Trailer plug in bed

[Fireman]

Dean Upson showed me his dealer installed 7 pin trailer plug that was mounted in his bed and gave me the part# for the harness. The part# is 82207253, and boy is it ever easy to install. It comes with a flat 4 pin plug like the one that comes on a trailer, so all that you have to do is get a 60" lead with a flat plug on each end to run between the existing flat plug and the one on the new harness and Viola! you have made the brake/turn signal, parking light, and ground connections. Then all that is left to do is run the power lead up to the battery, the brake lead up to the trailer brake connector and tap into the back up light for the center pin. That is all there is to it. the only hard part was working under the dash connecting the wire for the trailer brakes. The only thing needed besides the most basic of hand tools was a 2" hole saw and a drill. It was a very quick and neat way to install a 7 pin connector in the bed of the '03s. Thanks Dean and thanks to his favorite mechanic Dan.



Fireman

 

[Bill Stockard]

Part # 82207253?



What makes up this part number? Is it a plug in wire harness that goes in the OEM wiring? My truck is ordered with the Trailer Tow Group which includes the 7 way receptacle at the rear bumper.



I need to place a camper hookup in the front of the truck bed and prefer not to tap into the OEM wiring. I'll need the tail/clearance lights, turn signals, brake lights, and backup lights. I'll run a separate 8 gauge 12 volt supply and ground wire.



Bill

 

[JohndeereG]

Check under the rear bumber

Originally posted by Bill Stockard

Part # 82207253?



What makes up this part number? Is it a plug in wire harness that goes in the OEM wiring? My truck is ordered with the Trailer Tow Group which includes the 7 way receptacle at the rear bumper.



I need to place a camper hookup in the front of the truck bed and prefer not to tap into the OEM wiring. I'll need the tail/clearance lights, turn signals, brake lights, and backup lights. I'll run a separate 8 gauge 12 volt supply and ground wire.



Bill

If you look under the rear bumper/under the truck. You will find the 4 post plug already tapped into the OEM harness. At least my ride does. This would give you all but the 12v power supply.

 

[Bill Stockard]

JohndeereG,



Thanks. I'll look under the truck if I ever get it. I'm planning on the upgrades to get the truck going quickly when it arrives. It's currently tied up at the railhead in the paint fiasco... 5 weeks and counting since it was built.



Bill

 

[bkaiser]

I'm in the process of wiring my truck with a six pin connector for the truck camper and am making use of the flat 4 connector behind the bumper. Also, I added a set of KC back up lights that use a relay for power, so I'll tap into those for the camper back ups. This way, I'll be set without hacking into the factory harness! One thing I am going to do is add a relay for the camper marker lights. On my '90, I melted the headlight switch and part of the dash harness when I overloaded the circuit with the truck, trailer and camper markers. The new trucks are way different than the first gens, but I'm not taking chances.

 

[dmurdock]

Bill, the trailer tow group includes the 2 trailer connectors at the rear... . the 7-pin is mounted to the receiver hitch, and a 4-way is dangling near the receiver hitch.





FYI i tied into the 7-way for my 7-way in the bed...

 

[bkaiser]

Yup. The trailer tow package was probably the best option I ordered (other than the Cummins, of course). I'm adding the six pin for the truck camper. The seven pin in the bumper is for the car trailer. Maybe that better explains my concerns with the marker lights - the trailer has at least seven bulbs, the truck camper at least fourteen. I don't think it's reasonable to expect DC to design a system that can handle more than double the original load!

 

[dgieson]

I toasted 2 light switches on my 93 before I built a relay box to isolate the trailer. I sold the box with the 93 as I did not feel it was necessary with the 03 as it has relays for the trailer lights built in.



If I read the prints right this is how it works.



The trailer tail and marker lamps power off the Park Lamp Relay that is fed from Fuse # 15 50 amps. The output of the Park Lamp Relay feeds Fuse # 33 20 amp and Fuse # 34 10 amp. Fuse # 33 feed the Trailer Tow Connector for the trailer lamps. Fuse # 34 is for the truck tail and marker lamps. The trailer turn/stop Lamp feed from Fuse # 46 15 amp for the left and Fuse # 47 15 amp for the right. Both are through relays to the Trailer Tow Connector.



I hope this helps.



Dave

 

[MMeier]

Does D/c recommend a certain location for the in bed plug?

