Backup lighting

[GCS]

I'm from the US where we are used to having backup lights. I do not see them on the Escape trailer though. Can you have these installed?

[C&G in FL]

There are many Escape owners in the US that do not have back-up lights on their trailers. I do not know of anyone who has added them.

[Daubsy]

The previous owners of my trailer added halogen lights below the rear bumper. I'm pretty sure they used it as fog lights, as it had a separate two pin connector for the tug. Since I had no way of hooking it up to my truck, I just tied it into the auxiliary output on the trailer pigtail for backup lights.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[C&G in FL]

I suppose one could ask Reace if he would consider installing them. Backup lights are powered off the center pin in the 7-pin plug. I did some creative wiring and power my rear view camera using this line, which is controlled by a switch in the tow vehicle. I had Reace run the wire during the build.

[Brian B-P]

Trailer lighting standards are identical in Canada and the United States. In both cases, backup lights are not required by law, and are not found on most trailers, but are sometimes included.

My 35-year-old Boler came with a wire (yellow insulation, to match the RV 7-pin colour coding standard) from the centre pin of the connector to the tow vehicle, to the back of the trailer near the tail lamps. It wasn't connected to anything - just provided in case an owner wanted to use it for either backup lights or brake lights (if used for brake lights then the left and right brake/turn wires would be used for just separate turn signals).

I would have Escape run the wire on a new trailer. On a used trailer, this wire is included in the cable to the tow vehicle, but just ends at the front of the trailer without connection; like most manufacturers Escape uses off-the-shelf 7-wire cable for this, so that wire is there even if not used. You can add your own wiring (perhaps running it under the trailer, along the frame) for backup lights if desired.

If you don't have the centre pin of your tug's 7-pin connector connected to the tug's backup light circuit, you can just put a manual switch on the trailer... and use them only when needed.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Daubsy

The previous owners of my trailer added halogen lights below the rear bumper. I'm pretty sure they used it as fog lights, as it had a separate two pin connector for the tug. Since I had no way of hooking it up to my truck, I just tied it into the auxiliary output on the trailer pigtail for backup lights.

They might not have had the auxiliary pin connected to anything in their tug, and just manually plugged in these lamps in preparation for backing up. You normally get out anyway to take a good look before starting to back into a campsite.

If those lamps are white, or even yellow, I certainly hope they were not driving down the road with these lamps on. Conditions are rarely appropriate for rear fog lamps, and even when they are those lamps are red.

[Thane]

Here is a link with a previous discussion of back up lights.

http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f1...ghts-2843.html

Here is a link that discusses the back up light I added to my 17B. I like it; it lets folks know I am backing up and I can turn it on from inside the trailer like a porch light.

http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f8...-bar-1011.html