Can an Electric Trailer Jack be Powered Using a 7-Way Connector on a Truck

Updated 07/01/2015 | Published 06/30/2015

Question:

I have a 7 blade trailer connector on my truck, but have had to install an adapter to accomodate the flat 4 wire connector to my utility trailer lights. How can I wire both the flat 4 and the electric tongue jack? I bought an adapter that allows access to a flat 4 connection as well as a round 6 pin connector. I tried to wire the jack to the round 6 pin but it did not work. I tried using both the center A connector and the S connector on the round 6 pin connector to no avail. Any suggestions from the experts?? Thank you,

asked by: Paul R

Expert Reply:

The wiring on a trailer connector and the tow package wiring on a vehicle is not really rated high enough and the wire gauge is not large enough to properly power an electric trailer jack. You would want to mount a battery on the trailer and use it to power the winch.

To provide a maintenance charge to the battery what you could do is replace the 4-Way on the trailer with a 7-Way, such as # H20042, and run the black wire from it to the positive battery terminal. This will keep the battery from discharging but will not charge up the battery.

expert reply by: Michael H