Trailer Lights

Butt connectors will work for awhile but you really should solder all the connections and then use the shrink tubing. It really doesn't take much longer to do it right.

Trailer wiring sucks!!

Use some dielectric grease on the butt splices. It's not as involved as soldering. Then adhesive lined heat shrink. The adhesive lined will bond itself to the wire and splice when heat shrunk. It's too bad the wire isn't some decent tin platted marine grade.

Avoid the use of the "displacement" T taps. Those damn things are always a problem down the road when the green and white rust eat them up inside.

I always run a ground wire to each lamp and don't rely on a steel frame that with time will rust. When will they learn that steel isn't as good a conductor of electricity as copper is!! When you only have a nominal 12 volts to start with, it doesn't take much resistence for the steel or rusty joint to knock down the volts!

Most important is protect the wiring. If the trailer isn't a tubular frame that you can wire through, run 1/2" pvc pipe down the frame for the wiring. I have seen many a trailer on the road with wiring floppen in the wind.

Tull, Yes the heat shrink butts are great and a good alternate. At over a buck each they still may be economical when you add the cost of the heat shrink tubing and the regular butt splices together.

they are just a little harder to find and you have to look for them, not eveyrone cares them.

I do not use a connector. I solder the connection and heat shrink. Make sure to put shrink on wire before soldering and away from solder joint so as it does not shrink while soldering in a location undesireable.

The shrinkable butt connections are very good but can become expensive. I have used them on my custom charter motorcoach.

8122, I have the adhesive lined heat shrink.

What about liquid electrical tape? Still useless?

I am only doing the lights at this point. I already did the wiring harness in the fall before it got cold out.