Ball mount

[woodster]

I think you mean ID lights, the three red lights centered on the rear, spaced evenly from 6" to 12", and front and rear clearance lights, at the widest part (rear clearance lights are part of the 'over 80' stop/turn/tail lights, but you don't have to use those if rear clearance lights are separate). Side markers are required, amber front and red rear, regardless of length or width, and trailers over 30' long require mid-point amber side markers on each side, too. At least that's what the US and Canadian DOTs (or NHTSA) say.

As an aside, marker lights that are PC rated can be mounted at a 45 degree angle, and serve as both clearance and side marker lamps, since they have a 180 degree arc. Lotta new trailers do this, as it eliminates a couple of lights on each side, which of course is cheaper for the manufacturer, and takes less wiring and labor.

good catch tkanzler.......

regards

woody

 

[tkanzler]

I agree completely with the visibility issue. People often don't expect a car to be towing a trailer, expecially a long one, and on the highway, in the rain, at night, with spray obscuring everything, I worry that someone will move over right into the trailer. So lots of lighting can help make it visible in a fogged-over side view mirror.

The extra red stop/turn/tail/side marker lights are mounted to the outboard lower unit and plug into the trailer harness.

 

[dc78212]

You should be able to buy a hitch to tow your trailer with. As pointed out before, a 2" receiver is so common wally world , pep boys, lowes, homeless depot, autozone on and on carry them...

You should also be able to buy an adapter for your 7 pin to 4 pin for the trailer at those same places... the 7 pin is setup for rv's usually and have the same connections for the lights, but have added connections for electric brakes and to charge the "house" battery in the rv... the adapter will ignore those and just use the "lights" portion.

"IF" the wiring was done properly from whom ever did the installation, it's all the same color codes for utility trailer, boat trailer or rv lighting... where you run into trouble is if someone had "a better way of doing it"... but if it's factory or store bought and installed, you shouldn't have any issues with the adapter...

What is strange is that it doesn't have a flat 4 connection next to the 7 pin?

Buy a decent adapter and try it on a friends trailer with a flat 4 and go from there... The adapter is available at the same place you buy the hitch from...

I have one that has setup that has three balls on it (around $45... 1 7/8", 2", 2 5/16")... comes in handy because you don't have to carry 3 different ones around with you. BUT it does NOT allow for correcting the drop of the trailer compared to the tow vehicle. It will get you to a place to measure and buy a proper drop for what you are towing.

 

[Picflight]

Thank you all for the great discussion and information.

I did not like the boat, and did not get the ball mount yet. I am looking at another boat this weekend. So, I will measure the height of the trailer end and then get the correct hitch ball mount.

 

[dc78212]

Thank you all for the great discussion and information.

I did not like the boat, and did not get the ball mount yet. I am looking at another boat this weekend. So, I will measure the height of the trailer end and then get the correct hitch ball mount.

You should get one that doesn't have any drop to it, hitch the boat to your tow vehicle and THEN measure what drop you will need...

If you level the trailer on the ground, measure and go buy the ball mount, if you tow vehicle dropss an inch with the trailer on it, you will be an inch off even before you start loading anything in either...

Ideally you want the tow vehicle loaded as you would when you go and your tow vehicle loaded (full tank, outboard in the bed if pickup and that's how you plan to do it, number of people, hook the boat up and measure).

You might be surprised what a difference it might make. You have seen this many times and just didn't realize it, boat hitched up, with a drop in the ball mount, and sagging in the middle because now everything is loaded and heavy...

At the very least, a straight one will get you where you are going, unless your tow vehicle sits high in the air compared to the boat.

The closer to "level" the trailer rides, the better it will handle... this gets even more noticeable as the number of axles increase...

 

[Picflight]

Good point @dc.