Wiring trailer

[pricefarm]

Bought a gooseneck flatbed trailer a few months ago used. All thee wiring is crap so I pulled it all out and Iam going to rewire it. What do y'all think is best grounding the lights to the frame or running a ground wire from each light to the front of the trailer and connect it to the ground wire at the plug ? Also iam going to replace the brakes on it is there a brand that is better than others? It is a 20ft trailer 8 ft wide with 7000# axles and it has brakes on both axles do u think that is needs that or would one set work? Trailer isn't really long enough to haul a tractor and hay roller so the heaviest load would be around 10000#

 

[tom4018]

Some people will ground the lights to the frame and then run a wire from the plug to the frame. As long as you get good clean connections it should not be a problem. On the brakes I would want them on both axles. As far as replacements you may be limited by what axle it has on it.

 

[saltbranch]

I ground to trailer frame and ground wire through trailer plug. Seems like I had never ending trouble with trailer grounds until I started that.
As far as brakes, what does your state require? My bumper pull 20' with 7k has 1 brake axle and I have no issues. On average I don't load much more than 8k on it and I pull with 3/4 ton. My G/N has 7k's and brakes on both, to be honest I don't feel much a brake difference between the 2 trailers.

 

[wbvs58]

What sort of brakes does it have on it? I have found old electric brakes to be very reliable, clean and free them up and sort the wiring out and they have worked like new.
Ken

 

[lavacarancher]

Price, this is my personal preference. I use a separate wire to run ground. All commercial trailer wiring plugs accommodate a separate wire for ground. By doing this you will not have the problem of towing a trailer that has lights (and brakes) that are intermittent. It doesn't hurt to ground to the trailer frame as well at or near the connection to the tow vehicle. It has been my experience that rust and corrosion where the ground terminal connects to the trailer for each of the lights will eventually become a problem. :2cents: