Trillium Tail lights question

[Roy S]

The original tail lights for my trailer had been removed at some point but were in the trailer when I bought it. I took them apart yesterday and they are in great condition, no rusted sockets or anything so I bench tested them and they still light up. I have no idea why they were removed but glad the PO didn't throw them away. My question is: Was there a gasket or seal between the trailer and the light or were they just directly mounted? Thanks in advance!

[Monk]

Yes, Trillium typically used a rubber gasket between the taillight and fiberglass body. This is for waterproofing and vibration dampening.

Some options are to find a new rubber gasket or flexible butyl tape. You could use a sealant but I would advise not doing this as it could crack easily and does not do much for dampening vibration.

You may want to consider upgrading to LED lights. I replace my 1983 Scamp taillight with the following: "LIMICAR 7" Round Trailer Lights, 36 LED Red Transit Tail Lights, LED Trailer Light Kit Stop Brake Turn Taillight with Inner Reflex Lens for RV Trailer Truck Bus RV UTE UTV Motorhome". On Amazon, they are $30 for the pair.

They are bright and greatly improved other vehicles seeing me during the daylight when I use my turn indicators.

[Roy S]

Originally Posted by Monk

Yes, Trillium typically used a rubber gasket between the taillight and fiberglass body. This is for waterproofing and vibration dampening.

Some options are to find a new rubber gasket or flexible butyl tape. You could use a sealant but I would advise not doing this as it could crack easily and does not do much for dampening vibration.

You may want to consider upgrading to LED lights. I replace my 1983 Scamp taillight with the following: "LIMICAR 7" Round Trailer Lights, 36 LED Red Transit Tail Lights, LED Trailer Light Kit Stop Brake Turn Taillight with Inner Reflex Lens for RV Trailer Truck Bus RV UTE UTV Motorhome". On Amazon, they are $30 for the pair.

They are bright and greatly improved other vehicles seeing me during the daylight when I use my turn indicators.

Thanks Monk, I had a Boler and used the 7" LED lights on it. I'm kinda old school I guess and really want to use the originals. I'll go with the butyl tape as I have some on hand, thanks again!

[computerspook]

Depending on how "old school" you are, and how handy you are; you might be able to have the best of both worlds. Now this would be a little bit of work. I couldn't do this with my Scamp lights because the lights got destroyed was the reason I was replacing them. But I've done this with a number of trailers and for a number of friends.

If you take the tail lights apart. Then take careful measurements and pictures of them. Basically getting the size and the depth of the lens. There's a company super bright LEDs https://www.superbrightleds.com/ And they have a great tech support sales department. If you can can get on the phone with them and then while on the phone send them your pictures and measurements chances are really good they can come up with a socket based no lens LED of the right brightness that won't fit.

Then that's if you're really handy comes in. And how old school you really are and how much in love with incandescent you are. But if you do want LEDs but still the look of the same lights, What you're going to have to do. What you have to do is remove the old incandescent bulb socket. You usually have to use a Dremel tool and a drill and some other tools to carefully do this. Then you can usually pop rivet the new socket into place. It will have three wires, the same three wires you had in the first place. And you can have LEDs and the look of your old lights.

And as a bonus, which apparently doesn't apply in this case. If the incandescent bulb sockets have become corroded you can still keep the same lens look and go to LEDs and actually have a working lights. Which is one of the reasons I've used this trick in the past for friends

[Scot M]

I replaced the rear lights on my Trillium 4500 last summer. I used LED lights from Princess Auto and the original Trillium light cases that I purchased from a poster on FRV. This is the link I used as a guide https://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/...ild-65775.html The LED lights were slightly different than in the guide, so the metal plate interposed between the LED lights and beige backer plate was essential. Holes were filled in the trailer where previous owners had made holes for the lights I was replacing. I used WAGO 221-412 lever nuts to connect the new and old wires and then held the wires together as they emerged from the lever nut with mini zip ties. I also replaced the side marker lights and wired with the same lever nuts. The original light housings are different as are the backing plates, so they should be mated correctly. I had to jury-rig the license plate holder on the driver's side under the white light. This was a huge improvement in visibility and reliability versus the old incandescent bulbs. I did not use a gasket between the light and trailer. Something to revisit though.

[Roy S]

Originally Posted by Scot M

I replaced the rear lights on my Trillium 4500 last summer. I used LED lights from Princess Auto and the original Trillium light cases that I purchased from a poster on FRV. This is the link I used as a guide https://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/...ild-65775.html The LED lights were slightly different than in the guide, so the metal plate interposed between the LED lights and beige backer plate was essential. Holes were filled in the trailer where previous owners had made holes for the lights I was replacing. I used WAGO 221-412 lever nuts to connect the new and old wires and then held the wires together as they emerged from the lever nut with mini zip ties. I also replaced the side marker lights and wired with the same lever nuts. The original light housings are different as are the backing plates, so they should be mated correctly. I had to jury-rig the license plate holder on the driver's side under the white light. This was a huge improvement in visibility and reliability versus the old incandescent bulbs. I did not use a gasket between the light and trailer. Something to revisit though.

Hey Scot, I checked out your post at some point in my search. The wago lever nuts are cool, they could of saved me some soldering...my sockets were perfect so I decided to just go the easy way, rewired and re-installed the lights. I considered doing the LED upgrade, maybe I will a few years down the road, I don't go camping a whole lot and I never drive at night so I should be good. I have no idea why the PO removed them other than a chip out of the corner on one of the lenses? I filled it in with Butyl. Here's a pic of what I was dealing with. I removed the plates and lamp, used Butyl to seal the original lights back to the trailer.