M1101 tail lights?

[Kevallarist]

So I’m seeing everywhere that post 2006 these trailers should all have LED lights. I purchased a 2009 schutt m1101.

so I expected to have tail lights I could replace the bulbs on (picked up 1156 LED’s and was ready to put them in) but found that the lights are a single housing (un openable as far as I can see) and after wiring to a 4 pin the right turn signal/brake isn’t even coming on.

Am I going to have to buy new housings with replaceable bulbs? Or is there a way to potentially fix the right one for now (camping this weekend) and then replace it later?

I greatly appreciate any help y’all can give.
Kind regards,
Jacob Bryant

 

[HoveringHMMWV]

First check all of the wiring for condition and security. I have seen them chafed or even broken (including the grounds) and thus inoperative.
If inoperative, I believe that face plate will need replacing or buy another unit. Tail lights came in two versions. One like yours but also in a "bulb" replaceable style. Also, the "old" halogen bulb versions can be upgraded to LED by simply changing out those bulbs (which is what I ended up doing).
Enjoy the trailer!

 

[Kevallarist]

Unfortunately the wires and grounds all look good. Looks like I will be replacing both of these with new replaceable bulb ones

 

[flyfishtrailer]

pull the parker connectors apart. Sometimes they are not inserted properly. Just because the connector is tight doesn't mean the metal parts are connected. I have pulled a few apart over the years and found the male part is not inserted into the female side properly and not making good contact. LED lights are very durable and I would guess that the light itself is not the problem. also may need to check the correct plugs are connected the to correct wire. I would do a continuity check and make sure the wires are connected to the right wire.

 

[M813rc]

In use by the military, LED lights have proven not to be nearly as reliable as they had been claimed to be. It is not uncommon to have a partial (as in some of the LEDs work, some don't in one light) to total failure of entire sections of the light. I see a lot of these where one or more parts of the light don't work.
Some brands are definitely better than others, and the Trucklites you have seem to be one of the better ones.

An easy way to check the light itself is to undo the Packard connectors (those rubber cased plugs on the wires) and use an external power source. I use a small battery maintainer, but you can just as easily take the light to your truck battery for this.
For ease and a good connection, I use short test leads with small alligator clips on them, but you can just slide the metal post of the light wire out a bit to expose it.
Hold the ground wire on the negative terminal of your power source, then touch each of the other wires to the positive and the different lights should come on - tail, brake, blackout, and blackout brake.
Although they are sometimes missing, the light wires should have either small metal tags with numbers on them, or coloured tapes.
White or GND or 90 - ground
Red or 21 - tail light
Blue or 22 - brake/turn signal
Yellow or 23 - blackout brake light
Green or 24 - blackout tail light

Make sure you have the correct markers on your wires, or mark them yourself, before you unplug them, so you can connect them all back up correctly when you're ready!

As Flyfish mentioned above, the Packard connectors can be improperly put together and not making contact inside, just take care with that putting them back together.

Replacing the entire LED light with a replaceable bulb housing is as easy as the two bolts at the back. The replaceable type do not have a separate ground wire, they ground through one of the mounting bolts, so make sure you get a good contact for that.

Cheers

 

[fb40dash5]

I use a small battery maintainer, but you can just as easily take the light to your truck battery for this.

Just as a note, lots of small battery maintener type chargers have protection circuitry that won't provide output (or you have to override the safety) unless they sense the voltage/resistance of a battery.

With the other side working, I'd start by just swapping them... see if the right one is still dead on the left, or if the left one is now dead on the right.

Truck lite is one of my favorites & I don't remember many issues with these. On the flip side though, between 2 1101s with TL LED markers, I think I had like 5 dead markers.

 

[M813rc]

Just as a note, lots of small battery maintener type chargers have protection circuitry that won't provide output (or you have to override the safety) unless they sense the voltage/resistance of a battery.

To each his own, but mine has lit up lights successfully for about 18 years, so I'm going to call it reliable test method.

Cheers

 

[fb40dash5]

To each his own, but mine has lit up lights successfully for about 18 years, so I'm going to call it reliable test method.

Cheers

It wasn't aimed at you in particular, just a heads up for others reading it... lest they try testing with their Noco & everything they test is "dead".

Obviously yours works fine & doesn't have that feature.

 

[Joe Bertram]

These lights are the omnivolt models and should be good for 12-24 volts without any mods. Just make u a pigtail adapter for military to civilian truck and they work just fine

 

[M813rc]

It wasn't aimed at you in particular

No worries, I didn't take it personally.
Actually, I probably worded my original poorly, I should have said "charger/maintainer", as it has settings for several functions, from 6v to 24v.

Cheers