Enclosed Trailer & Towing Help

[gfcobra04]

So this WDH has anti-sway was well. I took it fully loaded on a highway run today, and its working perfectly! Oh man, so much better. I almost cant feel it now.

I do want to get an electric jack, I just need to figure out what one will work the best on this truck. I hope there is one that just plugs into the 7 pin, or 4 pin and powers up. Something weird about the wiring of new F Series trucks, the 7 pin doesn't supply constant 12v power, and even the interior lights on the trailer won't power up. Freaking sucks if you ask me. That said, I don't know if an electric jack will power up via either connector, and I do not want to add a battery to the trailer.

The jack and trailer interior lights should run off a battery and the #4 pin should charge the battery.

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[Jmeo]

Third the electric jack, you’ll need it fully loaded.

The jack and trailer interior lights should run off a battery and the #4 pin should charge the battery.

So yo are saying that I should install a battery, and if I wire it a certain way, pin #4 will keep it charged?

 

[ZX3ST]

OP, the new Ford trucks are weird in when they decide to power pin 4.

Try this. Hook up the trailer and start the truck. With the all the doors CLOSED put it into drive. Once the truck "sees" the trailer brakes it should activate 12V on pin 4, and should stay on until you turn off the ignition. I've read some musing online that the pushbutton start trucks also need the keys to stay in the cab. Mine's an XLT with standard key so I haven't ran into that myself.

I wish I could find a way to not have to go through this ordeal.

I don't run a power jack, but know guys who do. Their suggestion is as above. Put a battery and charging unit in the trailer and use the aux power to charge the battery. There's not enough amperage available from the 7-way connector to run the jack directly.

 

[gfcobra04]

So yo are saying that I should install a battery, and if I wire it a certain way, pin #4 will keep it charged?

The trailer already has a battery to power the emergency brake and the #4 pin should charge that battery. This is the battery on my open trailer.

What powers the lights inside the trailer?

 

[Jmeo]

The trailer already has a battery to power the emergency brake and the #4 pin should charge that battery. This is the battery on my open trailer.

I like your battery better than mine. Mine just sits in a box with no way to know if it's charged. I may have to but one of these.

What powers the lights inside the trailer?

The lights inside the trailer, and the load lights above the rear door must get their power from pin #4. When I picked up the trailer, they used a stand alone tester to check that all the lights functioned properly. He plugged in the 7 pin to the tester, and using a remote control, walked around the trailer cycling through each light test by pushing buttons on the remote. The interior lights, and the load lights worked as they should with his device. I believe it is self powered by an internal battery. We also tested pin #4 and it was not giving 12v power.

 

[Jmeo]

OP, the new Ford trucks are weird in when they decide to power pin 4.

Try this. Hook up the trailer and start the truck. With the all the doors CLOSED put it into drive. Once the truck "sees" the trailer brakes it should activate 12V on pin 4, and should stay on until you turn off the ignition. I've read some musing online that the pushbutton start trucks also need the keys to stay in the cab. Mine's an XLT with standard key so I haven't ran into that myself.

I wish I could find a way to not have to go through this ordeal.

I don't run a power jack, but know guys who do. Their suggestion is as above. Put a battery and charging unit in the trailer and use the aux power to charge the battery. There's not enough amperage available from the 7-way connector to run the jack directly.

I will give this a try, thanks for the heads up.

 

[gfcobra04]

The lights inside the trailer, and the load lights above the rear door must get their power from pin #4. When I picked up the trailer, they used a stand alone tester to check that all the lights functioned properly. He plugged in the 7 pin to the tester, and using a remote control, walked around the trailer cycling through each light test by pushing buttons on the remote. The interior lights, and the load lights worked as they should with his device. I believe it is self powered by an internal battery. We also tested pin #4 and it was not giving 12v power.

That battery is a little over a year old. I had a box battery before and when I had the axles replaced the shop said the battery was dead so I told them to change it out.

I have a 13 F350 and have never had any issues with the 7-pin.

 

[Jmeo]

That battery is a little over a year old. I had a box battery before and when I had the axles replaced the shop said the battery was dead so I told them to change it out.

I have a 13 F350 and have never had any issues with the 7-pin.

I am going to try your suggestion, if that works I will be more than happy and leave it alone as far as interior lights. If I end up getting a electric jack I will either install a battery, or find one that I can run wires from the truck battery for use.

I will be looking into a better break away battery setup, as the one I have is just a tiny, tiny battery with no way to monitor its condition.

 

[Jmeo]

That battery is a little over a year old. I had a box battery before and when I had the axles replaced the shop said the battery was dead so I told them to change it out.

I have a 13 F350 and have never had any issues with the 7-pin.

I just tested it, and you were mostly correct. 12v is live ONLY when in drive, I tried what you say, no go. I put the ebrake on and left it in drive, power is on. I tried this a few times to confirm that the truck does have to be in drive to trigger 12v.

