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muddyriver's avatar
muddyriver
Explorer
Aug 18, 2017

trailer wiring

I'll try to keep this brief. I have a 2001 28foot travel trailer. while putting 600 miles on it this last week I found out my trailer park lamps were not working. The brake lights work, turn signals work but when it got dark I found out that the back area of the trailer was not working. The front marker lights work, but the back marker lights did not work nor did the parking lamps. I've checked all the bulbs, all sockets showed connectivity with my ohm meter. I checked all the fuses in the 2014 ford F250. Finally when I check the sockets for voltage only the left parking lamp showed voltage. the back marker and right parking lamp showed no voltage. I'm looking for area to trouble shoot. I figure there are a lot of people that have had experience with this.

Kind Regards,

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  • BenK's avatar
    BenK
    Explorer
    Aug 18, 2017
    Depends on how the OEM designed the electrical system...especially their grounding system

    If they ran a separate ground wire (costs more) then wnjj is right, but if they used the metal of the vehicle, then yes parts can still work, while the parts not grounded or grounded well will not work

    IMHO, a major El Cheapo fault of most trailer OEMs...am sure there are some fine ones out there...but on these forums...seems most are NOT...

    drsteve wrote:
    wnjj wrote:
    It can't be the ground wire. The brake lights work but several tail/marker lights don't. That's a problem with the hot wire.

    It can always be the ground. Never say never.
  • drsteve's avatar
    drsteve
    Explorer
    Aug 18, 2017
    wnjj wrote:
    It can't be the ground wire. The brake lights work but several tail/marker lights don't. That's a problem with the hot wire.

    It can always be the ground. Never say never.
  • wnjj's avatar
    wnjj
    Explorer II
    Aug 18, 2017
    It can't be the ground wire. The brake lights work but several tail/marker lights don't. That's a problem with the hot wire.
  • drsteve's avatar
    drsteve
    Explorer
    Aug 18, 2017
    Ground wire. To check, take a length of wire and use it to ground the non functioning socket. If it works, you have a bad ground.
  • SweetLou's avatar
    SweetLou
    Explorer
    Aug 18, 2017
    darsben1 wrote:
    First thing to check always is the ground

    X2. Check ground on that socket
  • ScottG's avatar
    ScottG
    Nomad
    Aug 18, 2017
    Might want to go back and read those rules again. (We're not allowed to post the same thing in multiple threads.)
    Good luck.

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