Trillium Tail Lights

[Harvey]

My 1976 Trillium 13' appears to have had a 'rough' life with extensive (& unconventional) mods, inside & out. (Joe & Reece at Outback Custom Liteweights in Calgary have been invaluable in helping me obtain a 'new' rear window & front rock guard, Thanks Guys). The original tail/turn/brake lights are long gone, replaced with less than attractive utility/boat trailer lights. I don't have much of expectation of finding original rectangular lights, & I don't intend to restore it to original condition but I'd like to make it look good & somewhat resemble original. The 'pedestals' where the original lights were mounted are approx 13.5" long X 4.5" high. According to the mounting holes (still visible & 'plugged' with screws) the original lights were probably approx 13"X3" or so. I've located some red, & amber reflectors that closely approximate the originals that were mounted vertically (with adhesive??) front & rear. I've also found some rectangular LED tail/turn/stop lights that may work & not look too odd tho they're not as large as I believe originals were. Would appreciate it if someone on the forum with a similar vintage Trillium could measure (& post here) the size of their original tail lights. TIA!

These are lights currently on my trailer

[Spanke]

Originally Posted by Harvey

My 1976 Trillium 13' appears to have had a 'rough' life with extensive (& unconventional) mods, inside & out. (Joe & Reece at Outback Custom Liteweights in Calgary have been invaluable in helping me obtain a 'new' rear window & front rock guard, Thanks Guys). The original tail/turn/brake lights are long gone, replaced with less than attractive utility/boat trailer lights. I don't have much of expectation of finding original rectangular lights, & I don't intend to restore it to original condition but I'd like to make it look good & somewhat resemble original. The 'pedestals' where the original lights were mounted are approx 13.5" long X 4.5" high. According to the mounting holes (still visible & 'plugged' with screws) the original lights were probably approx 13"X3" or so. I've located some red, & amber reflectors that closely approximate the originals that were mounted vertically (with adhesive??) front & rear. I've also found some rectangular LED tail/turn/stop lights that may work & not look too odd tho they're not as large as I believe originals were. Would appreciate it if someone on the forum with a similar vintage Trillium could measure (& post here) the size of their original tail lights. TIA!

These are lights currently on my trailer

You are in luck! Paul Neumeister in Ontario has new old stock of original Trillium tailights. Here's his web site Fibreglass RV Parts, Repairs, and Service by Paul Neumeister. I ordered a pair from him and some side marker lights to boot. Give him a call, He'll give the price + shipping and you send him a postal money order and when he gets it, he sends the merchandise. Nice guy to work with. There have been several others here on the forum that have dealt with him also, never heard any bad reports. Good Luck with your renovation!

Spanke

[Donna D.]

Here is what the original looks like:


Here's what an LED tail light might look like:


from here: One Pair Submersible Trailer LED Lights a pair for $40 seems relatively inexpensive to be SEEN!

[Harvey]

Thanks Donna (& Spanke). The ones I looked at on e-trailer were very similar to that one. May have been a little larger. I've noticed on several of the Trilliums in the Trailer Registry they have a light that doesn't appear to be quite as long as the original, more like the submersible LED lights. E-trailer has one that is more'n 8" long & over 3" high that is a few dollars more than the submersible but looks almost like it belongs on the Trillium. I'll hafta see what the cost will be for the new 'old stock' that Paul has. I'm not trying to 'restore' the trailer unless costs will be similar...

[Reid Larsen]

Our '78 Trill had "after market" lights similar to those you show and when I painted her I looked high and low for some new lights approaching original size. Some one in the FG forum (Probably Donna D.) told me of the contact for Paul and I got a set of his new old stock original lights. Consider me totally pleased-they just look right. He is as easy to deal with as anyone you can imagine. If you want you can replace the bulbs with LED's to make them a bit brighter-I didn't. I am interested as to your source for the red and amber reflectors that stick on fore and aft, I haven't been able to find any that seem to be the right size.

[Roger C H]

Here is a page from the brochure from about your vintage. You can get a pretty good idea of what the taillights look like.

[Roger C H]

Here is a picture of our trailer. You can see the current LED taillights and the reflectors I made by cutting an equal amount off both ends of some standard reflectors I found in an auto parts store. They were the correct width but too long. Since I cut both ends off with the mounting holes, (I didn't want to drill holes in the shell anyway and that also made the jewel pattern symmetrical), I attached all four, (two each red and amber) with Scotch brand double back mounting tape. Hmm. I see that the tape I have now which I recently purchased says "Indoor". It looks identical to the tape I used and the reflectors have been on for 3 years... BTW the new molds do not have the reflector bosses on them any longer as shown on the second picture which is from the Trillium website.

[Roger C H]

If you have Outback front/back windows, they don't open. Trillium has opening windows on all four sides, plus they are the Jealousie type which allow being open during rain. Compare the subtle differences:

Compact lightweight fiberglass Outback travel trailers Calgary | Trillium Trailers

trilliumrv.com

PS: Trillium says they can stay open in a light rain. They are too modest. Last week we had ours open in a pouring rain, but the rain didn't come inside.

PPS: Notice that the Outback still shows the reflector bosses. Perhaps they are able to furnish the reflectors...

[Harvey]

Thanks Roger, I have that brochure in PDF & that's where I got my 'approximate' dimensions from for the original lights. E-Trailer shows a couple of LED lights that look like one could 'double' them side-by-side to closely approximate the look of the originals. May not be cost effective as they're around $25 each but, that would depend on cost (delivered) of the old stock new lights that Paul has.

The rear window I got from Outback is from a vintage Trillium & both sections are the 3-pane, jalousie type that opens. It is in very good condition with screen. Once I remove the window type AC that is in there now I should be able to replace the existing plywood with a non-opening single pane that will be similar to other Trillium windows I've seen, & keep it for a spare.

Reid, it appears that I mis-measured & the reflectors I saw on e-trailer will not fit as is. the 'boss' for the reflectors are approx 2 3/4" high X 1 1/4" wide while the reflectors are 3 3/16" X 1 1/4". They could perhaps be 'cut down' to fit but I'll keep looking. My trailer had one reflector left in the front so I'll keep it handy as a 'guide' in my search. It was attached to the trailer with some kind of adhesive (no holes).

This is the window in my Trillium - & next is the kind I got from Outback -

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by Harvey

Once I remove the window type AC that is in there now I should be able to replace the existing plywood with a non-opening single pane that will be similar to other Trillium windows I've seen

Actually, if you look at the brochure, that "non-opening", single pane window is in fact a fire escape. It opens, and it doesn't have a screen.

[Rick G]

Originally Posted by Roger C H

Here is a page from the brochure from about your vintage. You can get a pretty good idea of what the taillights look like.

Roger, do you have the rest of this brochure? I only have a black and white scan of the same brochure that came with my trailer (that I posted to the doc centre a couple of years ago). Your colour copy appears to be better quality than the one in the document centre.

Thanks,
Rick G