How to Create an Electrical Grounding Plate on DIY Truckbed Camper for Running Lights

Updated 10/29/2019 | Published 10/28/2019

Products Featured in This Question

16 Gauge Primary Wire - White - Per Foot

(62)

$0.77

Trailer Wiring Junction Box

(822)

$33.80

Ring Terminal - 12-10 Gauge Wire - 3/8" Ring ID

(71)

$1.97

Question:

I have 5 yellow marker lights in the front of my truck camper and 5 red rear ones. Can I attach all of the grounding wires together and ground them all to one point on the trailer? Also the entire trailer is made from a wood frame, so I am a bit unsure where to create a grounding point. Should I take a little piece of aluminum and drill that to my frame and create a small contact / grounding point? It is a DIY slide in truck camper. Thanks very much!

asked by: Chris

Helpful Expert Reply:

The short answer to your question is, no. You're going to be best served by running your ground wires together and grounding them at a single point on the trailer using a ring terminal like the # DW05705-1 and a junction box like # 38656. Since aluminum not is a great conductor of electricity, that wouldn't be a good choice to create your grounding plate- if you can ground it to steel instead that would be optimal. If you need wiring to run all these grounds together you can use 16 gauge wire # DW02359-1 which can be purchased by the foot.

expert reply by: Erik B