 

[dmurdock]

Nope... . I put mine in-between the rear of the truck and the wheelwell. I just stood outside of the truck, reached over with a grease pencil, and marked the spot where my hand hit the bed. This is so that I know I can reach the plug comfortably without being able to see it.

 

[bkaiser]

Well, the wiring is all done. I located the plug on the side of the bed, forward of the tirewell about where the plug is on the camper. The relay mounted nicely on the underside of the bed, where the wiring breaks to the front and rear of the truck. I fed the power side of the relay through a Painless fuse box, so I am quite sure I can't toast any of the factory wiring. This is probably overkill considering the way the circuits are broken out on the new trucks, but I don't mind being conservative for something like this. Plus, I'm an engineer and you know how ridiculous we can get!

 

[L_Rutigliano]

When I bought my slide-in camper, I asked the dealer to provide me with a 12' long harness (cable) that has 7 wires and two male 7-way plugs. I plug one end into the camper receptacle and the other end into the hitch mounted 7-way. No drilling into the side of the bed for me!



Lance's come with a goofy and small 6-way, so if you have this non-conventional plug (which costs like $35 at the RV dealer), you can easily toss it and install the standardized 7-way in its place. The wires go into a bus bar under the camper sink.



The new Dodge's also come with a flat 4-way at the hitch so I can hook up the boat.

 

[VTesar]

Wiring Harness & Camper

Regarding the wiring and camper install, how are you handling a battery isolator or solenoid separator? I had a camper installed on my 2003, 3500 and was told, by the camper service department, that the trailer tow wiring took care of isolating the truck batteries. I discovered that wasn't true. I could find myself with a dead truck battery if I camped in one spot for any length of time. In a later discussion with the camper service department, they said they can't install the solenoid because it would void Dodge's warranty if they cut into the wiring, other than tapping into the wiring harness near the back. Where/how are you making your connection to isolate the truck batteries from the camper battery at startup and while the truck is turned off? Is the starter 'run' position an option? Something better?

 

[Fireman]

VTesar,



You could get a Battery Saver. It is a mechanical device that connects to the battery, and when the voltage drops to a certain level it switches off so there is no more battery drain and you have enough juice to start the truck.



Fireman

 

[dnitzel]

I saw a Reese plug that had a four pin flat plug and three other conductors at my local RV dealer. Looked pretty cool and may be the same thing? $28.

 

[VTesar]

Camper wiring

Fireman,

Thanks for the response; however, I really want to bypass the truck battery entirely when I am parked. When the engine is running, the truck should re-charge the camper battery. The camper magazines have isolators and separators that do the job. The question is, where do I tie in? The wiring diagram has some unique designs that make it more complex to resolve. I am hoping someone has already accomplished this; and I can benefit from their experience.



I will contact the Dodge service department in my area; and see if they can get an answer from Dodge for me. I am not optimistic about their response.

 

[JPittman]

My Lance dealer mounted the isolator on the firewall and then tapped into the switched wire for the windshield wiper motor with a Scotchlock, on the '99 it is a solid blue wire. Then they tapped into the trailer wiring by the gas tank for their weird plug.



Hope this helps.

 

[Fireman]

VTesar,



I understand. The battery saver is strapped to the battery and has a terminal and a battery cable on top. All you have to do is remove the + battery cable and attach it to the terminal on the battery saver, then attach the cable from the battery saver to the + terminal of the battery. With this arrangement the truck will still charge the camper batterys, but will not by-pass the battery untill a certain voltage is reached.



We have just started using these at work and have had only one failure to start in the last 2 mos. as opposed to 3-4/week ( this is on 1 vehicle). It is easy to install and cost about $80.



Fireman

 

[Cj84gpn]

Re: Wiring Harness & Camper

Originally posted by VTesar

Regarding the wiring and camper install, how are you handling a battery isolator or solenoid separator?

Mounted my seloniod to the firewall side of the passenger side battery tray, just above the Jacobs Ebrake vacuum seloniod. Routed the 10g power lead along the fender and over to the wiring harness tray at the top of the firewall, then dowm one ont the factory harnesses below the master cylinder to the frame, then along the factory harness back to the 7 pin conector I installed in the box. For swithed 12vdc to operate the seloniod, I tapped (spliced = solder and heat shrink) into the power lead for the Jacobs Ebrake since it was right there.

 

[VTesar]

Thanks for all of the wiring input. I will investigate the options.