Picked-up my trailer
- Thread starter limamike
- Start date
limamike
New member
I finally finished the first round of wiring on the trailer. I'll get some pics of it later, but I added some lights to the underside of the lid so I can see what I'm doing at night. I added a hook-up for shore power, and a couple of 12v (one socket, one USB) charging stations. The way I have it setup I am able to charge the battery while in tow and via shore power, and because of the way the 7-pin plug on the Toyota works, it isolates the trailer battery while the truck is off.
Anyway, went up to Mt Ord last weekend to do some camping:
Anyway, went up to Mt Ord last weekend to do some camping:
phillyd2
Senior Member
Great pics!
Could you expand on the above? I'm about to start wiring mine as well and would like to charge its battery when being towed from the truck.
limamike
New member
Dead simple! Wire the positive and negative from the 7-pin connector to your trailer battery using the largest gauge wire you can (my 7-pin is something like 10 gauge). The circuit to the trailer on our trucks is isolated, and all of the research I've done indicates that just about every new vehicle with a 7-pin isolates the tow circuit. So, you don't have to worry about discharging your vehicle batteries if you leave it connected while the truck is off.
One caveat: setting it up this way is only for a maintenance charge. It's only going to push 13.x volts to the battery to keep it topped off while you're driving (especially if this is the third battery you have your alternator charging). If you want to charge it from deep cycle usage, you'll need something like this in between the 12v from the trailer plug and the battery: CTEK SmartPass Energy Management Unit for CTEK D250S DUAL Battery Charger CTEK Power Inc Battery Chargers CTEK56676
I haven't done any long trips with the setup yet, but everything seems to be working the way it is supposed to thus far.
The circuit to the trailer on my truck is not isolated (engine off 2012 SR5). Tested using a Fluke meter, 7 pin plugged in, engine on vs off indicated that mine is not isolated.
You are spot-on with everything else. And maybe some models are isolated?
limamike
New member
Which pins are you testing specifically? I've only tested the 12v+ out on the trailer side.
I was testing the trucks battery voltage. A load applied on the trailer dropped the trucks voltage. Added a charger to the trailer and the truck battery voltage increased to 13.7 ~ with the truck off in both circumstances. I can see the benefit of isolating when the truck is off. Obviously pulling the plug would isolate when needed lol. My favorite campground is non electric, so I'm always planning ways to have power without getting stranded or running a genset the whole time. Solar has not gotten inexpensive IMO.
2013Trail
New member
Man, that trailer is made for offroading! Hey, I notice the floor of the tent tilts up to the right with the ladder installed underneath. I noticed this on the manufacturer's website as well. Is the floor inside the tent level or does it tilt up? Or does it level out when weight is put on it--like a body? Or is that just an illusion?
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limamike
New member
I'll try this method this evening. It's possible I could have goofed-up when I was putting the voltmeter on specific pins.
limamike
New member
It "levels" itself by the height of the the ladder. So, if you just push the ladder in a bit or push it out a bit (angle between floor and ladder arms) it will change the position of the floor. Also, they recommend that when you are setting up the tent that you put a slight incline in the floor of the tent.
limamike
New member
Alright, so I did it both ways. Long story short, I couldn't replicate your scenario. My "sitting around" voltage on my starter battery is usually 12.9-13.0. Details below:
Here is my main battery voltage (starting battery in the truck) after moving the truck into place to hook-up the trailer.
Here is the voltage with the trailer hooked-up and the key in the ignition in the on position.
Here is the voltage with the trailer hooked-up and the truck off.
Here is the voltage with the trailer hooked-up, and a 110V battery charger on the trailer battery after two minutes of the charger being hooked-up.
For comparison sake, I did this in reverse as well, measuring the trailer battery voltage in different situations.
Here is the voltage with the 110V battery charger hooked-up on the trailer battery.
Here is the standing voltage of the trailer battery without the charger or truck hooked-up.
Here is the voltage of the battery with the trailer hooked to the truck and the truck on.
Here is the voltage with the trailer hooked-up and truck off.
I didn't take a picture, but I also noted the voltage with these LED strips as a load on the trailer battery and it was ~11.9 volts. I'm also using this as an opportunity to show the picture of the lights I promised earlier :nod:
limamike
New member
And to be doubly sure, I just went to do it again.
Standing voltage on starter battery after moving the truck into place (this time I let the truck sit for about five minutes before doing anything).
Voltage with trailer hooked-up and truck off.
Voltage with trailer unhooked and truck off.
The standing voltage I measured after letting the truck sit for an hour or so since my last test was 13.08V, so the battery was on its way back up to "normal" during this test, and the trailer showed no load or appreciable contribution on the circuit.
Standing voltage on starter battery after moving the truck into place (this time I let the truck sit for about five minutes before doing anything).
Voltage with trailer hooked-up and truck off.
Voltage with trailer unhooked and truck off.
The standing voltage I measured after letting the truck sit for an hour or so since my last test was 13.08V, so the battery was on its way back up to "normal" during this test, and the trailer showed no load or appreciable contribution on the circuit.
Great, now you have me pondering how mine is the oddball hahaha.
I used a "BULLY" brake controller. It had to be wired with a kill switch or else it was always hot. Although, Even with that switch in the "off" position, trailer unhooked, the controller lights up when pushing the brake pedal. I'm sure it's feeding from the brake switch circuit. Maybe mine is back feeding through that controller some how. I really don't know at this point. Like you, I tested twice to be sure and mine stays connected with the truck off. Will check the 7 pin after work, looking at what's hot, key on or key off.
I used a "BULLY" brake controller. It had to be wired with a kill switch or else it was always hot. Although, Even with that switch in the "off" position, trailer unhooked, the controller lights up when pushing the brake pedal. I'm sure it's feeding from the brake switch circuit. Maybe mine is back feeding through that controller some how. I really don't know at this point. Like you, I tested twice to be sure and mine stays connected with the truck off. Will check the 7 pin after work, looking at what's hot, key on or key off.
limamike
New member
Did you use the brake controller adapter/harness that came with your truck? I'm using the Tekonsha Prodigy with a wiring adapter made by Tekonsha. The wiring adapter plugged right to the back of the brake controller and then right into the harness on the truck; no soldering or connecting of bare wires needed.
I just went out to the garage to double check, and my brake controller definitely turns off when the truck is off.
Ok, you are absolutely 100% correct and I was wrong. The pic below shows the 3 position switch installed to turn off/on my brake controller and using the 3rd position, jump the + trailer terminal. No excuses like: "senior moment" or "I've slept sense then" would help at this time I guess.
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limamike
New member
No worries! Glad we figured it out.
wdlsmaerw
New member
I know we talked a ton about the trailer in the past but I have finally won a vote from my more intelligent (and income generating) half about doing this setup versus a full size RV. Are you still content and what would you change if you could? Since he is local for me I figured I would go and talk to him about some of the small things.
I know you said you wish the latches were a little better, anything else?
I'm thinking of putting a shallow false floor in there for running future wiring and maybe a gas line that would connect from the front (with the propane tank holder) to the back for a gas cook top out the back during camping.
Hope all is well in the AZ! I'll call you when it comes time for the electrical.
I know you said you wish the latches were a little better, anything else?
I'm thinking of putting a shallow false floor in there for running future wiring and maybe a gas line that would connect from the front (with the propane tank holder) to the back for a gas cook top out the back during camping.
Hope all is well in the AZ! I'll call you when it comes time for the electrical.
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