License Plate Holder and Tail Light on the Back of Cargo Pla

[Meat Hunter]

After getting my new mini-trailer home and installing my cargo platform and trike on the rear of the trailer, the license plate was not completely viewable from more than a few feet away.

Today, I finished the installation of a license plate holder and wired a quick connect/disconnect tail light on the back of the cargo platform.

Better to take the time and do it now and less expensive than being ticketed later.

[Elderberry]

gave this a bump over to transportation, as it seems like a better fit.

[forty_eight]

tied license plate to bikes on back of car

used duct tape to secure cheesy harbor freight flash light shining on plate

felt pretty secure

(actually white knuckled whole time thinking it fell off/batteries expired/etc)

lol

[Thecatman]

I would check on the legality of that. A flashlight, bike headlight etc is brighter than an OEM license plate light and even if you got away with it, probably isn't legal which could lead to a ticket.

[Elliot]

A trip to an auto parts store and 30 bucks should round up everything needed to do a good job of this. A boat store or a farm store should also have it. Basically, what you need is a light kit for a small trailer. Mount the lights and plate on a 2by4 or angle iron, and secure this nice and level on the back of the Stuff.

[Elliot]

Meat Hunter is having computer trouble, but he was able to send me an e-mail. So here goes:

He is now finishing this setup, which cost $24.-. He is using the sort of kit I mentioned earlier, adding bolts and whatnot, and a scrap of plywood.
What is not visible in the photo, is the clear lens in the bottom of the left lamp, which illuminates the license plate. Success!

[ygmir]

Meat Hunter is having computer trouble, but he was able to send me an e-mail. So here goes:

He is now finishing this setup, which cost $24.-. He is using the sort of kit I mentioned earlier, adding bolts and whatnot, and a scrap of plywood.
What is not visible in the photo, is the clear lens in the bottom of the left lamp, which illuminates the license plate. Success!

[Meat Hunter]

Elliot,

Thank you for posting the photo.

I will be installing permanent hang-down pigtails (trailer light plugs) on each of the trailer lights so that I can disconnect and connect the platform lights easily.

With that big trike on the platform, my license tag could not be seen from more than a few feet away and the tail lights/turn signals would have been confusing, if not hard to see.

Besides an opportunistic LEO problem, I would prefer that someone following me at night would be able to see me on my long drive from MS. A rear ending in the rain on I-20 in the middle of the desert would definitely ruin my Burn.

[Thecatman]

That Scamp is a cool little trailer Meat Hunter.

[Fan C]

Elliot,

Thank you for posting the photo.

I will be installing permanent hang-down pigtails (trailer light plugs) on each of the trailer lights so that I can disconnect and connect the platform lights easily.

With that big trike on the platform, my license tag could not be seen from more than a few feet away and the tail lights/turn signals would have been confusing, if not hard to see.

Besides an opportunistic LEO problem, I would prefer that someone following me at night would be able to see me on my long drive from MS. A rear ending in the rain on I-20 in the middle of the desert would definitely ruin my Burn.

Good call, safety is still third. A podium finisher.

[mom2cats]

We were going to do the LED light duct taped to the plate but then I went to the NV vehicle requirement page and found this. Looks like we'll be buying the lighted frame and wiring it up to the existing light. Plus we're driving all the way from Florida so I'm sure the other states have similar rules.

LICENSE PLATE LAMP NRS 484.551
• Passenger vehicles, bus and trucks under 80 inches in overall width must be equipped with a white lamp
mounted to illuminate the rear license plate
• Must be visible from a distance of at least 50 feet to the rear of the vehicle
• Wired to be lighted whenever the vehicle head lamps or auxiliary driving lamps are lighted

[Meat Hunter]

To keep from having to go into the rear lights on my trailer and to make sure that all the functions on my cargo platform lights worked as they should, I ran a trailer wiring harness under my trailer and connected direct into my dual 5 x 4 receptacle on my my automobile.

To make removing my cargo platform easy, I spiced in a male & female standard trailer 4 pole connection on the rear of my trailer.

So that I could remove my cargo platform lights so that I could load my trike, I also spliced in a male & female standard trailer 4 pole connection on each of my cargo lights.

Sounds complicated, but in the end (with a trailer and needing to load and unload my trike solo) it makes my life so much easier.

I located an after market trailer tongue jack on line at Tractor Supply, that in addition to the crank, it has a pin that allows for gross height adjustments. This allows me to raise the front of the trailer high, lower the rear cargo rack to the ground and I can load my heavy electric trike on the cargo carrier all by myself. Also, it allows for the foot of the vertical jack to be raised flush with the bottom of the trailer tongue. No more hitting high spots and bending the vertical jacks backwards.

[Captain Goddammit]

I have a camper on my truck with its own taillights (because it blocks the truck's lights) and a trailer behind, with its own lights.
The best thing I ever did was get LED taillights for both of 'em!!
They solve several problems.
All those extra lights, running through all that extra wire, draw a lot more current than the truck's wiring and switches were designed for. More than once I've had headlight switches burn out.
Running through a relay would work but that's one more thing to go wrong.

The second problem is one I'm sure anyone with a trailer is familiar with. After it's been sitting around a long time it seems you always have to pull the lights apart and screw with the always-dirty contacts to get them to work. Ever since I put on LED lights a few years ago, whenever I hitch up the trailer and plug the lights in, they just work!!!

