RV plug inside box

[jtisdale]

Does anyone know where I can find a harness/plug to hook into the ractory truck wiring (I have the factory tow option) to add an RV plug inside the box without splicing any wires?

Thanks, Jim

 

[GRudy]

I did just that for my lance truck camper. On my 99 dually I had spliced into the wire harness inside the frame in front of the fuel tank with those crimp wire taps. Definately don't want to do that. Nothing but problems. My 05 dually came with both the 7 wire rv plug on the bumper and a 4 wire flat plug hanging behind the bumper above the trailer hitch. I could have just used a 4 wire plug too but decided to cut the plug off and splice in. This time I sodered the wires and heat shrinked them. The only thing that I did not get through the 4 wire plug was back up lights. I will need to tap into the tail lights or the 7 wire harness for them but I will probably just install a set of small driving lights under the rear of the truck for back up lights since the back up lights on the camper are worthless anyhow. I ran an 8 gauge wire from the bed mounted 6 wire plug to a battery isolator under the hood so I could charge the batteries while on the road. You will also need a good ground. Again an 8 gauge wire to the truck body works. Wouldn't have to be 8 gauge ground but I had it and it couldn't hurt. I used a 1-3/8" bi-metal hole saw to drill the inner bed for the plug.

 

[woodsrat]

if you know anyone that is a rigid dealer in your area they have everything you need in the book. I got it for my 01.

 

[klenger]

This is the closest thing I could come up with. The installation comments and drawings are for a 3rd gen truck, but it would work for a 2nd gen if your truck has a 4 pin trailer plug pigtail. http://www.klenger.net/dodge/7-pin-connector-installation/index.html

 

[Dieselnerd]

Here is another solution:

http://www.etrailer.com/Merchant2/m...e_Code=E&Product_Code=20027&Category_Code=TEC

 

[RustyJC]

I installed a 2nd 7-pin bulkhead-mount Pollack connector in the driver's side rear sidewall area of the bed and made up my own harness. I tapped into the factory harness going back to the receiver-mount 7-pin Pollack connector, soldering and heat-shrinking all connections. I generally do it while I'm under the new truck installing the 5th wheel hitch. No problems whatsoever with this arrangement.



I've done this on my previous tow vehicles as well. It makes hitching and unhitching much easier and saves wear and tear on the top of the tailgate and umbilical that occurs if the 5th wheel is plugged into the receiver connector.



Rusty

 

[DHorton]

We bought an extension cable from an RV dealer that plugs straight into the factory one by the bumper then tapped a 1 1/2" or 2" (forget the exact measurement) in the lower sidewall like RustyJC and then installed it there. This kept us from having to tap and tap things together and still allows us to use the bumper pull when necessary. When not in use it tucks nicely underneath and out of the way. I originally wanted to tap into the factory one inside of the connector, but now that we have been running this for a while I like the clean looks of it.

 

[JimScott]

In bed receptacle solution

I ordered a connector from www.drawtite-hitches.com that fits between the factory connectors on the rear bumper 7 pin receptacle. This is designed to give you a flat four connector but you can easily cut it off, use the four wires, plus tap into the other wires for the battery and brake leads. The DrawTite part number is 18381. You can see a picture of it on their web site. What I like about this solution is that you can add the bed receptacle, without cutting into any factory wiring. This works for later model trucks with the factory tow package. The only down side is DrawTite's wiring for the battery lead is somewhat light for the load.

Jim

 

[jtisdale]

Thanks guys, but it looks like no one makes what I am looking for.

 

[Kirwin]

Jim, Dieselnerd has your plug for you

The plug Dieselnerd shows in his post would just plug in on the rear bumper and route back under the truck and mount in the sidewall of the box no splicing. What are you looking for that that wouldn't accomplish? Are you trying to have 2 7 pin plugs? Ken Irwin

 

[jtisdale]

thanks for all the suggestions...

I was looking for a tee that would provide another 7 pin in the box without splicing any wires. As it is, I just plug the goose neck into the factory hitch, but its kinda a PITA because Dodge pointed the plug the wrong way, and it drags on the top of the tailgate. I guess I'll have to do some splicing.

Jim

 

[Kirwin]

Tee idea

You might want to try buying a plug for a trailer and splice it, vice the factory wiring harness. Then you would just take your tee out when you removed the camper and nothing would have to remain to get water logged or cause corrosion in the factory harness. Just an idea. Ken Irwin

 

[JimScott]

Addition information

I finished my installation last night. I used the DrawTite 18381 connector to plug into the factory wiring. I cut off the flat four connector and used the ground, tail, and turn wires to lead to my inbed receptacle. I had to solder a pig tail lead off the brake wire of the drawtite adapter because a flat four does not have a brake lead. I ran a #8 wire from a terminal at the driver's side battery for the battery lead (protected by a large circuit breaker) rather than use the factory battery lead which is too light for the job. It also supplies an receptacle for my boat trailer winch. I put a heavy ground from the bed receptacle to a common ground on a bolt on the underside of the bed near the rear bumper. The ground leads from all the receptacles terminate on the bolt. The advantage of the DrawTite connector is that you can do all this wiring without splicing/cutting into any of the factory wiring. The only thing I don't have is an isolator to separate the trailer batteries from the truck batteries, so the trailer batteries will probably never get a full charge from the truck.

Jim

 

[MHalberstadt]

Why splice at all? On my fiver I just plug the pigtail from the trailer into the 7 pin next to the liscence plate. I tie wrap the wire to the pin box with a little slack. Works great didn't have to do anything special.

If you do splice definently solder and shrink wrap. Avoid those chip blue clamshell crimps.