urgently wanted: ideas on adapting 4 inch round LED truck taillights onto utility trailer?

[pybyr]

As part of resurrecting my long-neglected 5x8 utility trailer to haul my Ural motorcycle/ sidecar rig for an upcoming brief road trip, I discovered that all the OEM tail and marker lights are all DOA, or close, from one thing or another- cracked plastic, corroded contacts, bad ground connections, mudwasp messes, etc.

The other night I was at Tractor Supply and saw a full small trailer light and wiring set for under $30- hard to beat, bought it.

Last night my son had set the package containing the new lights down on the ground near where we were stripping the old rotten deckboards off the trailer, and in a moment of distraction, my foot caught the corner of the "clear plastic packaging clamshell" that the lights were sold in. Didn't even step squarely on it, just sort of a glancing klutzy diagonal swipe, but one of the new taillights pretty much blew to smithereens- all lenses cracked, housing cracked, internal metal parts bent, etc. Which leaves me totally unimpressed at how/ how long these "budget" lights would actually last in use on the trailer if I went and bought another set of same.

LED lighting would be really appealing to me due to the fact that it is sealed, vibration proof, etc. But "standard" utility trailer LED lights seem to be sort of pricey and/ or not "in stock" at local sources- and I need to get this thing rolling soon and at low cost (lotsa other costs lately...).

For the weight class that my trailer is, formal inspection is no longer required in VT.

The round 4 inch LED stop/ tail lights such as are used on commercial trucks seem to be readily and cheaply available from many sources- only trouble is, the way that they mount into a "recess" hole in one way or another won't work on my trailer's flat light brackets unless I basically made whole new brackets with big round holes- which I don't have time to do, and sort of defeats the purpose of trying to keep this simple.

Anyone have any "cheap and cheerful" suggested ways of mounting the 4 inch round commercial "puck" LED stop/ tail lights on a flat surface that doesn't provide the usual big mounting hole?

Thanks!

 

[Jags]

How deep of a recession is needed? If its just a couple of inches, layer a couple pieces of plywood - 2x6 - whatever and cut out your 4" hole. A hole saw or even a jig saw would do the job. Then mount the wood piece to the flat steel plates on the trailer.

Post up a pic or link to the type you are looking at.

 

[heat seeker]

That's what I would suggest, too.
Are you sure the lights have both tail AND stoplight functions?
I'd run a separate ground right back to the connector from each light, too, since grounds are the major problem on trailers.

 

[fossil]

I've done plenty of business with this outfit, and always been pleased:

http://www.etrailer.com/

 

[semipro]

I got tired of replacing the lights/lenses on my two trailers that I broke when they got caught up on something which happens pretty often. They are pretty fragile.

I bought a pair of magnetic trailer lights (link below) and installed pigtails on them and the trailer wiring so that I can move them between trailers. I tether them to the trailer with a leash so they don't hit the ground should they get knocked loose.

I sometimes knock them loose with a tree branch or some such but in two years I haven't had to repair or replace a light.

http://www.amazon.com/Valley-52000-Magnetic-Towing-Light/dp/B000CQ269A I think the ones I have are an LED version of these.

 

[pybyr]

How deep of a recession is needed? If its just a couple of inches, layer a couple pieces of plywood - 2x6 - whatever and cut out your 4" hole. A hole saw or even a jig saw would do the job. Then mount the wood piece to the flat steel plates on the trailer.

Post up a pic or link to the type you are looking at.

Sorta like these- you can get the plastic without the mount/ trim ring:

http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wc...catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=30661

I like your plywood sandwich idea

Thanks for everyone elses' ideas, too- back out to keep grinding rusty bolts off....

 

[pybyr]

Came up with a solution-

Got two of these oval Peterson Pirhana LED oval stop/ tail lights for a modest price at the auto parts store. They are very solidly made and sealed and REALLY bright. Nice pigtail wiring coming right out of the sealed resin, so no connectors to come loose or corrode. Look like you'd have to hit them multiple times with a bat to damage them.

http://www.pmlights.com/products.cfm?cId=1&fId=57&pId=2716

Cut some cushion backing pads for them, bigger than the lights, from a thick rubber semi-truck rim liner.

Going to "wire clamp" them on by drilling holes in the trailer's metal light mount plates, stainless tie wire, and this really handy tool- doing a wrap/ clamp sort of near each end; the thick rubber backing should let there be tension on the clamping wire enough to keep the lights from moving, but without putting strain enough on the lights that could damage them

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/000715.php

www.clamptitetools.com/

going to re-wire the whole trailer from stem to stern with real ground wire returns for every light, all connections soldered and wrapped in wide-range-temp grey pro grade electric tape, rather than the usual cheeseball approach of using the trailer frame as ground, which usually gets funky quick due to corrosion. This replacement of lights and stuff is enough of a pain in the behind to do that I don't want to need to do it again any sooner than can be helped- hopefully never again...

Cheap, bright, and relatively bombproof- and thanks for the various ideas that kept me encouraged.

 

[heat seeker]

Go for it