Just rewired (7 pin) a preowned horse trailer we bought. Electric brakes work, running lights work, brake lights work. When you turn on a signal indicator both sides flash like hazards. Haven’t even gotten to accessory lights yet. What have we done wrong.
@TJ it sounds like you have the wires on the back of your tail lights swapped. The low filament on the blinker side and the high filament on the running lights side. Swap those two and see what happens. You could pretest this by seeing if your rear tail lights are brighter than your rear stop lights.
@LesD Thanks, tried that yesterday, I’ll recheck grounds again and look for circuits touching again.
@TJ if you want to start from scratch, check the voltage at the pins on the 7-way on your truck. If those check out, keep tracing backwards.
I have a 2018 F-150 XLT that did not come with the factory tow package. I had to run a power wire with bus under the hood to the rear 7-pin harness in order to power my Curt Echo wireless brake controller. I want to install the Tekonsha P3 brake controller inside the truck now. Do I keep the 12v power to the rear 7-pin harness, and add another power wire with bus/fuse under the hood to power the Tekonsha controller? Or, do I need to remove the power wire to the 7-pin harness and use that for power to the new controller? Will it be safe to keep power to the rear harness? Thanks.
@PrestonJ I suggest that you do not use more than one wiring harness on the back of your truck. If you are getting the P3, then also get the # 22292 wiring adapter that goes between the P3 and your truck. This may save you from having to run independant wires back there. Be sure to watch the video I have attached.
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@LesD Thanks Les. I have purchased the Tekonsha adapter for the P3 and my truck. I did notice that at the 7-pin harness, the blue and yellow wires from the 7-pin harness are hanging free and were not connected when the dealership installed the 7-pin harness from my factory 4-pin harness. What do I need to do with the blue wire that's hanging free/not connected after installing the P3 and Tekonsha wiring adapter? Also, I did purchase a 30a fuse for the slot in the fuse box under the hood. My truck is pinned for a brake controller. Thanks.
Odd that the dealership left wires laying like that. The yellow wire goes to the left stop/turn signal. It connects to the 4-way. The blue wire runs all the way to the brake controller. You will need to snip it out of the harness.
@LesD I have the Tekonsha wiring adapter that connects to the existing trailer brake port under the dash of my truck, which I confirmed I do have. If I look under the rear of my truck, will there be a blue wire from the dash but at the rear of my truck that I can connect with the 7-pin blue wire that's just hanging near my bumper? Or, will I need to run am entirely new separate blue wire from the brake controller, out and under the truck, and connect to the 7-pin harness at my rear bumper? Thanks again!
@PrestonJ since your truck did not originally have a round 7-way connector, the blue wire connection in the dash port goes no where. With that in mind, take the blue wire coming out of the brake controller and run it to the back bumper. Back there the round 7-way connector will have a blue wire to connect to. Make sure you review that previously attached video.
@LesD that sounds more like my situation, and exactly what I needed. Is it safe to go ahead an attach the Tekonsha wiring adapter to the brake controller and factory harness, but in the wiring adapter, cut the blue wire (so it's not connected to factory plug) and connect a separate blue wire that I'll run to the back bumper and attach to 7-pin?
@PrestonJ Exactly! Think of it this way, the power comes out of the battery on the black wire and goes into the brake controller. Then that power is adjusted and goes out of the brake controller on the blue wire heading for the trailer. The new blue wire you run will connect to the blue wire coming out of the controller - not the blue wire coming out of the port.
@LesD awesome! Thanks for your help! Much Appreciated!
If this is not the right forum please redirect me. I just learned my 2018 F-150 SuperCrew with a tow package will not charge the trailer batteries while driving. The RV dealer checked the 7-pin Aux 12V and it showed no power. I spoke with a Ford service tech and he stated in order to have power the truck needed to be parked and you had to keep your foot on the brake pedal. He then hooked up a device that simulated a towed trailer and when the brake was not pressed there were zero amps at the 7-pin., but when the brake was pressed it showed 6-7 amp at the 7-pin. What are your thoughts about running a 12 or 16 gauge wire directly from the tow vehicle battery to the 7-pin Aux to charge the trailer batteries while driving? Would you recommend a DC to DC charger to up the amp output? Thanks.
