When you have the responsibility not just of the car you are driving but a towing vehicle as well, there are additional safety features you need to be aware of, like caravan side market lights. If you have come across this term when looking at caravan accessories but wondered what they were or need to replace the existing lights on your caravan because they have been damaged or have run their course, you’ve come to the right place.
In the following post as well as highlighting the best options of caravan side marker lights available on the market, we will also discuss what they actually are and what they are used for.
First things first, then…
Table of Contents
What Are Caravan Side Marker Lights?
Side marker lights are an important accessory for your tourer outfit. They provide additional illumination during periods of poor visibility and at night-time, to make sure all other drivers and any pedestrians can see your caravan and towing vehicle. Although they are used on vehicles like, trucks, cars and buses, they are also a necessary addition to any campervan, caravan or trailer.
Are They Legally Required Here in the UK?
The short answer is yes, your caravan should have appropriate and working side marker lights. It is crucial that they have a clearly visible amber light, and that they have a working red light for any driver or pedestrian that gets as close as 1-metre from the back of the touring vehicle.
Now that we’ve covered the basics – yes, they are an important piece of kit and although they are important there are actually fairly cost-effective side marker light solutions out there. Let’s look at a few.
Some Caravan Side Maker Lights Replacements
First up we have this incredibly affordable side marker light from ProPlus. It has been fully E4 approved and is therefore suitable for use in road traffic. You get all you need to either retrofit it in your vehicle or simply replace your existing one if it has seen better days.
It measures 41 x 91 mm and comes complete with a connecting cable and the 12-volt bulbs to provide the suitable illumination in both the red section of the light and the white section. Two simple screws make it ultimately very easy to install.
An even cheaper option and slicker design is the side marker light from Hella. It has the red and white sections of the light with an incredibly sexy and sleek dark grey housing. This is definitely a more modern-looking option compared to the more traditional model above. There is not really much else to say. You get all you need with it to mount it to your tourer and even if you have to drill new holes and create a space for it, we think this would be an easy enough task to complete.
Another model from Hella. This time it is a simple but oval-shaped amber/yellow light. Rather than a traditional bulb, this features an LED, so is guaranteed to last you even longer and also offers the benefit of not overheating when it is used for longer than normal periods.
Again, like the others in the list, when you purchase the light, you get the mounting hardware and everything you need to attach it and connect it up to your tourer.
This is a little on the small side, but the illumination it produces more than makes up for it. Although we feel it’s important to note that it is a little higher than the price on the models above. Which really would only be a problem if you are not prepared to pay less than £15 for an integral part of your touring outfit.
The last product on our list is similar to the one above. It can be used as the direction indicator on your touring vehicle so that other cars and vehicles on the road as well as pedestrians know which direction you are turning.
Final Thoughts
We hope our look at side marker lights has been helpful if you are currently refurbishing a caravan or campervan or just need to replace the current model as it has worn out.