Truck to camper wiring

[Bluhaven]

Looking over the wiring on the 7 pin plug, under the truck attached to the frame are 2 plugs, 1 small plug (3 wires) and 1 larger plug (4 wires),from these 2 plugs the wiring goes to the 7 pin plug. I am wanting to get my truck wired for a lance camper and was wondering if somebody makes a setup to just plug into these 2 plugs instead of splicing into the wires? I'm no wiring guru so I'm trying to make it easy on myself. What is the easiest setup?

 

[VicR]

I made a pigtail that plugs into the 7 pin. Napa sells a 7 wire bundle with a heavy ga. power wire and 6 others, all wrapped nicely together. Picked up a few feet of that and an empty female plug and made a nice little connector for a few bucks. I'm like you, I hate splicing into wires on the truck.



Of course the downside of my set up is if you are going to tow a trailer with the camper on, but thats only happened once in the 4 years I've had my 99 so its not a factor for me.



-Vic

 

[Bluhaven]

Thanks for the quick reply Vic, I forgot to mention that I would be towing sometimes. I guess I could just add another plug at the hitch if I want to tow but I was wondering if somone makes one that just tees into the plugs under the rear of the truck? Also where in the bed of the truck is the plug mounted?I'm thinking I'll end up just plugging it into the recievers plug,add another female 7-pin to plug in my boat and add the end for my camper, any suggestions?

 

[Bill Stockard]

Bluhaven,



Did you go ahead and get that Lance advertised in the RV Trader?



Bill

 

[Bluhaven]

Originally posted by Bill Stockard

Bluhaven,



Did you go ahead and get that Lance advertised in the RV Trader?



Bill

Hey Bill, I found another one since I last talked to you. It's in Oregon, but I think it's a good deal. http://www.rvtrader.com/cgi-bin/cla...ults_format=long&db_id=22263&query=retrievalI was all set to talk to him about the camper when my credit union said they couldn't do the loan! I was suppose to have been pre-approved,they don't know what a camper is? Anyways it's going to take me about 5 weeks to get this other loan and hopefully he will still have it. Just trying to get the wiring together now so I'll be all set. At least I have the tie-downs. There just itching to be used.

 

[MD500E]

I did the same as Vic and made up a 7 pin plug and wire to connect to the camper but then I came off of the same plug with a flat four connector, as all i tow with the camper on is a snowmobile trailer.

I hate to mess with good factory wiring!

 

[Bill Stockard]

Kevin,



I sent you a PM



Bill

 

[DPelletier]

I posted the same question on here and IRV. 2 as did Ken Lenger. No such connector exists as far as I can tell. Someone makes an external plug-in tee (torklift?), but that is not what I'm after. Like you, I need both 7 prong connectors at the same time. If you're interested in the external extension cord type tee, PM me and I'll get you the part number.

Dave

 

[Bluhaven]

Thanks Dave but I think I'm going to end up splicing into the wires back by the plug at the bumper. Sounds like someone with some ambition could make a little bussiness out of this?

 

[dresslered]

I guess that I am not quite following this thread. My Bigfoot plugged directly into the OEM connector... ... . however:



I think that the OEM wiring is minimal to say the least. Besides, with a slide-in, it's really nice to have a plug right in the bed where the camper plug is. Yep, custom is the only way to go! I spliced into the main wiring for all the signals EXCEPT for power and ground (return). These two lines were run separately and of a heavy guage wire directly from the battery (and through a solenoid switch that is activated with ignition on--prevents accidental running down of the truck batteries) so that voltage drop is a minimum. One drawback of using the OEM connector is that there is 20-feet of wire to get back to the hitch and then another 15-feet to get to the camper plug and then still another 20-feet to get to the camper battery (Yikes!). Do yourself a favor and plumb it right. Besides, the OEM connector is still available for towing.



If you're in my area and bring the parts and the beer D) I will make the splice.