@Ed your Chevy will usually provide a maintenance charge to the trailer battery, when you hare properly hitched up and driving. I would like to address your other questions but first, please tell me what kind a trailer this is and what kind of battery it has. Also, please review the attached wiring document. Not every 7-way is wired the same.
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@LesD I have a 2018 F-150 SuperCrewCab XLT with a tow package and the trailer is a Keystone Hideout with four GP-AGM-224-6V wired in series and parallel.
@Ed as you saw in the wiring FAQ I sent you, the 7-way connector comes in 3 wiring configurations. Since you have told me that you are pulling a RV travel trailer, then your truck outlet should be wired in the "RV Standard" configuration where the 12-volt auxiliary power is the pin in the one o'clock position, and brake controller output in the 5 o'clock position. Verify that your truck side 7-way outlet is wired properly for your intended use. Your brake output should read close to zero until the brake pedal is pressed. The voltage should go up as the brake pedal is depressed further. The 12-volt power pin should read right at 12 volts. Keep in mind that the voltage is delivered with very low amps. It will only supply a light maintenance charge to a trailer battery. It will never recharge a battery that has been significantly discharged. Since you have a bank of four large batteries, it may be hardly noticeable. So first, ensure that your truck connector is wired correctly, and that your trailer connector is wired correctly. Don't trust wire colors that you see, as repair people commonly use what ever wire they have laying around. Keep in mind that in some later model trucks, the power system does not energize those circuits until the truck is running AND in “Tow Mode.” Once you are sure that everything is working as intended, then you can consider the Redarc in-vehicle chargers in the link I have provided.
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@LesD Thank you, your advice is very helpful.
Greetings I have just finished wiring an old trailer to the diagrams(sae) and I have a curious issue I tested the truck to find the correct pin location and tested the trailer with a starter box and each works properly separate But together the trailer turn functions work correct only when the running lights are off but when the running lights are on the entire system will blink on and off or actually dim up and down The trailer lighting is grounded to the trailer at the lights single wire leads at the clearance lights, 2 at the tail lights and a lead passes to the truck from the frame other trailers work correctly on the truck as well what should I test next?
What kind of trailer is this and what style of connector is used? What style of connector is on the back of the truck. I have attached a link that shows a bunch of different connectors and their pin-outs. Verify all the pins in the electrical connector on the back of the truck. Same with the trailer connector. Make sure you are not looking at a mirror image of the connector. Double check all grounds. remove them from frames and file metal till clean and shiny.
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@LesD hi It is a Sweiss from MN old to be sure all new wiring and lights The connectors are a 7 standard on all The thing is that they work separately ( lights/ turn) but not together both on at the same time The turn signals work properly without the lights being on and the running lights work except when you attempt to use the turn signals The vehicle works with other trailers and tested the pins to match the trailer Each light has ground
@SteveR we see these types of issues regularly, and they are almost always ground related. I would check the ground wire at the back of the connector and at the lights. What you are describing is classic ground problems. On the back of the 7 way connector (on the back of your truck, it probably has the old 4-way connector plugged into the back of it. Do this 4-wire conductor run to a factory plug under the truck, or are they wired to the lights directly? Have you tried hooking the trailer to another truck that has a factory installed 7-way?
@SteveR Makes sense I’ll check the Jeep first and then I’ll try the other truck Thanks
I have a 2021 Subaru Ascent with factory tow hitch and both 4 pin and 7 pin connectors. My question is, can I wire my Harmar Scooter Lift electrics to the 7 pin, assuming the black battery wire provides always on power to the lift?
@JayK I would first test the 12-volt accessory pin on your 7-way connector to see if it has power when the ignition is off. This will depend on the Subaru systems. I have attached an article that will show you the standard 7-pin wiring. If you do have power then you could use a pig tail like the Hopkins # H20042 to make an easy connection.
