Lights down side of rig

[AJ.]

Chaps

Quite a few times when I have been towing the boat home in the dark I have been in the middle lane on a motorway overtaking or on dual carriageways and as my car has passed the vehicle I have overtaken they have gone to pull out behind me and then swerved back in as they didn't realise I was towing. This has happened quite a bit to me and is an accident waiting to happen.

Is there any legal way of adding some form of lights maybe on the winch area so other drivers can see there is a boat attached to the back of my car?

Obviously the right answer is for people to wait a bit before jumping out on the back of me but that's never going to happen. Also needs to be legal as I don't want the police pulling me over. But you do see lorrys having lights down the side of them?

[mister p]

Do whatever you want, the best one is bright blue LED's !!!!!!
Doesn't seem to bother anyone other than me.
Right P.I.T.A.

[AJ.]

Yeah know what your saying but when your on sudden death on your driving license I can't afford any more points!

[Andy B]

Put your rear fog lights on, it lights the boat up a treat...

[mister p]

Originally Posted by Andy B

Put your rear fog lights on, it lights the boat up a treat...

Do not put your rear fogs on.

At all ever, unless it's foggy. Not in snow, rain, hail or night.

Only when there's fog.

[mister p]

I've got to say though, there's nothing bad about running a string of LED's around your rig whilst under way, on the road.

[mick]

Originally Posted by AJ.

Chaps

Quite a few times when I have been towing the boat home in the dark I have been in the middle lane on a motorway overtaking or on dual carriageways and as my car has passed the vehicle I have overtaken they have gone to pull out behind me and then swerved back in as they didn't realise I was towing. This has happened quite a bit to me and is an accident waiting to happen.

Is there any legal way of adding some form of lights maybe on the winch area so other drivers can see there is a boat attached to the back of my car?

Obviously the right answer is for people to wait a bit before jumping out on the back of me but that's never going to happen. Also needs to be legal as I don't want the police pulling me over. But you do see lorrys having lights down the side of them?

Often wondered about this myself going down narrow rds with oncoming traffic is my worry with a wide rib
I had thought about putting some running lights on the mudguards but its the wiring that comes in to question then
Some of these would be good wired to the rib battery http://www.ladistributionltd.com/pro...ed-strip-light

[mister p]

Originally Posted by mick

Often wondered about this myself going down narrow rds with oncoming traffic is my worry with a wide rib
I had thought about putting some running lights on the mudguards but its the wiring that comes in to question then
Some of these would be good wired to the rib battery Product

Well actually, I reckon the more you have the better, but you do get close to CHAVness.

Just light your RIG up in a way where you wouldn't want somebody to hit it.........and stay away from CHAVS and SCUMbags.

[spartacus]

What you want are marker or running lights. They're red behind and white in front. Easy enough to install on the top of the mudguards. I did this on my last roller coaster trailer. However, the lights need to be waterproof, ideally LED bulbs. You can splice the wiring into the main loom if you have a light board (you'll need a detachable point) before it connects to the socket on the car.

That's one of my jobs for the spring before the start of the season.

[AJ.]

I was thinking something like those low lit Christmas lights that you run off a couple of aa batteries and weave them through the winch along the bow of the boat through the grab rails.

[willk]

I had a similar problem on the narrow roads here. In my case, oncoming traffic didn't realise just how wide my rig was (2.7m), despite the forward facing white reflectors on the mudguards.

In the end I fitted an amber revolving flasher on the trailer and it worked a treat. A bit illegal though, but I controlled it from the cab and could switch it off when not needed.

In your case, I'd rig a couple of forward facing whites on the lighting board, maybe extended up or out where needed....

[AJ.]

Originally Posted by spartacus

What you want are marker or running lights. They're red behind and white in front. Easy enough to install on the top of the mudguards. I did this on my last roller coaster trailer. However, the lights need to be waterproof, ideally LED bulbs. You can splice the wiring into the main loom if you have a light board (you'll need a detachable point) before it connects to the socket on the car.

That's one of my jobs for the spring before the start of the season.

Sounds interesting you should create a project thread so us useless folk can copy. My thoughts re. my issue is that having lights at the mud guards are too low to see out of a drivers window and generally to late as they would have pulled out before the trailer mud guards got level with the driver. Still better than nothing at all

[AJ.]

Originally Posted by willk

I had a similar problem on the narrow roads here. In my case, oncoming traffic didn't realise just how wide my rig was (2.7m), despite the forward facing white reflectors on the mudguards.

In the end I fitted an amber revolving flasher on the trailer and it worked a treat. A bit illegal though, but I controlled it from the cab and could switch it off when not needed.

In your case, I'd rig a couple of forward facing whites on the lighting board, maybe extended up or out where needed....

Cheers Wiilk they look pretty good just need to understand where the law stands with lights on a boat trailer such as height location etc., anyone up on these regulations?

[spartacus]

Originally Posted by AJ.

Sounds interesting you should create a project thread so us useless folk can copy. My thoughts re. my issue is that having lights at the mud guards are too low to see out of a drivers window and generally to late as they would have pulled out before the trailer mud guards got level with the driver. Still better than nothing at all

Sounds like a plan. Worked a treat on the Indespension roller coaster trailer which sat lower and wider than my current Rapide trailer.

The original rubberised 12v bulb marker lights lasted a couple of seasons before they corroded internally. I subsequently fitted LED marker lights which were sealed units. I attached them to the mudguards and sealed them with sikaflex, then ran the wiring up to the hitch.

Because I use a light board, I added a connector near the tow hitch so it could detach prior to launching. You could of course add separate red and white LED marker lights, however it can work out expensive. On the positive side, they're less likely to get damaged as they're not directly on top of the mudguard if you go for the combined version.

Some examples here: LED lights

[CJL]

I stuck reflexite strips on the front edge of the mudguard and the lightboard. Much cheaper and easier!

New Reflexite ECE 104 Red Reflective Tape 50mm x 1m | eBay

Red on the back, white on the front.

Chris

[AJ.]

Good link Spartacus some of those LED lights arn't as expensive as I thought they might be have you bought from them before? Might update my light board as the lights are becoming temperamental.

[mister p]

what was the illegality of the amber?

[willk]

Originally Posted by CJL

I stuck reflexite strips on the front edge of the mudguard and the lightboard. Much cheaper and easier!

I tried that - didn't work. I think that the glare from my dipped headlights obscured the reflected light (I used SOLAS tape). On the whole, I found that a rotating amber put manners on them

My bad, obviously...

[willk]

Originally Posted by mister p

what was the illegality of the amber?

AFAIK (amd I didn't check 'cos I didn't plan to change my plan) you need to be travelling below a certain speed - it's something silly like 20-40mph.

This bothered me not a jot

[chewy]

Depending on how new your car is the ecu could be programmed so the rear fog lights don't work when the tow hitch electrics are connected.

Surely amber side markers would be fine?