Trailer lights on MEP-803A trailer

[rtrask]

For better or worse I am now the owner of a trailer mounted MEP-803A gen set. It is close to where I live, so I intend to row it. I know it will be slow going, but like I said I don't have far to go. The pintel hitch is easy to deal with, and I can splice in a different electrical connector, but to expedite that I was wondering if any kind sole might be able to tell me what the pins in the connectors are?

Also assume it is wired for 24 volt system, so likely will need to deal with that too.

 

[Chainbreaker]

You would most likely get a quicker & more detailed response if you post this question in the "Trailers" forum...or do a search there using your trailer model number.

Also, rather than splicing in, I believe there is a connection junction (there are on my trailers) where you can disconnect the military connector/harness and by using same style connectors on a civilian 6 pin style harness you can just plug it in and you can should be able to convert the bulbs to 12v. Should be covered in a thread over in trailers. Also, I believe conversion kits are sold on eBay.

PS: Its not recommended to "row" this trailer...it would definitely be slow going! Sorry, couldn't resist...

 

[Coug]

For better or worse I am now the owner of a trailer mounted MEP-803A gen set. It is close to where I live, so I intend to row it. I know it will be slow going, but like I said I don't have far to go. The pintel hitch is easy to deal with, and I can splice in a different electrical connector, but to expedite that I was wondering if any kind sole might be able to tell me what the pins in the connectors are?

Also assume it is wired for 24 volt system, so likely will need to deal with that too.

Do you intend to move it around a lot, or is it just going to be get it home and let it sit? If you're just bringing it home a set of trailer lights from Harbor Freight will do the job just fine.
If you are planning to move it around, get some LED bulbs that work with either 12V or 24V and wire in a second harness or just replace the harness with a 4 pin harness. No need to damage the existing wiring, which may or may not be valuable to whoever owns the trailer after you do.

 

[98G]

Do you intend to move it around a lot, or is it just going to be get it home and let it sit? If you're just bringing it home a set of trailer lights from Harbor Freight will do the job just fine.
If you are planning to move it around, get some LED bulbs that work with either 12V or 24V and wire in a second harness or just replace the harness with a 4 pin harness. No need to damage the existing wiring, which may or may not be valuable to whoever owns the trailer after you do.

Emphatically this. Just go spend $50 on magnetic tow lights. Quick, easy, effective. No piddling with lights while GP is standing there tapping their feet in a hurry for you to go.

And hacking on the trailer's lighting reduces trailer value by more than the $50 you'll spend on lights.

 

[rtrask]

PS: Its not recommended to "row" this trailer...it would definitely be slow going! Sorry, couldn't resist...

Row, row, row your trailer gently down the street. My wife was eager for us to get started on our Valentines evening and I did not get a chance to proof read my post before I posted. Thanks for the tip on going to the trailer forum. I will give that a try. My thought was I could just take a plug I already have and wire connectors I already have and plug and play (provided I knew the pin out}. I had thought about just buying a set of clip on lights, and that us what I may wind up doing, but that does not change the desire to know the pin outs.

 

[Coug]

Row, row, row your trailer gently down the street. My wife was eager for us to get started on our Valentines evening and I did not get a chance to proof read my post before I posted. Thanks for the tip on going to the trailer forum. I will give that a try. My thought was I could just take a plug I already have and wire connectors I already have and plug and play (provided I knew the pin out}. I had thought about just buying a set of clip on lights, and that us what I may wind up doing, but that does not change the desire to know the pin outs.

XM381 - 24 Volt Military Truck NATO Socket Wiring

 

[Light in the Dark]

Magnetic lights will be the quickest/cheapest option... just know if the trailer is all aluminum, you might be using duct tape to lock those suckers down.

I bought one of these before, for a customer who was travelling 8+ hours to grab a set for me. High quality work:

Military Trailer Adapter Cable (Military Trailer on a Civilian Vehicle), X-6034

Trailer adapter cable X-6034 (rev 1) to change from a Military trailer 12-way electrical plug to a standard civilian 7-way flat blade plug. (MS75021-2 to Pollak 12-706) Cable provides tail lights/marker lights, right turn, left turn, brake, ground connections. 48 inches overall length. 14 awg...

www.eriksmilitarysurplus.com

 

[rtrask]

XM381 - 24 Volt Military Truck NATO Socket Wiring

Thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for. I don't intend to have it on the road that much. The magnetic lights are still probably the best option, but I like to have more than one option.

 

[Ray70]

Hello, not sure what kind of trailer you are talking about, but.... I can tell you that on the PU-798 ( HMMWV style ) and M116 style trailers there is a set of barrel connectors under a metal cover on the left side of the A-frame. If you remove the cover you will find 2 rows of connectors.
You can easily add a 4 wire trailer plug using these barrel connectors.
Take the rearward row of connector and the top most connector is your left stop/turn ( Yellow ) wire, the center connector is your marker lights ( brown wire ) and the bottom wire is your right stop / turn ( green wire ) and put your white ground on the screw holding the cover in place.
You can either splice into the wires or you can buy barrel plugs on the internet so that you can save the existing NATO plug for future use.
And don't forget to change the bulbs to 12V.

