Led flood light mounted on back of trailer

RoyB wrote:
It is more than just mounting lights on the rear - they have to come on only when you are in REVERSE... They also have to be DOT APPROVED LENS on the lights...

This is what happened to me here in VIRGINIA when I mounted two lights on the bottom of my OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer. These were turned ON by a separate switch inside my POPUP trailer.

Much like this GOOGLE IMAGE from the internet...

GOOGLE IMAGE...

They worked out pretty good for me...

Then I had to get my Virginia Safety Inspection a couple of months later and the first question I got was why those lights did not come on when he asked to put my truck in reverse... The inspector also said he could not find a DOT NUMBER stamped on the lens...

He made me remove the two lights before I could pass my DOT Safety Inspection.

After taking them off I just decided not to have any mounted. I could have added the 12VDC line from the center connector of the 7-way trailer connector but just decided I would go for lights on the side of the trailer.

Back in my JEEP DAYS I was always running into SAFETY INSPECTION problems with all of our lights mounted on bars and things... DOT just doesn't these lights to ever come on when driving down the public roads...

Sorry to start anything here from what I said - Just passing along what I went thru a couple years back. Take it for what ever it is worth... I can remove my comments if you guys like...

Roy Ken

Roy if you carefully check the VA inspection manual you can have non DOT approved lights mounted on the rear controlled by a switch. For inspection they must be made inoperable (I.E. fuze or switch) and they must be covered with a factory like cover. You can't cover them up with tape, cardboard, etc. I have non DOT rear lights on both my Van and my 2013 Sonata with both on a switch and I made some cloth covers for the lights on the Sonata and for the last 14 years haven't even covered up the ones on the Van and I have never been questioned and my inspector follows the manual and even checks any LED replacements since they also have to be DOT/SAE approved.

These rules are similar to the "light bars" on vehicles like Jeeps which are covered up and are on switches. In fact I had a set of driving and fog lights on the front of my Van from 2001 until this month which had covers on them and were activated by switches and they were never questioned in any of my State VA inspections on my Van.

Larry