On 2011-09-21, Larry Jaques wrote:
On Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:51:52 -0500, Ignoramus17765
wrote:

The trailer that I bought, has electric brakes and electric lights.

The lights worked intermittently, such as worked only once or twice.

The electric plug is a two piece job, with wires held by screws, some
wires fell out. Not good enough.

I bought a replacement molded one piece plug with 8 foot tail, and
will use it. What I want is to do a good job rewiring the trailer. I
believe that the trailer body is used as negative ground, which is not
so great when there is corrosion. So I want to be sure that I follow
"best practices" and to know what they are.

Any suggestions?

If you're using the body for ground, make sure it is welded well. Run
a separate ground wire from the trailer side of the plug to the body.
If the body and frame are separate, run a ground to the frame, too.
I like to solder crimp terminals on trailers because they get so much
vibration, so I run a bit of extra wire through the crimp barrel to
solder onto the lug. Just do it quickly with a hot iron so it doesn't
wick back under the insulation and cause a premature failure.

Wire is cheap so, I usually run a ground wire all the way back. It's
an Anti-Lucas clause I've always had in dealing with electricity.
I used to weave my own harnesses, then wrap them with black tape, when
I worked at the body shop. There was lots of harness repair for me
there, too.


Yep, "anti-Lucas", I hear you ...

i