Trillium 1300 wiring help

[Darwin Maring]

The lights that francesca knowles posted. I bought a set of these at Harbor Freight, hacked them up and installed in the original VW Thing tail lights. They work great.

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

There are four wires that can be run to the junction box that is under the drivers side of the gaucho. From there you splice into your exterior cable that plugs into the trailer. The marker lights and everything else is not affected. The connectors that come with it are cut off and disposed of.

That also applies to the lenses and housing. What is used is the inside of these tail lights. Besides the rear facing LED's you see, there are also side facing, and lights for the licence plate.

Sounds like one's throwing away 75% of the purchase-? Which reminds me...does the O.P. actually need/want brand new lights or are we just spendin' other folks' money whether they want us to or not...again? ...

Anyway:

I guess I could see the utility of using these IF one needed all new wiring in addition to new lights. Maybe. Assuming one could figure out how to run that wrong-color/four-flat wire through the interior of the trailer all the way up front to the plug. If original wire is left intact, it could still power the existing running lights. Which by the way its my understanding must be lit/used if installed as original equipment.

But if there's wiring at the rear already, why not just hack all the excess off and make the connection right where it belongs, back where the lights are? Or better yet, just buy lights without all that extra stuff that one's discarding anyway?

[David Tilston]

Good plan, but the lights come in a kit, with the wire and housing. I have not seen them separately. I agree, it does seem like a waste.

This is not the first electrical project I would tackle, especially if the existing lights work. There is no need to change to LED's, other then they are brighter, and more reliable then the bulbs. They also consume less power, but since that comes from the tow vehicle, it is kinda not a big deal. I choose them more for the cool factor then anything. I am also changing the marker lights to LED's. When the intent is to strip out all the existing wire and replace it with new,(as I plan to do) then the four conductors provided with this kit would simply be a convenient source of material.

Why do you say they are the wrong color? The wires are standard trailer wiring colors. I doubt they would confuse many future owners.

[Thinh]

Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles

You're referring to the lights at this link (and in pic below), correct?

This puzzles me... unless one cuts off that four-flat connector and direct-wires up front at the pigtail connection I don't see how they can be used on a Trillium. Is the suggestion to just abandon the stock Trillium pigtail in favor of a direct connection to the tug itself?

If so, how would one power the marker lights on the trailer, not to mention the charging line and brakes if so equipped?

The ones above I put them on my Trillium without drilling required. it's simple, bright in darkness and marker lights aren't affected....

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles

Sounds like one's throwing away 75% of the purchase-?
...
Or better yet, just buy lights without all that extra stuff that one's discarding anyway?

I found out the hard way, that the lights are more expensive purchased separately than as a kit. LH = $34.19, RH = $26.42 Total = $50.61
http://www.cerka.ca/comersus7f/store...idProduct=7056
http://www.cerka.ca/comersus7f/store...idProduct=7055
Previous sale prices at Princess Auto was $39.99, upcoming sale is $49.99.

I didn't throw away the housings and lenses, I sold them for a cheap price online. Someone was happy to get a deal on replacement parts rather than having to buy new. They are the same housings and lenses that are also sold with regular bulbs. You also get to keep the handy wire clips.

Originally Posted by David Tilston

I choose them more for the cool factor then anything.

I chose them for the safety factor. They are much more visible day or night. Got tired of people telling me my lights were not working when they were.

[Lilytrilly]

Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles

Before you go/get too deep into a tear out:
I really recommend that you investigate further the cause of the sudden anomaly you've noticed per erratic behavior of the light/brake wiring. The problems you describe in the threadstatrter sound to me like you might just have a simple bad-ground problem and perhaps one or two bad connections. Completely tearing out/replacing all wiring may not be necessary or even called for.

Unfortunately when we tried fixing some of those bad connections, and peeling down to get to clean wire, it was fused... and didn't look great. Certainly not all of it needs to be replaced - one side has been redone - but we're going to take out the older stuff to clean it all up and match up the two sides.

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

Why do you say they are the wrong color? The wires are standard trailer wiring colors. I doubt they would confuse many future owners.

Except for the white ground wire, the wiring colors on those lights are wrong for the Trillium, as given on the original wiring diagram. link

Here's before/after, beginning with original wire color :
LT/stop: red; changes to: yellow
RT/stop: brown; changes to: green
Tail/sidemarkers: green; changes to: brown


A start down the slippery slope of Wire Chaos, in my opinion.

