Trailer Lighting Law Differs by State

I think most important thing to remember as we restore our trailers, is to make sure they can be "easily seen" by some drunk coming up on your rear at a "closing speed of more than 50 MPH difference". The DOT lighting standards that were applied to the construction of our trailer's sixty years ago were pretty lax, and you need to improve the visibility.

Many things can be done to improve the lighting without loosing the vintage look. VTS has some very nice "chromed plastic" teardrop shape marker lights. LED bulbs can replace the incandescent bulbs, in your taillights, but choose your application carefully because many LED's are very directional and not bright from the side view. Adding front marker light wiring is easy when you have the skin off. You can also use aluminum foil inside the rear tail lights. If you have aluminum bases, or the new VTS stainless steel bases, just polish them to a high shine before you install for increased reflectivity.

The trailer needs to be visible even when it not lighted. You need amber reflectors on the front and front sides. And red reflectors on the rear and rear sides. I also like to place a strip of semi trailer DOT reflective tape under the rear of the trailer. Most trailers have a 2" rear cross member hanging down below the body that is perfect for this tape. In the day time, you won't even know it's there, but at night it really reflects light.

Also remember to buy some road safety reflectors at your next garage sale stop. It really makes a difference when you have a flat on a skinny two line 70 MPH highway (like 395 north of Victorville).

If you do most of these things, you will exceed the state regulations which were written for larger trailers than most of us tow.