Whether going on leisure travel or relocating to a distant city, you need a heavy-duty truck to safely and efficiently haul your belongings from point A to point B. Of course, this isn’t a problem if you own a recreational vehicle, which is designed for long, arduous trips.
It has large wheels and a powerful engine that can take on all kinds of off-road terrains. It also doubles as a living space, so you can make as many stops and detours as you need until you reach your destination.
Unfortunately, not everyone can afford to invest in an RV. Many who can don’t find it lucrative since they only travel once or twice a year. Some even prefer the traditional practice of booking flights and lodging in hotels. If you don’t own an RV but can’t help but indulge your obsession with road trips, you can rent one.
The outdoor recreation industry has grown so big that many companies now provide rental solutions for those who want to experience the comforts of an RV but have no plans on buying one.
Why U-Haul?
If you’re planning to rent an RV, check out U-Haul. It’s a well-known company that rents out travel trailers, storage units, and moving trucks. Based in Arizona and has been providing stress-free transportation solutions since 1965, U-Haul is among your top and only choices.
Unfortunately, it has yet to offer motorhomes and coaches. It only offers trailers. But these are perfect travel rigs for camping enthusiasts and movers on a budget.
The best thing about U-Haul trailers is that they have anti-tilt devices, easy-access loading ramps, security locks, and other safety features, eliminating all your worries, especially if you’re not used to driving a heavy vehicle.
Trailers are already the lightest among the RV types, but U-Haul made them even easier to maneuver and aerodynamic to help customers save on fuel, which costs a lot these days.
Renting is also easy as U-Haul has over 20,000 locations across North America. You don’t even have to go over the counter to book a unit. You can do all that online and just pick up the rig from their garage after settling all bureaucracies.
What are the different lights on a U-Haul trailer?
If it’s your first time towing a trailer, you probably think you only need lights on your tow vehicle. But that’s a false assumption. Remember that your trailer occupies a vast area of the road. Together with your tow vehicle and the hitch, their overall length can be between 15 and 30 feet.
That’s crucial information all the other vehicles behind and beside you on the road should know. And they can only know if your trailer has lights all over it.
A U-Haul trailer has various lights that serve different purposes. It typically has brake lights, taillights, and turn signals. All synced with the tow vehicle. They work the same way as regular vehicle lights, providing visibility to other drivers from behind and indicating your intended direction of travel.
You may even choose a unit with reflectors and marker lights for more visibility. Ultimately, these lights ensure the safety and visibility of the trailer and its contents while on the road.
Why are my U-Haul trailer lights not turning on?
So you decided to rent a U-Haul trailer. You inspected it thoroughly and found nothing wrong. Then, halfway through your journey, the lights went out. You can’t get it to work no matter what buttons you press. You’re already dozens of miles from the U-Haul garage, and there’s no workshop nearby. What should you do?
The first thing you should do is identify the cause of the problem. There can be several reasons your trailer lights stopped working. For example, a fuse may have blown due to a power surge.
The wiring harness may have been damaged. Or vibrations may have broken the bulbs. Anything is possible, but you can restore your lights as long as you accurately pinpoint the source of the problem.
3 Methods To Fix U-Haul Trailer Lights Not Working
Fixing U-Haul trailer lights that aren’t working won’t be much of a deal if you’ve been driving large vehicles for a long time. But the process can be pretty tricky if it’s your first time and it’s a trailer you’re driving. This is why it is crucial to study basic repair and maintenance before hitting the road.
Anticipate this kind of problem to occur at the worst moment and never expect help to be always available. Adequate troubleshooting knowledge is the key to surviving long journeys in a heavy vehicle. Below are five simple ways to restore your U-Haul trailer lights.
Step 1: Check the fuses.
Modern electrical systems have fuses as primary protection against damage caused by short circuits and overloads. No electricity can flow into the circuit when they blow until you replace the fuses.
This is one of the possible reasons your U-Haul trailer lights aren’t working. Your vehicle may have encountered a power surge that blew the fuses, and you didn’t notice. One apparent sign that this might be the case is if all the lights shut off at once.
The only remedy is to replace the blown fuses. You can find the fuses in the tow vehicle’s fuse box under the dashboard or hood. Some trailer lights have fuses on the trailer itself in a fuse box near the coupler.
If you can’t find the fuse box, check the manufacturer’s manual or call U-Hauler. They should know where the fuses are. They can even give you more helpful ideas if you discover the fuses didn’t cause the shutoff.
Step 2: Check the wiring harness.
Have you ever wondered how a trailer, which is initially a separate rig, can be regulated via the controls on the tow vehicle? The simplest explanation is that there are two connections between a trailer and a tow vehicle.
One is through the hitch, which allows the tow vehicle to pull the trailer. The other is a plug-and-socket connector, which connects the trailer’s wiring harness to the tow vehicle’s control system.
So, if there are no blown fuses but the lights aren’t working, the wiring harness must have been disconnected from the tow vehicle. It may also have cuts or frays on its insulator deep enough to break the circuit.
In this case, you’ll have to reconnect the wiring harness by plugging it back in or fixing those cuts. You should document the process, from searching for the cause to the repair, so that you won’t be charged for the damage. That is a rental trailer, after all.
Step 3: Replace the Light Bulbs
Circuit disconnections are usually the first to check if all the trailer lights are out. But if only some aren’t working, it’s probably an isolated case, and the light bulbs themselves are broken.
Odds are the trailer you hired has been used multiple times, and the lights have reached their limit. You should ask the rental company if they’ve recently replaced the light bulbs before you take the unit.
To replace broken lightbulbs, turn off the power first, or better yet, unplug the wiring harness from the tow vehicle.
Then, remove the lens covers to access the bulbs. These covers are typically clipped or screwed into the assembly, so you may need to unscrew and pry them off. Finally, replace the light bulbs and test them by turning the power back on.
All other issues you may encounter will be confined to the wiring and connections around the light bulbs. For instance, if the newly installed light bulbs don’t work, the ground connections may have been damaged or corroded.
It’s also possible that the receptacles are defective or disconnected from the wiring harness. You can look into these components and fix any irregularities you may find.
Conclusion
All the lights on your U-Haul trailer must come on before you travel. Only leave the rental garage with the U-Haul confirming this, so you won’t be held liable for any issues that may occur down the road.
This also means you should always have spare bulbs, wires, and receptacles in your truck so you can replace any broken light bulbs or wires immediately.
If you don’t know how to fix such a problem and no technician will be on board, take the time to learn it first. Even basic repair skills can come in handy in such situations. Interstate truckers know that from experience.