 

[RMH]

isolater

did you also put in a battery isolater to protect the battery from being drained when not driving. the lance manual states to put an isolater in.

 

[MD500E]

I skipped the battery isolator because I like to have the 2 extra truck batteries help power the heater all night. I am sure I will screw myself one of these days with dead truck :{

 

[Bill Stockard]

Re: isolater

Originally posted by RMH

did you also put in a battery isolater to protect the battery from being drained when not driving. the lance manual states to put an isolater in.

If your Lance has the Convenience Package option, a battery isolator is built in. The last two Lances we have owned had the built in battery isolator... no need for a relay.



I install a 40 amp circuit breaker near the battery in the 8 gauge charge wire I run from the battery to the camper receptacle. Also I extend the 8 gauge wire from the camper receptacle harness to the battery and don't depend on the frame ground.



Bill

 

[NETim]

Ditto on dresslered's suggestion. I wired my running/turn lights into the truck wiring harness and ran separate 8 gauge wires directly to the truck battery for the "power" lead. Same for the ground wire. 40A ckt breaker inline on the power lead as well. Not nearly as much voltage drop this way and hopefully the Lance battery will charge better as I tool down the highway. I like to keep my 12v runs as short and as large as possible.



My 1130 has the isolator built in as far as I know.



The 7 pin connector is installed in the box on driver side near the cab. That puts it right where the Lance pigtail is located. I drilled a 1" (or was it 1 1/4"?) hole in the box sheet metal with a hole saw and stuck the connector in.



I did not have the Lance connector installed on the truck last July when we went out to Cheyenne WY to pick up the Lance. In my ignorance, I thought the connector for the gooseneck trailer was the same thing. It ain't! We raced back down out of the mountains west of Cheyenne as the sun was setting with no running lights at all. Found a Walmart as it was getting very dark. I spent a coupla hours devising a way to light up the Lance using various "farmer" techniques and Walmart wiring accessories. This way I was able to get it home safely.



A memorable trip.



Tim



PS One other tip I would offer to Lance owners... if you have the Atwood water heater, get yourself a 1 1/16th socket to remove the anode rod from the heater when needed. Makes life much easier!

 

[dresslered]

Not to get of track but...

Tim,

I would like to hear more about what you have found with the Atwood heater anodes. So far, mine has been maintenance free. But, as Murphy's Law dictates, the maintenance will start while on the road.

 

[NETim]

anode rod

I really haven't had it long enough to get a good feel for maintenance issues with the heater anode rod. The hot water stunk bad the first time we used the camper, so I pulled the rod out to drain the tank. That's when I discovered that a socket is "must have" to get the rod out.



When I got it out, I did take a scotchbrite pad to it to clean off the deposits on the rod. I don't know if it was a good or bad thing to do, but I didn't think that it'd hurt anything.



Atwood suggests to properly winterize the heater, the anode rod should be pulled out during storage even if the tank is drained completely.



I noticed that CamperWorld sells an electric heater element that replaces the anode rod. It runs on 110 and naturally is sold to reduce propane usage. It can be run in conjunction with propane to heat the water up more quickly. This thing sorta tempts me. Not that running the water heater uses a lot of propane, but it's one more energy sink that I can pass off onto shore power and the campground.



I'm starting to get the itch to get the rig back out on the road.



C'mon Spring!!!



Tim

 

[dresslered]

Thanks Tim for the info! I wouldn't even wait for spring if I had more vacation time!

 

[Bill Stockard]

Bad smell in the hot water

To avoid the bad smelling water and to make the anode rod last longer, remove it from the water heater, let it dry, and store it in a plastic zip lock bag inside the water heater access door when you aren't using the RV. If you have the winterizing valve setup on your water heater, switch the valve to the "winter" position so the water system will bypass the heater and leave it empty. When you are ready to leave on a trip, re-install the anode rod and switch the winterizing valve back to fill the water heater. Be sure to open a hot water faucet to vent out the air before turning on the water heater.



Bill