Reverse lights

[till]

On the advice of the forum, I continue planing and whittling away at the trailer.

So, I am thinking of adding reverse lights to the Wreck. I know that they are only good at night and I know that there will be times that I will be getting into camp late every now and again. That and the cool factor of course.....

Since I will have the interior sking off and rewiring the whole trailer anyway I thought that that would be the time to add them. General thoughts on adding reverse lights.

[greg176]

Sounds like a good idea.I am thinking of doing the same.

[Over59]

I'm going to add some for the same reasons.

[overlander64]

Greetings Tedd!

Originally Posted by till

On the advice of the forum, I continue planing and whittling away at the trailer.

So, I am thinking of adding reverse lights to the Wreck. I know that they are only good at night and I know that there will be times that I will be getting into camp late every now and again. That and the cool factor of course.....

Since I will have the interior sking off and rewiring the whole trailer anyway I thought that that would be the time to add them. General thoughts on adding reverse lights.

Backup lights were a factory option on Airstream coaches dating back to at least the very early 1960s (and probably somewhat before that). In fact, I have read reports that the factory wiring harness included the cable for the lights even if they weren't ordered on the coach so that they could be dealer installed at a later time. The option was mentioned in my '64 literature, but it is one of the few options that the Overlander did not receive - - on the other hand, the Minuet did receive the backup light option.

The last time that I checked, the entire backup light assembly that duplicates the one used originally on the 1960s coaches was still available (I have ben considering asking my dealer if it's possible to add backup lights to my Overlander).

Good luck with your project!

Kevin

[Creampuff]

The exact duplicates for mid '60's rigs are available from www.airstreamdreams at under $15/ea. I just received mine and they are correct for my Safari. The wiring should be roughed in and all you need is to fish it out with a coathook or the like. I believe the wire is black. You will find red and green and yellow as well for the tail/stop/running lts. The body is the ground.
I had them on my last trailer as a factory option and they are INCREDIBLY helpful for late night boondocking locations!

[TomW]

Originally Posted by Creampuff

...I had them on my last trailer as a factory option and they are INCREDIBLY helpful for late night boondocking locations!

Hmm I've been told the opposite. However I have yet to back my Overlander up at night to judge for myself.

When I went to take possesion of my Overlander, one of the pre-flight checkout items was to adapt the wiring plug to fit my tow vehicle. I was thrilled when the backup lights worked. The previous owner was standing there, and with a somewhat evil laugh said something along the lines of, "yeah, for all the good they do".

I'm with ya though on the cool factor, and for that reason I would have installed them on my Overlander if they had not already been present.

On a less than positive note, one of my backup lights leaked into the bath area in a "go figure" kind of way. Apparently, the seal around the top of the lense leaked allowing water to enter. The bottom of two mounting screws rusted away, and allowed the water to drain into the bath area.

Since a good portion of the light's reflector had also rusted away, I was going to replace it, but the assemblies available at the local vendors were not exactly the same as what I had. Funny thing is that Inland's offering is also "close, but no cigar" (but it's still expensive ). Save your money, and buy them locally.

I ended up doing the six million dollar man routine to my rusted out fixture, and it still looks & works great.

Tom