attaching wiring harness to trailer

[mm]

I have a 4x8 flatbed trailer built from a harbor freight kit, and the method they provided for attaching the wires is pretty poor. Metal clips that don't really stick to the suare U-bars and don't hold the wires well either. The clips fall off, even when I've pushed them all the way on, the wires fall down and get broken.

I've never seen a good trailer up close so I don't know how they do it. What do they do? This one has square-U shaped bars that make up the sides. The 3rd, open side points in.

Do I have to drill holes and put plastic wire ties through the holes? The trailer has got sides now and is too heavy to turn on its side.

Thanks

[mm]

Maybe I just need better clips? It seems the good** trailers use clips too, right?

**Not to say the Harbor Freight trailer is bad. So far it's f>I have a 4x8 flatbed trailer built from a harbor freight kit, and the

[Brian V]

Maybe I just need better clips? It seems the good** trailers use clips too, right?

**Not to say the Harbor Freight trailer is bad. So far it's f>I have a 4x8 flatbed trailer built from a harbor freight kit, and the

I sure wouldn't drill in to the frame, they already use the thinnest walls possible on them to keep their costs down. How about simply tie wrapping the wires to the tubes? There's should be a few spots where you can slide them thru.

[Jim Elbrecht]

Mine stayed on. . . for a year- then they pretty much oxidised.

-snip-

I replaced them with self-drilling screws holding these guys-

I found them at a boat place I happened to be going past the day I needed something.

Jim

[hallerb]

good local hardware store will have plastic clips that screw on, use stainless screws and nuts and washers...

i rewired a friends trailer years ago and thats what i did. use conveient holes to mount clips

[Jon Danniken]

I just used wire ties on mine, no need to drill holes. You're just supporting the wire every few feet to reduce fatigue and keep it from dragging.

Jon

[hrhofmann]

What happened to using good old-fashioned duct tape????

[WW]

I helped a neighbor wire his trailer. Used wire mold to cover wires. Google wire mold if you don't know what it is. If you don't want to use screws put base part on with JB Weld. WW

[Tony Miklos]

Two of mine have steel conduit from the front to the axles where the wires for the brakes come out, then short 2" pieces of conduit welded on every couple feet to run the wires through to the lights.

I'm not sure if they allow bolt together trailers here, maybe if it's commercially made, but they will not pass a home made trailer that is bolted together, it must be welded. Surprising since they let just about anything else go down the roads here.

[HerHusband]

A couple years ago I rebuilt my similar kit trailer (not Harbor Freight) that is approximately 20 years old now.

I used black plastic "zip" ties to secure the new wiring every foot or two. In most cases, there was already something I could secure the wire to, like the predrilled holes that are already there for securing the decking. But, I did drill a few extra holes for passing wires through cross beams and whatnot where I wanted them. As long as they are the same size (or smaller) than the predrilled holes, and centered on the beam, you won't weaken the structure any. Make sure to remove any burrs before passing wires through, ideally using grommets to protect the wires (I was cheap and opted not to).

Good luck,

Anthony

[JIMMIE]

Several years agp I had a trailer that I was constantly ripping the wiring up on. I was taking it into some rough places. I finally got tired of rewiring it and ran a conduit front to rear. No more problem. If I build another trailer this will be included from the beginning.

Jimmie

[DerbyDad03]

re: "It seems the good trailers use clips too, right?"

Not my Haul Mark enclosed trailer, which I consider to be pretty darn good. ;-)

The wires are enclosed in flexible wire tubing (conduit?) and secured to the wooden bottom of the trailer with cable clamps

When I had a trailer similar to the one you have, I used tie-wraps through any (and all) available holes once my clips fell off and disappeared.

[mm]

I actually first stored the trailer at a friend of mine's, then gave it to him, and he'll make fun of me if I go to the trouble of putting in tubing or conduit. (I'm helping to fix it up a) to make up for storing it there when I hadn't given it to him, b) to better warrant borrowing it in the future, and c) because I still have a harness. Harbor Freight only included half a harness when they sent it, not the car half. I bought one at Harbor Freight, but it was much flimsier than the one included, and third, the one they sent me arrived 2 or 3 weeks later, and it's not flimsy either. None of the 3 plugs fit any of the two sockets excpt the one it was sold with, even though they were all from Harbor Freight!

LOL.

This thread I'm not going to reply to everyone. I just want to say thank you for all the good ideas.

It's still too cold here to do this outside, plus he has no outdoor electric outlet, so I have to wait until he is there, to solder the wires. (I once tried that thin strip solder that wraps around the connection and melts with a match, but I couldn't get it to work. Plus I used to have a 12 volt car soldering iron and that didn't work much either.)

So I'll try to let you all know who this turns out.

Thanks again.

[Steve Barker]

Several options here. First off the "square-U shaped bars" you mention are called channel iron.

1. You can tack weld thin conduit to the inside
2. You can tack 1x1 angles (about 2 inches long) in the inside corner of the channel every so often
3. You can use silicone gasket sealer and glue the wires down with that.
4. If it is a wood deck, you can staple the wires up to the underside.
5. There's a multitude of self stick devices available that you can then use a zip tie on.