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Regarding the 12 V to the trailer. We just bought a 5th wheel. I saw in the manual that this 12 V will feed the trailer 12 V system. Is this supposed to be conected directly to the tow vehicle battery? Thanks
The 12V power wire on your tow vehicle's 7-way will provide a trickle charge to the battery of your trailer via the 7-way connector. This 12V wire will not supply all of the power your trailer needs. The power wire on the vehicle-side of the 7-way will be connected to a 30amp circuit breaker and then to the vehicle's battery.
@VictoriaB Thanks. I figured as much. But I connected the 12 V directly to the trailer 7 way with some pins I made and 12 gauge wire. I monitored it carefully for excess heat.. It got warm but not excessively. It did not charge the trailer house battery much but kept us afloat for 3 days until the power came back on. I had to do some reading up on battery charging.. :) Thanks
I'm trying to help my cousin remotely. He has a 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe with a tow package, including a 7 pin connector. He also has an older model utility trailer. While visiting with him last week we replaced the lights & harness on the trailer with LED lights. The harness that came with the lights only has 4 wires. I believe we hooked up the lights to the wiring harness correctly. We used individual frame grounds for the side marker lights and the rear lights. The rear lights only had 2 wires. He has an older 7 wire to 4 wire adapter but it doesn't seem to work with there LED lights, unless we wired them up wrong? Do we need some other kind of adapter? Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated.
You mentioned the rear lights only had two wires. Do you know if these lights are single function or multi-function? Were they just taillights and then separate lights for turn/brake signals, or were they single lights that are supposed to display all of these functions?
@VictoriaB thank you for the response. I’m not sure. These were sealed LEDs. I am sure they were not grounded by mounting them. They only had 2 wires and I grounded the black wire to the frame. I have to assume they are multi-function, ie. park light, brake light and turn signal.
@LarryS From what I've seen with trailer lights, when a light is multi-function and only has 2 wires then the light grounds through the mounting hardware while one wire carries the taillight signal and the other carries the brake and turn signals. If you're sure it doesn't ground through the mount, such as if they mount in a grommet, then in my experience the light would be a single function, with one wire being the ground and then a single function ran to the other wire. Do you remember the wire colors? If one was black and one was white, then typically the white would be the ground wire. In your original post, you were asking about the adapter. I would use a circuit tester to make sure the adapter is working properly. If you have another vehicle handy that has a 4-way trailer connector you can also test the trailer with a different vehicle. This will help determine where the true issue lies.
@VictoriaB Thank you VictoriaB for the response. My cousin is out of town for a week or so, therefore I can't answer the questions you pose. When he gets back and I can talk to him about the trailer lights, I'll get back here again.
21 Denali and 21 Months Branagh 3760. I damaged my plug on the trailer and while replacing it I discovered that RV wiring is a different layout. Do I have to have my truck hooked up to probably test ?
The easiest way to test wire functions on your trailer is to use a separate 12V battery. You will need to know which wire is for the trailer ground, because it will need to be grounded to the test battery. If you aren't sure which wire is for the ground, the best option is to find the main trailer ground and trace a wire from that ground to the plug location. With the ground connected to the battery, you can apply each wire left to the positive battery terminal to see which light function activates. When you find a wire that doesn't activate any trailer lights, check to see if the wire color matches the wire color that comes from the trailer batteries - if it matches then that is most likely your camper's 12V hot lead.
When we hooked lights up to the trailer the right blinker worked independently. When left blinker was activated both the right and left blinker came on. And the right headlamp on the trailer was on when everything was off. We inhooked the trailer and started at the plug on the truck and the red wire and green wire are hot all the time. We cut the yellow wire above the plug and that acted as it should not hot unless blinker is on. Above the plug we cut the green wire and it was hot when blinker was on and off . 1. Should both wires be hot ? 2. Why do both blinkers come on with left signal? Any help is appreciated Thanks Was working fine. Plug mount on truck got bent a little but wires look good. I guess first I need question 1 answered Thanks in advance
It sounds like you maybe used a probe to test the various wires? If your connector got bent recently then it could be that the 12V power inside the trailer socket is now touching the turn signal for whatever reason. I would be sure to inspect the pins and the back of the plug where you see the wires connect in for any damage and/or crossover.
