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 But, WHY???

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Prairie Pounder

Prairie Pounder


Posts : 984
Join date : 2010-02-05
Location : Go Bucks!

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PostSubject: But, WHY???   But, WHY??? Icon_minitimeSun Mar 13, 2011 11:50 pm

Awww, man...Did a lot of loud talking at our house today... Evil or Very Mad

After bringing home our quads today, I decided I better try to figure out why all the trailer lights weren't working. We have a 16' Aluma trailer that we really like (liked). Laughing Three different lights on the driver's side were either not working or the lights were very dim. Probably a grounding issue. The rear brake light was easy. The mounting bolts were easy to get to and loosened up with no issues. The grounding bolt was very corroded. Shined it up and all the contact points with a brass brush. Turned on the lights. Tah Dah! One down. Two to go. It was all down hill from there. The trailer is aluminum. One of the selling points of aluminum is that it doesn't rust. So WHY would they use light mounting bolts that rust/corrode really really badly?? On top of that, the bolts come out under the trailer, in a recessed area that was never meant to accomodate a human hand. Even after a good soaking of WD-40, two of the mounting nuts would not loosen. What did loosen was the entire bolt. Oh, great. Crying or Very sad I took off the lens cover thinking there would be a bolt head. Wrong! Just a jell pack where the LED's are secured. All one piece. The short version is this~~The only way to get the light off was to break it off. Hey, at least I'll be having some fun. After getting the light broke away, Wi-Fee was able to get vise grips on the round headed bolt while I used the rachet underneath. What a pain!!! I remembered having a couple spare lights that I had gotten off ebay when I added lights right after we bought the trailer. (The lights seized up were the factory installs).

Two things I learned. Again.
Company's will go as cheap as possible to save pennies without any regard to the grief it will cause in the future to their customer. The bolts should have been made with rust resistent metal.

It's obvious the bed of the trailer is put on after the wiring has been completed. The bolt locations could not have been any worse. If the guys building the trailer had to install the lights the same way we had to un-install them, they would no doubt come up with a better way. Horrible... Crying or Very sad

OK. Done whining. My wounds look to not be too serious and best of all, the lights are all working. Neutral
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wacker

wacker


Posts : 4055
Join date : 2010-01-30
Location : S/C PA

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PostSubject: Re: But, WHY???   But, WHY??? Icon_minitimeMon Mar 14, 2011 7:16 am

Here's the "bright side" coming your way...

Aluminum ~ you'll still never have to be wire brushing & prep for painting. Idea

But, WHY??? 776239 But, WHY??? 643753 But, WHY??? 339301
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Mr.Ed

Mr.Ed


Posts : 1427
Join date : 2010-02-12
Age : 79
Location : S/E Ohio

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PostSubject: Re: But, WHY???   But, WHY??? Icon_minitimeMon Mar 14, 2011 7:53 am

I have one marker light on the back of my Aluma trailer that is out. Wonder how hard that one will be to fix Question
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G Bob

G Bob


Posts : 1472
Join date : 2010-02-02
Age : 66
Location : Frankford,WV

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PostSubject: Re: But, WHY???   But, WHY??? Icon_minitimeMon Mar 14, 2011 8:46 am

They must have changed something between your year model and mine PP. Both of my lights are easily accessed. They do still have the cheapie light units but they are easily replaced with $8 units from tractor supply.
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Prairie Pounder

Prairie Pounder


Posts : 984
Join date : 2010-02-05
Location : Go Bucks!

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PostSubject: Re: But, WHY???   But, WHY??? Icon_minitimeMon Mar 14, 2011 9:29 am

I hope they changed the bolt material. That was the biggest issue. I'm not sure I have seen battery terminals with that much corrosion on them. I know that aluminum and steel don't get along with each other and that the steel bolts tend to gauld (??). The bolt that mounted the side markers was a carriage bolt without a square shank to keep it in place. Whatever holds the bolt head in place within the light is weaker than the corrosion. Once the bolt turns, you're hosed.

I went ahead and checked the other lights ground connections. The side marker lights that I added came apart nice and easy. The bolt material is different, and since I installed them, the bolt was on the open side of the wiring and not tucked back in and against a bed rail. You can't help but think that (some Laughing ) engineers decide the worst possible location with the greatest degree of difficulty to the end user on the placement of components. I remember the oil filter location on a Cutlass I had....Ugh...What were they thinking?. Sad Laughing
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wacker

wacker


Posts : 4055
Join date : 2010-01-30
Location : S/C PA

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PostSubject: Re: But, WHY???   But, WHY??? Icon_minitimeMon Mar 14, 2011 9:46 am

I'll explain how it usually works around here to you sometime... Rolling Eyes

lol!
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PostSubject: Re: But, WHY???   But, WHY??? Icon_minitime

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