Wire Harness and Wire Gauge to Re-Wire Open Landscape Trailer

Question:

Hi I have a 7x14 open landscape trailer with brakes. I want to rewire it. It has 5 wires. brown,green,yellow that are standard wires. It also has a white ground wire and a red wire. The red wire is bigger then the white and the white is bigger then the other wires. What wires can I purchase from you that will match my wires. Thank You!

asked by: Chuck M

Expert Reply:

It is common for trailer wiring to use larger gauge wires for the ground, and sometimes electric brake and 12V power circuits, than for the lighting circuits (running lights and stop/turn signals) since these circuits demand more current flow than most lightsw. For typical trailers with electric brakes and 7-way RV-style connectors the wire gauges are usually 10-gauge for ground and 12-gauge for all others, such as with part # DW04914-1 from Deka. Even though you may not need all 7 wires this item has a protective sheath to keep your wiring safe from road debris and the elements.

You are always safe using a heavier gauge wire as a replacement, but do not use a lighter gauge wire than that originally installed.

The linked article shows you the common wiring colors and gauges for 4, 5, 6 and 7-way trailer connectors. The convention is to use white for ground, blue for trailer brakes, brown for running lights, yellow for left turn/stop and green for right turn/stop; red is usually used for 12V trailer power and purple for reverse lights. It is certainly possible that your trailer may have different wire color/function assignments. This is why testing wires with a circuit tester like # PTW2992 is the only foolproof way to determine what they do.

If you'd like to let me know the type of trailer connector you need, I will be glad to recommend appropriate parts to complete your re-wiring project.

expert reply by: Adam R