5th Wheel Wiring Harness?

[Sikos]

I am in process of getting a 5th Wheel Wiring Harness for my 2011. I see that Reese, Curt & Valley have them.

Looking for recommendation or experiences with them.

Thanks in advance.

Joe

 

[RustyJC]

Be aware that the 4th gen trucks have gone to the same plug as Ford and GM on the back of the 7-pin connector. I ordered the old-style Dodge harness and wound up having to hard-wire it (which is OK, but not what I was planning on).



Rusty

 

[RonD]

Be aware that the 4th gen trucks have gone to the same plug as Ford and GM on the back of the 7-pin connector. I ordered the old-style Dodge harness and wound up having to hard-wire it (which is OK, but not what I was planning on).



Rusty

I had the very same thing happen, Hard Wired, works fine, but not what I wanted also.

 

[Sikos]

Rusty & RonD, Thanks for the info. Looking at pictures on the web for the Curt 56000, it looks like round connectors.

Where did you place the RV connector in the bed?

Thanks again

Joe

 

[RustyJC]

Where did you place the RV connector in the bed?

Low on the side wall of the bed, driver's side rear. Makes it easy to plug in standing on the ground with the tailgate open as I'm starting to back under the 5th wheel.



Rusty

 

[RonD]

Rusty & RonD, Thanks for the info. Looking at pictures on the web for the Curt 56000, it looks like round connectors.

Where did you place the RV connector in the bed?

Thanks again

Joe

On the drivers side at the top just forward of the center stake pocket, easy to reach with the 5th wheel connected.

 

[Sikos]

Rusty & RonD, Thanks for the info.

Joe

 

[MikeBeal]

Hi hope this will help, I just made a pig tail on one end of plug from bed to factory plug on the bumper, plug in when I use my fithwheel unplug when tow with bumper. no spliced wires to worry about.

 

[Sikos]

Thanks MikeBeal, I have a cable now but sometimes I pull a trailer when using the Truck Camper. On my '96 CTD I had cable hard wired. Just trying to avoid hard wiring.

Joe

 

[Cummins12V98]

Just hang the cord over the tailgate and plug in at the bumper. Cord does not rub on the paint.

 

[mwilson]

Just hang the cord over the tailgate and plug in at the bumper. Cord does not rub on the paint.

X2, I put a spring on mine similar to what is used on 18 wheelers to keep the cord away from the rear gate.

Works great.



Mike.

 

[Bill Stockard]

Thanks MikeBeal, I have a cable now but sometimes I pull a trailer when using the Truck Camper. On my '96 CTD I had cable hard wired. Just trying to avoid hard wiring.

Joe

I used the Lance receptacle for my Lance since I wanted to utilize Lance's 8-gauge wiring and didn't want to tie up the truck's 7-way trailer receptacle. I used the 4-way trailer receptacle under the truck's rear bumper for the Lance receptacle in the truck bed which furnishes tail lights, turn signals, and brake lights. The only hard wiring I had to do was solder/shrink wrap a connection into the backup light circuit for the camper near the 7-way trailer receptacle. The rear docking lights on my Lance are powered through relays from the camper batteries, not the truck's back up light system. Fortunately, I don't have a TIPM to worry about.



Bill

 

[Sikos]

Thanks to all for the feedback. I ordered a Curt 5th wheel wiring harness.

Bill I like your connection with the docking lights, will definitely look into that. I do not have the Lance connector. I will have to look into that. I like the thought of having an 8 gauge wire feeding the camper. I don't think a standard RV connector/plug will take an 8 gauge wire.

Thanks again for all the input.

Joe

 

[Bill Stockard]

Thanks to all for the feedback. I ordered a Curt 5th wheel wiring harness.

Bill I like your connection with the docking lights, will definitely look into that. I do not have the Lance connector. I will have to look into that. I like the thought of having an 8 gauge wire feeding the camper. I don't think a standard RV connector/plug will take an 8 gauge wire.

Thanks again for all the input.

Joe

No, the standard 7-way RV receptacle won't take an 8-gauge wire. You might be able to stuff in a 10-gauge. Also the 12-volt charge wire in your factory harness is too small to effectively charge your camper batteries.



Bill

 

[Sikos]

No, the standard 7-way RV receptacle won't take an 8-gauge wire. You might be able to stuff in a 10-gauge. Also the 12-volt charge wire in your factory harness is too small to effectively charge your camper batteries.



Bill

Bill, good information.

Thanks

Joe

 

[SearsK]

Bargman makes a pigtail for all the trucks, works fine. Like plug and go, no splicing. Most people are mounting it in the rear of the bed on the drivers side.

 

[ArmandoCantu]

Cummins - truck do OK with your 3. 42's and towing your 5th wheel!? Thanks.

 

[Road Dog]

I used the 4-way trailer receptacle under the truck's rear bumper for the Lance receptacle in the truck bed which furnishes tail lights, turn signals, and brake lights.

One thing I discovered on my '02 is that the 7-pin marker parking circuit has it's own fuse and relay (because who know how many lights are on your trailer) but the 4-pin is wired straight into the truck parking light circuit. (Great fun until I figured out it was two circuits and once I replaced the trailer fuse it was all good. ) Naturally my camper plug was connected to the truck parking circuit by a previous owner but that's fixed too.

 

[Sikos]

I used the Lance receptacle for my Lance since I wanted to utilize Lance's 8-gauge wiring and didn't want to tie up the truck's 7-way trailer receptacle.



Bill

Bill, with regards to the 8 gauge wiring. How/where did you put a fuse to protect it?

When I got the Lance, the Lance connector (truck side) was missing. So, I just spliced in a 7 pin rv plug to the Lance. Already had a 7 pin connector in '96 for my 5th wheel. I like the idea of the 8 gauge wire.

Thanks

Joe

 

[Bill Stockard]

Bill, with regards to the 8 gauge wiring. How/where did you put a fuse to protect it?

Joe

I connected the 8-gauge wire through a 40-amp circuit breaker, mounted on the firewall, to the driver side positive battery clamp. I also ran an 8-gauge ground wire from the Lance connector directly to the negative driver side battery clamp. I didn't want to depend on the factory frame/body grounds.



Our Lance has a built in automatic battery disconnect switch so it wasn't necessary to install a heavy duty relay between the truck battery and camper to prevent discharging the truck batteries when the engine wasn't running.



With the 8-gauge wiring, I can successfully run the 3-way fridge on 12-volts while traveling. The fridge remains cold and no flame blow out problems traveling on windy days.



Bill