I have a 2020 Ford F150 Raptor. When I connect my RV to the 7 pin plug it does not charge the battery on the RV. RV service center says it's the truck, Ford says it's the RV. Any idea who's right and or how do I get it to work ? When I had a Ford F250 super duty everything worked the way it's supposed too.
Have you been able to test the truck and trailer separately from each other? If you have another truck and trailer with a battery (or a friend that would be willing to help out) then I would start there. It's also good to note that the 12V power pin on a 7-Way is only good for a maintenance charge really. It might be able to charge the battery some but it will be at a very low rate. If you're wanting to get a good charge on your RV battery while towing then I recommend going with one of the Redarc chargers because they do a great job at charging and maintaining batteries, plus they give you the option to tie in a solar panel setup if that's something on your radar as a future upgrade.
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@JonG Thanks for the quick reply. I have an ultra tow electric jack that worked with my F250 but it won’t work with the F150. It has to be an issue with the F150 itself. Thoughts?
@PhilV Is the jack equipped with a 7-Way that you are plugging in only for power? If it is only trying to pull power from the 12V pin then that's probably your truck. A lot of newer trucks are having this issue where they will only supply power to all 7 pins when they sense that a trailer is connected via the light functions.
@JonG I have an ultra tow electric jack that worked on my F250 when plugged into the trucks 7 pin but does not work on my F150 raptors 7 pin. Any idea why ?
@PhilV If your jack only has wiring for the 12V power then your Ford pickup won't sense that a "trailer is connected" so it won't activate that power pin. What you'll need to do is tie the power for your jack into your trailer 7-Way wiring. You can do this a bit easier by using a junction box # e99009 .
@JonG Thanks. That’s exactly what’s happening. Ridiculous for what a truck costs today and it can’t do what older trucks can.
@PhilV Yeah a lot of people are upset about it and rightfully so. I don't know the reasoning behind the change but I'm guessing it's maybe their attempt to try to keep the OEM wiring safe from corrosion or something along those lines.
Does the chassis of a utility trailer have to be connected to the vehicle ground for safety or any other requirements? The ground wires of all my trailer's lights are wired directly to the junction box connected to the 7-way plug, so a path through the frame is not electrically necessary.
The ground wire on your vehicle 7-Way side should be attached to a bare metal surface on your vehicle while the ground wire on your trailer 7-Way side should be attached to a bare metal surface on your trailer. It is possible that the ground on your vehicle side is good enough for nothing to be grounded on your trailer-side of things but that's not the correct way to route your wiring.
The black battery wire should be same size as the white ground wire - 10 gauge in chart - faq311-7-way-trailer-diagram-rv_2_800 The picture below this chart shows correct wiring for RV plugs. As a professional RV transporter I have seen to many trucks wired with those 2 wires to small and cause a fire from overheating. I built my own wire harness and none of the RV wiring was connected to the factory wire harness except the battery and brakes. My harness uses relays and 30 A circuit breakers. No problems since 1998 with my RV harness.
You can use 10 gauge wire if you'd like but the standard is 12 gauge which is why we go that route - even your trailer brakes will likely have a 12 gauge ground wire. Adding extra protection with relays and circuit breakers isn't a bad idea either. We usually see those on the vehicle end though.
7-Way Trailer Wiring Color Code RV Standard You have an error on this chart. The RED is left turn not a 12 v battery wire Anyone who wires their RV 7 blade plug according your chart will suffer so problems with no left turn or left stop light. the rest of the connections are RV standard connection with Yellow being optional.
If you check out the 2 diagrams we have at the start of the article you can see that the Traditional SAE photo shows red being the power but the RV Standard photo shows red being the left turn/stop. Keep in mind that it's always a good idea to test for function before making any connections if you aren't sure what you have. While these are standard wire colors, we have seen them vary from time to time so doing a little bit of testing gives you a safety net to fall back on.
