is in Minnesota I also did a quick scan of their code and found that it is not quite as detailed. About the closest thing I could find is this.

169.55 LIGHTS ON ALL VEHICLES.
Subdivision 1.Lights or reflectors required.

At the times when lighted lamps on vehicles are required each vehicle including an animal-drawn vehicle and any vehicle specifically excepted in sections 169.47 to 169.79, with respect to equipment and not hereinbefore specifically required to be equipped with lamps, shall be equipped with one or more lighted lamps or lanterns projecting a white light visible from a distance of 500 feet to the front of the vehicle and with a lamp or lantern exhibiting a red light visible from a distance of 500 feet to the rear, except that reflectors meeting the maximum requirements of this chapter may be used in lieu of the lights required in this subdivision. It shall be unlawful except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, to project a white light to the rear of any such vehicle while traveling on any street or highway, unless such vehicle is moving in reverse. A lighting device mounted on top of a vehicle engaged in deliveries to residences may project a white light to the rear if the sign projects one or more additional colors to the rear. An authorized emergency vehicle may display an oscillating, alternating, or rotating white light used in connection with an oscillating, alternating, or rotating red light when responding to emergency calls.


169.64 PROHIBITED LIGHTS; EXCEPTIONS.
Subdivision 1.Bright light.

Any lighted lamp or illuminating device upon a motor vehicle, other than a headlamp, a spot lamp, or an auxiliary driving lamp, which projects a beam of light of an intensity greater than 300-candle power, shall be so directed that no part of the beam will strike the level of the roadway on which the vehicle stands at a distance of more than 75 feet from the vehicle.