# Horse Trailer Lighting?



## Dieselrider (Jul 8, 2008)

Re flooring and refurbishing an old Crown two horse trailer. The marker lights along the side are needing replaced as they do not work. I was going to order some more marker lights but, got to wondering if they were even really necessary to have on there at all? Couldn't I just add a couple reflectors or reflective tape. We will very seldom use this at night, if at all and it is used a half dozen times a year to transport livestock. I don't think Pennsylvania DOT requires them but, maybe someone on here knows differently. Thank you.


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

Sorry, can't help you on the legalities of your lighting situation. If I was in your shoes, I would put in a phone call to your local office of the Highway Patrol. In my state, the Highway Patrol is responsible for inspecting vehicles that are licensed out-of-state to make sure that they conform to this state's regulations. Also, the Highway Patrol inspects homebuilt stuff to give it the thumbs-up or thumbs-down before the licensing agency can issue a title and license plate. When I bought a motorcycle from out of state, the Highway Patrol had to check and make sure the vehicle identification numbers (VINs) matched on the frame and the engine before my state would issue me plates for my home state.

I mostly just wanted to chime in that the vast majority of my vehicle marker light problems have been resolved as grounding issues. On a steel trailer, the marker lights ground through the metal that the marker light is mounted on. One wire delivers power to the light, but the light is grounded to the trailer using a screw or a rivet that also secures the light to the trailer. The ground must continue to the towing vehicle, unless the lights on the trailer are powered by a separate battery on the trailer itself. The ground might continue to the towing vehicle either via the trailer wiring plug or though the trailer hitch. I have had trailers whose lights wouldn't work unless the trailer hitch was coupled to the towing vehicle. My apologies if you are already familiar with all this.

Usually, if I have a light that isn't working, I drill out the rivet that is holding the marker light on, wire-brush the area around the hole in the sheet metal (a wire wheel attachment for a drill makes pretty quick work of that task), then pop rivet the marker light back on with a steel rivet. That generally takes care of it.

One of the things that marker lights on the side of the trailer are good for is to keep someone from trying to merge into your trailer in the dark. On the freeway, the person in the lane next to you will have their headlights pointed in the same direction that you are both traveling, which will not make a reflector blaze up in a helpful way. I generally don't plan on hauling in the dark, but with animals, things happen and timetables slip. You get a flat, someone doesn't want to load, you have to go back ten miles for your favorite pair of braided reins... and suddenly you're driving in the dark. Again. 

I used to have a long gooseneck trailer and I got careless with the marker lights. The ones up on top worked fine, but the ones down on the fender at about knee-height had been banged around and broken by horses tied to the trailer or by scraping through the brush on a narrow dirt road up in the mountains. On more than one occasion I saw headlights swerve wildly in my side-view mirror when a small car thought they could change lanes behind me and didn't notice I was towing a trailer until the last second. Those little guys low to the ground don't always see the marker lights up at the top of a longer trailer. A short two-horse trailer might not have the same problems. That my longer gooseneck did.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

Beside being more "intimidating" when you need to merge in traffic because they can't see you're not so big, I have found the running lights give me a reference as to where the trailer is when I have to back in the dark. One time the running lights saved me from the error in judgement I had made about how much room overhead I had. If I hadn't seen the lights reflect off the overhead gate bow, I would have taken off the gate or the trailer. 
I agree with the shorts being in the place where the wire goes through the steel skin. Old plastic covered wire rubbing for years every bounce againts that can easily be a really hard short to find. Whenerver I have to replace a light, I try to remember to give the wires a wrap with electical tape at that point.


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## goodhors (Sep 6, 2011)

Sometimes you just have to replace a light fixture, they get old and die. My stock trailer needed new tail lights, the light socket had corroded and lights wouldn't work. We got new lights, LEDs, and gosh WHAT an improvement in visibility!! You can see the tail lights well in daylight and EXTREMELY WELL at night time. I am going to add some LED white lights to the inside of the big horse trailer. LEDs have so much more light to use with those kind of fixtures, much better visibility inside trailer too. LED never burns out, no bulbs, just seeing power to the diode for the light.

You really want your marker lights working, could be a ticket if the police pull you over and parts are not functioning. I am pretty sure those lights are required on horse trailers. Adding some reflective tape is a double reward, visible AND a passive system, SHOULD your whole light system fail. Had that happen, needed a new plug on the truck which had corroded.

Plans go out of your control, so night, dusk, snow, heavy rain during use, all could cause you to NEED good lights on the trailer. Do get the inside light fixed too, it comes in SO handy.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

I've been alerted several times that my tail running lights were not working, because I could see that my side marker lights were off. Gives me great piece of mind that I can look at my rear view mirror and see my clearance lights are on. 
Reflective tape wouldn't hurt either. I think they make reflective "patches" in the shape of several breeds of horses. Makes a nice rear door decoration and might just save a life if your trailer lights failed.


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## Dieselrider (Jul 8, 2008)

Thank you everyone. It looks like they are requird in PA and all your wisdom makes sense as well. Going to order new markers. The old ones are more than just shorting out. I had soldered new wires in place and they still do not function when checked with a battery jump box on the bench. (Okay, one out of four did work.) I'll just replace them for safety sake. Thanks again.


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

When you order some, order a few spare replacement lenses also. You may have to store them for ten years but you'll probably need them one day and when you do, they'll have been discontinued.


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