They also draw so little power that I never have issues with the turn signal flasher, even if I pull the trailer with a friend's vehicle that doesn't have a heavy duty flasher installed.

They're brighter. And they look cool, too.

[forty_eight]

We were going to do the LED light duct taped to the plate but then I went to the NV vehicle requirement page and found this. Looks like we'll be buying the lighted frame and wiring it up to the existing light. Plus we're driving all the way from Florida so I'm sure the other states have similar rules.

LICENSE PLATE LAMP NRS 484.551
• Passenger vehicles, bus and trucks under 80 inches in overall width must be equipped with a white lamp
mounted to illuminate the rear license plate
• Must be visible from a distance of at least 50 feet to the rear of the vehicle
• Wired to be lighted whenever the vehicle head lamps or auxiliary driving lamps are lighted

interesting

i wonder if the wiring is the actionable piece or the "lighted while headlamps are lighted" is the part we should care about

wiring it on a passenger car might be a bit more complicated

food for thought anyway!

[TT120]

Strictly speaking, In California, the plate has to be permanently mounted to the vehicle. Zip tied to a bike wont cut it.

The light also has to be permanently mounted and wired as to shine on the plate to make it visible from 50 feet and to come on when the parking lights do. A duct taped flashlight wont cut it.

They are looking for ANY little reason to pull you over so I would mount that sucker the right way.

[Zealous]

Strictly speaking, In California, the plate has to be permanently mounted to the vehicle. Zip tied to a bike wont cut it.

The light also has to be permanently mounted and wired as to shine on the plate to make it visible from 50 feet and to come on when the parking lights do. A duct taped flashlight wont cut it.

TT120, where are you getting this information? CVC 5201 reads:

License plates shall at all times be securely fastened to the vehicle for which they are issued so as to prevent the plates from swinging, shall be mounted in a position so as to be clearly visible...

... The rear license plate on a truck tractor may be mounted at the rear of the cab of the vehicle...

and says nothing about permanent fixtures or lights.

VC 24601:

Either the taillamp or a separate lamp shall be so constructed and placed as to illuminate with a white light the rear license plate during darkness and render it clearly legible from a distance of 50 feet to the rear. When the rear license plate is illuminated by a lamp other than a required taillamp, the two lamps shall be turned on or off only by the same control switch at all times.

doesn't mention permanent wiring either, and doesn't seem to state that there'd be any problem with a permanently-on flashlight either (if a light is permanently on, it's not being turned on or off by anything that's not the same control switch).

[Ratty]

the part about coming on with your other lights isn't about the license plate light. It's about your fog lamps. (article a) section Search CAL. VEH CODE § 24601 : California Code - Section 24601 - See more at: http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/VEH/ ... gyUUU.dpuf

Oops I have to take that back

When the rear license plate is illuminated by a lamp other than a required taillamp, the two lamps shall be turned on or off only by the same control switch at all times. 24602 - See more at: http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/VEH/ ... sy1Ih.dpuf

That's pretty clear. A single switch for tail lights and license plate light. At greeters we will continue to tape on those flashlights but it may not get you to the event on the open road without a violation.

[Captain Goddammit]

You can simply use one of these lights, and wire to your tail light.
http://m.ebay.com/itm/181768985032

[Captain Goddammit]

In fact I'm taking my own advice, I just now ordered one for my trailer.

[Akela]

I was pulled over on the highway to Cedarville on Tuesday after the burn in 2012 for an obstructed license plate on my Subaru Outback with a rear-mounted bike rack. Maybe the highway patrolman was less interested because the event was already over, but he just gave me a warning. I asked what he recommended I do in the short term, given that I didn't really have an alternative permanent mounting option at that moment, and he suggested zip tying the plate to the bikes. I thanked him and he went on his way, but my zip ties were buried deep in my gear so I didn't actually do anything. I've used the zip tie/flashlight method driving 1100 miles each way to the burn since then, but it does make me nervous every time, especially arriving in BRC at night. This year I'm hoping to get the bikes on the camp truck so I have one less thing to stress about.

[Meat Hunter]

After all the work of building and tricking out the cargo rack with tai/license plate lights for carrying my trike behind my little trailer, test drives on the Interstate to test the proof of concept did not work out as I had planned. If my trailer had been a bit longer, it might have worked.

The overall length of the little 13' trailer was so short, that no matter how many 5 gal. cans of water (for counter balance) that I put in the forward shower area of the trailer and no matter how much I tightened down on the friction anti-sway device; at any speed over 50 mph, I could not get the trailer sway under control - it was going to be either downright very dangerous or a very long drive from Mississippi to Nevada.

The fix was easy, put a bit of a pain. I disassembled my trike and put the primal parts inside the trailer on the bed/dinette located in the rear of the trailer and I removed the lighted cargo carrier.

More test runs on the intestate at 75 mph (faster that I will be driving) and the dangerous trailer sway was gone -- as if by magic.

On the bright side, it only took me 18 minutes to disassemble the trike and stow the parts inside - solo. I am estimating that I can get the trike re-assembled solo in 30 minutes or less. And, I will not have to remove and re-attach all the decorative lighting on the trike.

Burning Man is definitely the place to experiment with ideas. But, always leave enough time at the end to make adjustments to plans that don't work out as you wished.

Come this time next year, I am hoping that I will have a pick-up truck and I can haul the assembled trike and other heavy items in the bed of the truck.

Elliot, thank you for posting the image of the cargo rack/trike and tail/license plate lights as it might be helpful to someone else.