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| As stated by most it is most likely a ground issue somewhere. But not necessarily where you think.
First off, those incandescent light sockets are poorly designed to begin with and usually poorly built. It is most likely a socket or a bulb since you have taken a lot of time chasing grounds.
1) Take each bulb out and be SURE the terminals for the bulbs are not shorting against each other and or to ground underneath the terminals where the spring is. Also make sure the bulbs are in the sockets correctly, 1157 bulbs are not reversible but can be put in their sockets wrong, maybe there is a short. across the base terminals from an improperly installed bulb.
2) Make sure each bulb has the filaments in the proper place. I have had issues with a broken filament doing things like your symptoms. I'd even swap them out to rule out an incorrectly manufactured bulb.
3) DO NOT USE FRAME GROUNDS.
Ever.
Your life will get MUCH better when you give up on frame grounds and run EACH light with IT'S OWN ground to the truck. Problems like this WILL stop. It also makes troubleshooting MUCH easier, because you can check the ground, you will KNOW you have a good ground, not a hope and prayer that a ground "might" be good through the frame, which usually they despite all rational explanation are not.
Yes it does defy logic that a frame ground would not be good enough, but time and time again in the 40+ years of trailer light troubleshooting I have done, a frame ground is NEVER a good thing. Yes, they CAN work, but at some point at some time you WILL have trouble with a frame ground. Add a ground wire and keep the frame grounds for your own sanity, but a ground wire to each light is MUCH more reliable. Once I started adding grounds to each light and abandoned frame grounds, I stopped losing hair.
4) Get a Power Probe to test with and give up on a test light. They have their place, but a Power Probe is FAR superior once oyu learn to use it. I recommend the PP3, it is easy to use and is robust, as well as cost effective. It is powered by the truck battery with a hot AND a ground, so you can test much more easily. If the light on the unit is lit, you KNOW you have a good hot AND ground at your fingertips.
If you have one, test each socket and give each socket a ground with the PP and you can QUICKLY rule out bad grounds that way.
If you have lights flashing and they are out of time with the tow vehicle or each other, it is 100% a bad ground!!
Not what you want to hear, I am sorry, but a ground somewhere in or on something is causing your trouble.
MAYBE a shorted wire inside a socket, which is why I listed it above, but without being there and testing myself, that's where my money is on. I ALWAYS assume bad ground, and 70% of the time or more it IS a bad ground when testing.
It's just been my experience. Maybe I'm wrong.
Edited by Fingers77 6/29/2024 11:42
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Stock trailer wiring day 11?? Beyond frustrated
