[Seth]

I hooked it up to my dad's truck and everything works great. When I have my boat hooked to my Ranger, the running lights work when I turn on the head lights and that's it. I tested the turn signal wires and they didn't have any juice coming through.

I just put a new receiver and drop hitch on the truck so could it be that it's not grounding right or do I need a converter for the truck to work with trailer lights?

 

[orion_xxvx]

Did you test at plug. That will let you know if its good at that point. Then you can run temporary jumper to each bulb and see if they work. It could just be u need a seperate ground wire from truck to trailer frame. Good luck!

 

[Seth]

I'll check the wires coming from the vehicle tonight and go ahead and run a wire from the trailer to the body frame just to be sure the ground is good anyways.

 

[JAYNC]

you can buy a trailer light tester for like $4. Sounds wierd to me that it works when you have your lights on, but nothing when they are off. When your lights are off, your running lights on the trailer should be off. Your brake lights should work when you hit the brake pedal, and turn signals. I'm sure you already knew all that but some people new to trailers might not.

 

[riverbud55]

not sure about a ford but my o4 chevy has a different circuit for the trailer plug check the fuses 1st, all the truck lites will work but the trailer light will not look in the manual or on the wiring diagram on the back of the fuse panel cover plate for were the trailer fuses are

 

[Seth]

you can buy a trailer light tester for like $4. Sounds wierd to me that it works when you have your lights on, but nothing when they are off. When your lights are off, your running lights on the trailer should be off. Your brake lights should work when you hit the brake pedal, and turn signals. I'm sure you already knew all that but some people new to trailers might not.

What I meant was that my turns signals never work. When I turn my headlights on, the running lights DO work. I haven't seen if the breaks worked or not because I was by myself at the time.

I'll run the ground wire from from the trailer to the body frame and then give it another try and see what happens.

 

[dafin]

Are the turn signals and brake light the same bulb on your truck? If not you will need a converter for the lights on the trailer to work

 

[bluejay]

Check for fuses under the hood in a fuse case also besides the one in the cab. Not sure if the ranger has these but the F series does.

 

[tofish]

helped my friend do his lights on a same truck. use a converter. can get them at almost any parts store for the truck.
gary

 

[Seth]

My truck doesn't have the amber lights like some trucks use so does that mean that I don't need the converter?

 

[SkipEye]

That's correct. You DO NOT need a converter in your case.

 

[handyronokc]

When By your self one has to work on or test trailer lights, you can set a trash can, a box or something like that near the rear corners of the trailer then you can see the reflection via your side mirrors well enough to see whether it is a bright light or a dim light.

 

[Seth]

I've got it all figured out guys, thanks for the help. The lights brightened up and worked much better when I ran a wire from the trailer straight to the body of the truck. Also the fuse for the trailer right turn signal was blown so I replaced it.

Now I'm ready to haul here down the road. :big_smile: