04.5 questions slide in questions too

[Ramrod]

I have a 3 rd gen dually with a 11 ft S&S Ponderosa slide in. She has air bags and the brakesmart controller.



Question: I want to take the camper out and camp on the beach at the Assateague state park in Maryland. This is a park on the coast. I am totally self sufficent and would like to camp on the beach because I think that would be really cool. . I talked with a park ranger yesterday and he said they have rules. No duallys allowed. You let the air out of your tires and they would rub and you would get flats, is what he said. I still want to go. He said guys with duallys take thier outside tires off or get one large wheel. I only have to drive about an hour to get to the park. With the airbags I have, and being a road race driving instructor in the Porsche Club of America,I feel I should be in pretty good hands to attempt this endeavor. The camper wieghs in at 3300 dry. What do you guys think? Can this be done safely. All the terrain is flat and good roads. Any suggestions on doing the beach thing? What kind of air pressure do I lower down to to get out on the beach?



The other dilema I have is I have no trailer running, or parking lights. I just got a new Kaufman gooseneck 24 ft flatbed. I checked and I have turns and brakes but no running lights. I check the fuses under the hood and replaced a few burnt ones, but still no lights. Do we need a heavy duty flasher like I did in my older 2 nd gens. If so where is it located. The brakesmart works fine, but I need running lights.



Thanks guys for you imput.



Griff

 

[Udaloy]

I'm not going to comment on the single wheel question, but I know for sure it's not your flasher. If your blinkers are working normally, you've got the heavy duty (as well as if you have the trailer tow group). If you didn't, the blinkers would blink real fast while the trailer was hooked up. Use a 12v tester to see if you have power at the truck hookup. If so, test at the light bulb, it's just a matter of elimination from there. Usually for me, it's just a connection issue at the plug from corrosion. Good luck.

 

[Ramrod]

The truck is a year old. The in bed plug is less than a year old. The lights where just working when I left my shop. Less than a mile home and they are out. Can it be that the stock 20 amp fuse is just not powerful enough to light up all the lights on a large trailer? The trailer is new and a month old. The truck is loaded with every option.

 

[Udaloy]

I was hoping someone else would answer, 'cause I hate electrical work. Are any lights on your truck going out at the same time? Do you keep blowing a fuse? If you search on here, there's a thread explaining how to run a circuit breaker for trailers. If memory serves, they are using a 30 amp for the whole trailer, so in my mind, 20 amp would be enough for the running lights and all.

 

[Ramrod]

The lights just got out on the trailers parking and running lamps. Turns and brakes still work.

 

[Udaloy]

Like I said before, you are going to have to do some work to find it. Start testing at various locations to figure out where you're losing the juice. If you can't do that, then I'd take it to a trailer shop, and have them fix it.

 

[testraub]

What are you using as the electrical hook-up? 4-pin connector doesn't support running lights, just turn and brake. (and in fact the right side turn signal will also cause the brake lights to flash when not on the brakes) The 7-pin connector should support running and backup lights as well as brake and turn. Would be happy to help trobleshoot the problem with you if you ever get down towards Arlington, VA.



Tom Straub

571-238-8056