@JonG You defiantly have some errors in your RV standard color coded bar chart. Looks like someone mixed up some sae and RV standard designations. Look at the left column and the terminations on the right. Also 2 aux power colors and no left turn designation. You have a yellow reverse light wire being run to the left turn signal on the vehicle and terminating on the left turn signal bulb on the trailer.
@Cal These colors can vary per RV and per vehicle so it's always a good idea to double check the function of each wire prior to making any connections.
@JonG I know the difference but someone else may not. One chart is correct but one of them is not. The incorrect chart conforms to no standard in the industry obviously.
I'm wireing a semi trailer and have three tail lights per side,the lights are marked ground/tail/stop,turn. White is ground brown is tail green is right turn,I have a red wire for brake but if hooked up to turn/stop wire it works but not together so what is wrong. Another words turn the blinker on fine but hit the brake it canceled the turn
If you have a dedicated wire for a brake signal then you'll want to make sure it's connected to a brake-only circuit. If you're connecting that red wire to your green wire then that would explain why your lights aren't working correctly.
I have a travel trailer and the rear lights have only one bulb. I would like to replace with a two bulb light so that I can have back-up lighting. Is this possible or is my travel trailer not wired for backup lights? I have a 7-way connector from my pickup truck to the camper.
You definitely can upgrade your trailer to include backup lights. It's really just a matter of routing the wire from your trailer 7-Way back to where you will install your new two bulb light and then making your connections. Usually the center pin of a 7-Way plug will carry the reverse light function so you do want to make sure your pickup has that pin active.
Thanks JonG. I'll check to make sure that center pin has juice when I put the truck in reverse.
@JohnB No problem! Here is a link to our selection of lights and wiring if you don't already have that equipment.
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Thanks for the quick response. I was also directed to have another vehicle with a 7 way connector try to provide power to the camera. I used a 2007 GMC truck with towing package that also didn’t work.
I'm guessing that the power wire for the camera is hot when you have your headlights on?
After reading customer comments on the Furrion adapter I ordered one from etrailer, will have an answer in a few days. Thanks for the responses.
@CharlieC No problem!
@JonG Purchased adapter cable still no joy. Took RV to dealership were it was found to be faulty wiring during assembly at factory. Wire lugs were replaced and camera works great without adapter.
@CharlieC I'm glad you were able to get it figured out! Happy camping!
I have a Ford F 250 with towing package. I recently purchased a 2020 Dutchmen Kodiak Camper that has a built in wiring harness for a rear view camera (Furrion). Simple installation but can't get power to camera, called Furrion Tech Support and was told camera only gets power when headlights are on in manual. Tried, didn't work. Then informed that some car manufactures have current limitations on newer vehicles and that I can buy an adapter cord to solve the problem. Doesn't sound right?
It is a little obnoxious but this is definitely a known problem. It's hard to pin down what specific vehicles this happens on which is why Furrion created their adapter # FR74FR to help remedy this when it pops up.
I have an enclosed trailer with great 12 volt DC interior LED lighting. It sits next to the garage and I do a lot of work in it. What’s the best way to Connect 120 volt AC power to run the 12 volt lighting? Currently I just hook up the truck when I need to use it but this is getting old. Is there a way to run a converter to the 7 way plug on my trailer?
In order to accomplish this you're going to need a converter like part # 34266167 and a battery. The battery will send the power to the lights while the converter actually changes the power from AC to DC so it works with your lights. Then you can simply run an extension cord to make sure the battery is charged. If you only need the lights for a minute you won't have to hook anything up.
@JonG Thank you for the response. I will give this a try.
I have a 2002 Chevy Silverado 3500 at my company. Its got a trailer attached to it, but doesn't work. I've been trying to fix it and I notice that its wired wrong(7 wire harness). Also, there's an auxiliary battery near the trailer neck which is connected to the junction box ( meaning two wires from the truck harness itself aren't connected to the junction box). All the wires from the trailer are connected to the junction box. Is this auxiliary battery necessary?
