Horse trailer wiring????

[maroonandwhite]

So my wife and I went to pickup a used horse trailer last night. The trailer has a 6 pin connector and my truck has the 7 blade. Using a 6 to 7 adapter I plugged them in. The lights worked but not very well and the brakes didn't work at all. We the drove the trailer down the road and back and at some point the brakes locked up and all of the lights came on alot brighter including the interior auxillary lights.

 

After getting home I researched and found out that there are two standards for the center pin on a 6 plug. I took the adapter apart and reversed the two wires and now the tail lights as well as brakes seem to be working correctly. However my interior lights are not working.

 

Does anyone have any idea how/where auxiliary lights are normally wired on these?

 

I have to get a new jack put on it so I may just let them take a look at this as well..........

[gjohnsoniv]

Best advice is to get the trailer place to look at it. I've rewired a couple and installed brake-aways but it's a chore.

[maroonandwhite]

Best advice is to get the trailer place to look at it. I've rewired a couple and installed brake-aways but it's a chore.

 

The weird thing is it has a brakeaway switch but not box/battery that I could see. I honestly didn't look in every nook and cranny since it was dark though. Maybe they put a switch on it factory with the option to add the box??

[Hozzie]

I would just rewire it to a 7 pin connector and forget the adaptor.  Use can use a battery to test which connections are lights and work out which one is the brake and it should be pretty easy to rewire a new connector as long as you know how your truck is wired.  For me, it is worth the time to just do it right and not worry about it each time I hook it up to wonder if it is going to work.

[maroonandwhite]

I would just rewire it to a 7 pin connector and forget the adaptor.  Use can use a battery to test which connections are lights and work out which one is the brake and it should be pretty easy to rewire a new connector as long as you know how your truck is wired.  For me, it is worth the time to just do it right and not worry about it each time I hook it up to wonder if it is going to work.

Yeah I was thinking of doing that tonight. Those connectors are cheap enough. I didn't think about using a battery though to test each one. If the inside lights hadn't come on at one point I'd assume they were bad but it really has me thinking it could just be something in the adapter  or wiring at the plug.

[bud]

. Edited September 28, 2015 by bud

[maroonandwhite]

BJ's trailers is close to you, and they are long time in business experts. New wiring, bulbs as needed, brake adjustment, hubs greased, breakaway charging box, with labor I'm guessing $525.

That's who I'm taking it to! :up:

[bud]

. Edited September 28, 2015 by bud

[10-Ring]

Check your grounds, I've had more issues with grounds than anything else.

[bud]

. Edited September 28, 2015 by bud

[maroonandwhite]

What year, make and model of truck would help too.

Yeah I do have a brake controller installed. It's in a 2004 Silverado.

[maroonandwhite]

Well I ended up putting a 7 blade plug on it just to make sure everything was correct at the plug. I have a ground issue somewhere. With the trailer just sitting connected to the truck the lights are all on but the blinkers act funny. They both alternate blinking. Once I move though and get a solid ground to the truck everything works as it should including the brakes. I don't want to deal with all that crap though so I'll probably just the the shop go over it and fix it all up nice. Piece of mind is a good thing with a horse in the back.