Easily avoided however if one whacks that harness off and uses original trailer wiring, making the connection back at the lights themselves just as if one bought nonprewired replacement lights. And on the plus side of that solution:

One would have something USABLE left over: a complete, intact, four-flat wiring harness for a utility/boat trailer or other future project. Heck- it looks to me like it even comes with the car connection....if nothing else, sell it for ten bucks at the next garage sale!

[RRJR]

Here is the wire/colour code on my 75 Trillium
White is Ground
Red is left signal
Brown is right signal
Green is (4) marker LIGHTS
BLACK is 12 volt line
Yellow---- for B/U lights if equipped
Blue ??not connected

The brake lights work thru the signal lights.
RRJR

Cat, where in Ontario are you located ?

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by Roy in TO

I found out the hard way, that the lights are more expensive purchased separately than as a kit. LH = $34.19, RH = $26.42 Total = $50.61
http://www.cerka.ca/comersus7f/store...idProduct=7056
http://www.cerka.ca/comersus7f/store...idProduct=7055
Previous sale prices at Princess Auto was $39.99, upcoming sale is $49.99.

For those with intact wiring that want to convert to LED in the rear:

I'm pretty sure these are the same lights. Available right now online for twenty bucks the pair plus shipping. Did the calculation to my zip code, and UPS ground shipping would be $16.76...$37.00 for the pair delivered to your door, mounting hardware/wiring instructions included.

Link to page

[Darwin Maring]

I bought that set at Harbor Freight and they still have them on the shelves.

[Roy in TO]

Good find for the Americans Francesca!
Shipped from:
DIY Trailer Parts
3301 W. Navy Blvd.
Pensacola, Florida 32505
United States
That $37 USD comes out to over $40 CDN at the current exchange rate. UPS won't let that slip by and will want to sting you for their brokerage fees to bring it up here. May as well double the price plus some.
I used their shipping calculator which gave 2 shipping options to Toronto. UPS worldwide expidited @ $88.47 or UPS worldwide express @ $100.01. Both services include brokerage.
I'll have to mark the site for my next trip to the USA. If they only mailed stuff, they would have our market for these.

[Raz]

My Trillium came with LED lights. Because of the multi lamp nature of the fixture, I find them brighter and thus easier to see. I think they are safer. They also draw less current than an incandecent bulb and are less taxing on some tow vehicle light systems. But while LEDs last a long time the electronic circuitry that makes them work may not. And because they are sealed, even someone with the skills to repair them can't. When one of the four on my Trillium failed, it was $40 for the replacement. Luckily the replacement was still being made. An incandescent fixture that looked the same was 1/2 the price and the bulb sells for $2 at any parts store. Just a thought. Raz

[Marv Watson]

Completing Dave's request for what I have on my 12v re-do here is a schematic of the interior wiring. A big thanks to Roy for "shrinking" it so I could upload it.

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles

Except for the white ground wire, the wiring colors on those lights are wrong for the Trillium, as given on the original wiring diagram. link

Here's before/after, beginning with original wire color :
LT/stop: red; changes to: yellow
RT/stop: brown; changes to: green
Tail/sidemarkers: green; changes to: brown

I think the green is still for marker lights, and the brown is still RT/stop. The reason I say this is that green goes to both sides. So the only change then is red changes to yellow. I would also run a separate white -12VDC, instead of using the frame, as these lights are designed to do.

BTW, Great find on those tail lights only. Too bad us Canadians are out in the cold on that.

[Lilytrilly]

Hello all! The wiring is done! Managed to blow a fuse on my car (since replaced) and do something else (?) but the trillium lights up brilliantly... When plugged in to someone else's car. Next step: figure out what I've done to my jeep that would have the running lights on the trailer work, but not the brakes/signals/hazards. Google has a lot of ideas, but I might just call my dealer on this one.

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

I think the green is still for marker lights, and the brown is still RT/stop. The reason I say this is that green goes to both sides.

OK, so after actually looking at it, I retract this statement. The green does not go to both sides.

Francesca is correct on all counts. The wire, that comes with the LED tail lights, is useless in a Trillium. I will instead go to Princess Auto and just buy the correct colors on a spool.