 

[rtrask]

Hello, not sure what kind of trailer you are talking about, but.... I can tell you that on the PU-798 ( HMMWV style ) and M116 style trailers there is a set of barrel connectors under a metal cover on the left side of the A-frame. If you remove the cover you will find 2 rows of connectors.
You can easily add a 4 wire trailer plug using these barrel connectors.
Take the rearward row of connector and the top most connector is your left stop/turn ( Yellow ) wire, the center connector is your marker lights ( brown wire ) and the bottom wire is your right stop / turn ( green wire ) and put your white ground on the screw holding the cover in place.
You can either splice into the wires or you can buy barrel plugs on the internet so that you can save the existing NATO plug for future use.
And don't forget to change the bulbs to 12V.

This is helpful, I have not actually seen it except from pictures that GP supplies. TM 9-6115-660-13&P indicates it is PU-798. So assuming that the TM is correct, this will make connecting it up a lot cleaner / easier than what I had in mind. I am still trying to confirm the trailer type. I have the NSN 2330-01-387-5424. Looking that up, it just says Chassis Trailer. Looking at the pictures, I don't see any evidence of the plate you are talking about, but it is probably there.

 

[rtrask]

This is helpful, I have not actually seen it except from pictures that GP supplies. TM 9-6115-660-13&P indicates it is PU-798. So assuming that the TM is correct, this will make connecting it up a lot cleaner / easier than what I had in mind. I am still trying to confirm the trailer type. I have the NSN 2330-01-387-5424. Looking that up, it just says Chassis Trailer. Looking at the pictures, I don't see any evidence of the plate you are talking about, but it is probably there.

Is this the cover you were talking about?



Also do you know if there are civi equivalent bulbs, from the parts manual I see W-L-00111/60, MS35478-1073, and MS15570-89 part numbers. When I search on these they appear to be available from walmart, amazon, ebay and others but seem pricey.

 

[Chainbreaker]

Looking at the pictures, I don't see any evidence of the plate you are talking about, but it is probably there.

In post # 90 in this thread over in trailer section this is the typical trailer wiring harness junction box Ray & I are referring to. In this photo it is shown on the trailer tongue "A" frame with the cover removed. Those type of rubber insulated connectors are common and can be found online. I seem to recall finding some on a offroad Jeep parts site...probably on eBay. I'm sure someone posted the p/n's over in a trailer thread somewhere.

However, since you are not familiar with the trailer and don't know the model it would be much easier to facilitate your unit pick up recovery by using the Harbor Freight magnetic trailer trailer light kit. Then if you want to build your own harness and convert to 12V lights you can take your time and test it all out.

The magnetic light kits are so easy to use and can be used elsewhere if needed. If you do buy the magnetic trailer light kit just be sure to zip tie the harness in places for added security. If traveling at highway speeds and hitting bumps/pot holes you don't want anything to jar loose and left dangling.

 

[rtrask]

Thanks to everyone that contributed to this thread. I will be using the magnetic trailer lights when I go to pick it up. I always had that in the back of my mind as the likely solution, but I figured that eventually I would be modifying the trailer wiring so I could tow it with a civilian truck anyway so might as well trace down the details now.

I think that the bulbs all have the same diameter bayonet style plug, the difference being the height of the bulb. The two civilian equivalent bulbs appear to be the Sylvania 1156, and Sylvania 97. I found this cross reference site that shows them to be the same size. cross reference link
I suspect that the difference in height is to support a larger / brighter 1156 bulb. I will probably use 12-24 volt LED bulbs which are brighter in a small form factor that will work in either receptacle, the LEDs will be plenty bright enough.

If I want to cannibalize the female plug on my FLU 419 SEE, I could make an adapter pretty easily, but I like the idea of just plugging into the wiring harness in the junction box with my own adapter. I have not sourced the barrel connectors yet, but there are several on my SEE that are in very marginal shape and should be replaced.

I will post my final solution when I have it.

Thanks to all that contributed to this thread.

 

[Ray70]

Hello, the cover I'm talking about is on the left side outer A-frame, to the right and slightly rearward of your previous picture.
Just follow the NATO plug's cable.
It's just a piece of sheet metal held on by 2 self tapping screws.
Today I was working on an M106A3 and it too has the exact same setup so it seems pretty consistent throughout all trailer families.
I agree that the magnetic lights are the way to go for the initial recovery, then convert it once you get it home.

 

[Waukesha]

Magnetic lights will be the quickest/cheapest option... just know if the trailer is all aluminum, you might be using duct tape to lock those suckers down.

I bought one of these before, for a customer who was travelling 8+ hours to grab a set for me. High quality work:

Military Trailer Adapter Cable (Military Trailer on a Civilian Vehicle), X-6034

Trailer adapter cable X-6034 (rev 1) to change from a Military trailer 12-way electrical plug to a standard civilian 7-way flat blade plug. (MS75021-2 to Pollak 12-706) Cable provides tail lights/marker lights, right turn, left turn, brake, ground connections. 48 inches overall length. 14 awg...

www.eriksmilitarysurplus.com

I bought one of these when I towed an 803 from WI to TX and it worked flawlessly. It's as well built as anything else on the trailer. Highly reccomended.