|
|
08-30-2016, 10:47 AM
|
#21
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Trailer: 2015 Escape 19 "Seventy Degrees"
Posts: 3,495
|
I'm opposite of Donna, I've always preferred to drive/tow at night. Visibility is better for me with the vehicles lit up and the traffic volume is quite a bit less. Going to Chilli last Nov for pickup, we drove most of 93 up E NV at night and we were literally the only vehicle out there. When we retire though we'll probably change to short blasts in the day and into camp around 1-2pm.
|
|
|
08-30-2016, 10:51 AM
|
#22
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Trailer: 1979 Boler B1700
Posts: 14,935
|
I get the desire for a work light, and the both fixed and plug-in plans make sense to me. They key in either case is using them properly.
As for switching... I think I'm able to hit three or four side-by-side switches in a fraction of a second, so I would certainly not wire them together and give up individual control. Of course the hand-held (and/or magnetic and/or clamp-on) work light addresses this by putting a single light just where you want it.
Why not just use a flashlight? I would normally just use a flashlight, but I understand the desire to have one lamp which always works, without keeping batteries maintained and charged.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008
Ever see one of those Xmas tree semi-trucks going down the highway with 2-300 LED's all a glowing?
|
Yes. They are extraordinarily annoying and make the roads less safe for everyone else by distracting drivers and making other vehicles less visible ... but still not as bad as the those who drive at night in clear weather with "fog" lights on, especially ones which spread so much light upward that they are not even effective in fog.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008
If I could I'd leave my exterior lights on while towing...
|
As you know, white lights are not acceptable, and even an amber light would not be acceptable on the back of the trailer. If you want to be more visible, it would be reasonable to add amber marker lights at the midpoint along the length on each side, wired to the rest of the tail/clearance/marker lights; a suitable low position for the tandem-axle models would be between the wheel arches (perhaps at the same height as the stock lamps for aesthetics). In both the 19' and 21' these would be under the refrigerator and the in the kitchen cabinet, so both would be relatively easy to install. Since the stock side marker lights are only in the low position, it would also be reasonable and potentially useful to add them to the sides along the top of the vertical section of wall at the front (amber) and back (red) corners, and again at the midpoint (amber) if desired. That would still be only six proper lamps per side, not obnoxious.
Extra marker lights: another customization?
|
|
|
08-30-2016, 11:03 AM
|
#23
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Central, Pennsylvania
Trailer: Escape#5 2022 E19
Posts: 26,268
|
I wonder if the white lights are ok if installed down low, like the one on the driver side, I'm getting my porch light mounted down low, to function as a step light as the awning light option is adequate for illumination of the campsite.
__________________
Jim
Sometime life gets in the way of living.......
|
|
|
08-30-2016, 11:22 AM
|
#24
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Baytown, Texas
Trailer: 2017 21' Escape - upgraded version
Posts: 2,697
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008
I wonder if the white lights are ok if installed down low, like the one on the driver side, I'm getting my porch light mounted down low, to function as a step light as the awning light option is adequate for illumination of the campsite.
|
Depends on your state rules. In Texas, that would get you busted.
|
|
|
08-30-2016, 11:35 AM
|
#25
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: North Vancouver, British Columbia
Trailer: 2009 Escape 17B 2020 Toyota Highlander XLE
Posts: 17,136
|
Only light I need at night is the puck light I installed just inside the door frame in the bathroom. I can turn it on by feel and not disturb anybody else.
__________________
What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?
- Bertolt Brecht
|
|
|
08-30-2016, 12:06 PM
|
#26
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Trailer: 1979 Boler B1700
Posts: 14,935
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008
I wonder if the white lights are ok if installed down low, like the one on the driver side, I'm getting my porch light mounted down low, to function as a step light as the awning light option is adequate for illumination of the campsite.
|
Not likely - not anywhere in North America. I wouldn't expect you to get a ticket, just as the jerks who run brightly lit "F-150" badges at my eye level on their cowboy sedans get them... but it's not safe, not right, and not within the FMVSS/CMVSS 108 definition of vehicle lighting. Usually the local regulation will says something like no white lights except on the front and on the rear when in reverse.
Of course you can put any kind of light anywhere for campsite use, as long as it isn't turned on while on the road.
|
|
|
08-30-2016, 12:37 PM
|
#27
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Central, Pennsylvania
Trailer: Escape#5 2022 E19
Posts: 26,268
|
Another reason to get amber lens for those lights....
__________________
Jim
Sometime life gets in the way of living.......
|
|
|
08-30-2016, 02:00 PM
|
#28
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Trailer: 1979 Boler B1700
Posts: 14,935
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008
Another reason to get amber lens for those lights....
|
Sure, but they still wouldn't likely be suitable marker lights, as they would be too bright. I would rather have white lights to see properly when I need them, and proper marker lights for driving at night.
|
|
|
08-30-2016, 02:00 PM
|
#29
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Benton County, Iowa
Trailer: 2013 Escape 21 Classic Number 6, pulled by 2018 Toyota Highlander
Posts: 8,235
|
Lighting
We used to like to observe wildlife well after sunset. We would mount a car seal beam headlight bulb in a cutaway bleach bottle and power it off the cigarette lighter. Low cost, had a handle for aiming, and was disposable if anyone with a badge disapproved.
Dave
|
|
|
08-30-2016, 03:06 PM
|
#30
|
Member
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Rossland, British Columbia
Trailer: 2016 Escape 19 classic "Escapade", Tow: 2020 Honda Ridgeline
Posts: 95
|
Ohhhh Dave, don't give away all the tricks!
|
|
|
|
|
Thread Tools |
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Discussions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|