If it's a smaller battery and the trailer has electric brakes then that would be your breakaway battery box. It is necessary because it applies the brakes on your trailer in the event that the trailer becomes uncoupled.
Hi there, For people that already have a 4-way connector (e.g. by using Curt 55370) how would they go converting that to use 7-way connector and in particular something like Hopkins HM11141144? BTW HM11141144 is the best connector I saw with OEM like quality. I got that the +12V and ground for HM11141144 will come from the battery. Also the backup trailer lights will come from the car backup lights. I see how all the other trailer lights will come from 55370. What is not clear is what should be done with the trailer ground wire on the 4-way connector out of 55370. It cannot be used for trailer ground because it cannot carry enough Amps (55370 it's protected by a relatively small fuse). For trailer ground I already got the 10 awg wire from battery. Should I just ground that wire? Thanks
Since you already have a 4-Way installed, and have your eyes on a 7-Way connector, all that you need is the Wiring Kit # 5506 . This includes the wiring needed to activate the new circuits on the 7-Way (brake output and 12V). The existing ground for the 4-Way will remain where it is.
I have a 2013 Chevy Pickup 4-wheel drive. I hooked my trailer brake controller. It was working fine. Then I tapped into the power wire going to the controller, to power an emergency light. Just recently I reworked the wire connection and shorted out the power wire. Now I do not have power to the controller and no power at the two terminals at the front of the fuse box under the hood. The fuses look good at the front of the fuse box. Would anyone have an idea what the issue is.
I have to imagine you popped the 12V brake controller fuse. I know you mentioned checking this, but it's all I can think of that would cause this. Check your Silverado's owner's manual to ensure you're looking at the right fuse location for that circuit. I also don't recommend tapping into that wire for anything else.
@ChrisR Chris. I apologize for my error. I have check the fuse a couple of times. But not with a meter. I finally checked the circuit with multi- meter and replaced the fuses and the system works. I could not see where the fuse was bad. Thanks for your time and comments. Kevin
@Kevin Awesome! I'm glad you were able to get it fixed.
I saw both 20A and 30A specified for the +12V Red wire with the mention that 20A will only be good for 2 and 4 brake magnets. My car towing weight capacity is max 3000lb and 200lb tongue weight - small, so the campers I'm looking at are small. So 2-4 magnets will be enough braking for me. Is there a way to find out how many magnets a trailer has? Is there a rule of thumb like one wheel one magnet?
Each brake assembly uses a magnet - so the amount of magnets is equal to the amount of wheels on the trailer (assuming all the axles are equipped with brakes).
I would like a clarification on the wiring. I have a car that has a hitch harness in the trunk (power directly from battery, turn RH, turn LH, brake light, tail lights, ground directly to car body). I do not want to install any brake controller in the car. I plan to use a wireless one like Curt C51180. So in this case do I need to hook anything up on the Blue wire (electrical brake controller power output)?
The blue (brake output) wire isn't needed at all for the Curt Echo # C51180 . It sounds like you've already got the 12V circuit active, so you don't need to change anything with your existing setup. Just plug the Echo in, pair it to your smart phone, and you're ready to go.
Very nice article. I would suggest adding a note that for the section at the end Soldering: This is the best way to connect wires. Simpy solder your wires together for the strongest, most reliable connection using a soldering gun. Use heat shrink tubing to protect the soldered connection. that its always important to have the right length enough to give a good overlap of the insulation after soldering and size just a little larger than the insulation, for a tight fit of heat shrink tubing already on the wire prior to soldering them together!!! Its easy to solder first and then go Hmmm... now how do I get this tube over my wire?
I would like to know how to best replace 2012 jayco 266RKS PULL behind 2 axel brake wires at wheel hub that tire blowouts made into spaghetti.
You can use 12 or 16 gauge wire to make this repair. We sell each of them by the foot I will provide a link for both.
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