I think i will use a relay that is connected to the truck battery, and triggered by an ACC turn on wire, then run a fused 10 gauge wire to the back side of the 7 pin connector, snip the connected #4 wire and replace with my lead coming from the relay/battery. This way i will have 12v at pin #4 100% of the time the key is in any position other than off. I don't see any reason why this would not work.

Plus, now i could just get an electric jack that plugs into the 7 pin connector for power

 

[Jmeo]

So I just wanted to keep this thread going with what I am doing to my trailer, incase anyone else is looking for ideas.

I purchased a quad view camera setup from RVS (Rear View Safety) and just finished the trailer side install. I wanted a rear view camera, but I also wanted to be able to see the car inside the trailer when driving. Call me anal, but I just wanted to be sure nothing shifts while driving.

I mounted the rear view camera on the top, and brought the cable into the trailer under the rear door spring cover.

Then I used cable holders to run the cable to the front of the trailer. I am very happy how this turned out. You almost do not notice the cable running along the ceiling, even though it's black on a white interior.

I made a bracket to hold the inside camera to the removable nose panel. Each camera wire runs behind this panel, and connects to the multi camera pigtail that I ran into this area from the front of the trailer.

Here you can see the trailer side of the multi camera quick connect cable. The connection point mounts with a bracket. I mounted it to the side of the frame rail, then I ran the cable along side the 7 pin harness into the area behind the nose panel.

Oh, and here is my Bull Dog electric trailer jack

I really did not want to install a car battery on the trailer, just to run the jack. I will not use this trailer for months at a time, so the battery will constantly be dead.

I am using a quick disconnect plug to connect it to the truck. I will be running power and ground to the truck battery, to be switched on via a relay triggered by ACC. It will have power anytime the "key" is on, and it will not be live any other time. I also made a pigtail to plug into the jack power connection which will allow me to use my "Jump & Carry" battery pack to power the jack any time the truck is not connected.

I will also scab power from the rear bumper end of this power wire, and feed it to pin #4 of the truck side 7 pin connector so I will have power inside the trailer, when the "key" is switched to ACC.

This week, I will get the truck side of the power/ground wire, and the camera setup done.

 

[16Kobra]

Nice job Jaime, giving me some ideas for my trailer.

The only thing to me about the rear camera on top at rear is low tree branches . Just an observation. Have had mine in some "tough" spots before and know it would have hit the camera.

 

[Jmeo]

Nice job Jaime, giving me some ideas for my trailer.

The only thing to me about the rear camera on top at rear is low tree branches . Just an observation. Have had mine in some "tough" spots before and know it would have hit the camera.

I also thought of this. The camera does not sit higher than the bubble roof vent, so that's good, but to your point, I thought about that as well. I plan on fabricating an aluminum "wind deflector" to place in front of the camera to both reduce wind drag, and tree branches from grabbing on to it.

This is all dependent on the design of the trailer. For me, my trailer has the loading light strip dead center up top, leaving me nowhere else to mount the camera. There was no way in hell my OCD would allow me to mount the camera to the left, or right of it, and not be centered lol.

 

[V00D00]

YES!! how satisfied are you with that jack now lol. soooo much easier.
You could also use an ATV battery, much smaller, and can go in between the A arms. I had to do that in a picnh, and put a solar charger on it.

I know i know, i like to spend your $$

 

[16Kobra]

I also thought of this. The camera does not sit higher than the bubble roof vent, so that's good, but to your point, I thought about that as well. I plan on fabricating an aluminum "wind deflector" to place in front of the camera to both reduce wind drag, and tree branches from grabbing on to it.

This is all dependent on the design of the trailer. For me, my trailer has the loading light strip dead center up top, leaving me nowhere else to mount the camera. There was no way in hell my OCD would allow me to mount the camera to the left, or right of it, and not be centered lol.

My trailer is similiar to yours so I understand the left and right thing.

The only time I had an issue with backing up was just a few weeks ago trying to get it parked in my back yard. On one side, I have to miss the neighbors fence. It was dark and raining and could not see the fence.

I keep thinking of putting lights and camera on the back of the trailer.

 

[Jmeo]

YES!! how satisfied are you with that jack now lol. soooo much easier.
You could also use an ATV battery, much smaller, and can go in between the A arms. I had to do that in a picnh, and put a solar charger on it.

I know i know, i like to spend your $$

You sure do! I do love the jack, and I am glad I was persuaded. I will be wiring it to the truck since I will be running the camera cable anyway. I will make a harness that I can reuse if, (or shall I say when), I get a new truck. I like not having to worry about installing a trailer battery that will always be dead when I take it out of storage. Also, while doing it, I will get the opportunity to power pin #4 as well so I can bypass Fords dumb decision to only liven the 12v trailer power when in drive.

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