OK gang, I need your help.
I just bought a new 2000 F350 Cab & Chassis truck fitted with a Royal Sport bed (and yes, I love it). The truck included the Trailer Towing Package, but no hitch. The hitch is on special order (the Cab & Chassis truck has closer frame rails than a production F350), and in the mean time I've drilled a 2" hole in the rear bumper and mounted my 7 pin connector (looks real clean). I've managed to find all the wires under the bumper and connected them.

In the process I managed to short out my left turn indicator at the trailer harness. I was pleased to find out that Ford has seperate fuses under the hood for the trailer circuits.

So now the question... Where does the "Trailer Tow Battery Charge" circuit pick up it's power? The wire at the rear of the truck is not hot. I have installed a 30amp fuse in slot 16 under the hood, but still have no power to the rear.

I saw another small electrical box adjacent to the under hood fuse box that appears to house some sort of relays (it is currently empty). Is this what I'm missing?

I noticed in a search of some previous posts that there was a "Trailer Tow Kit" that should have come in my glove compartment. I received no such kit, and have been supplying my own fuses for the box. Did my dealer leave something out? A wiring diagram or some instructions to complete the trailer wiring would have been great.

I've mounted my Brake controller (Tekonsha, Sentinel) under the dash and have yet to hook it up, but it looks pretty straight forward.

Any help on the "Trailer Tow Battery Charge" circuit would be great.

Thanx for the help.

Jim Martin

 

You're missing the trailer wiring kit. It contains a harness to connect your brake controller and 2 relays for the small relay box next to to fuse box under the hood.

The harness will plug into a connector under the dash and provides wires to connect your brake controller.l

One of the relays will enable the "battery charge" wire (pin #5 on your 7 pin connector). It should be an orange wire on the connector at the rear. I think the other relay enables pin number 7 on your 7 pin connector for backup lights (if equiped) on your trailer(s).

Maybe Ford owes you the trailer wiring kit???

Larry.

 

Larry,
Thanx so much. After posting my message I did some surfing and found a site that even had the wiring diagram.

I have everything hooked up at the trailer end. I've just got to install the relay for the charging circuit. I Couldn't understand why installing the fuse wasn't enough, but now I understand the value of the relay. If my truck is plugged into the trailer and I run the trailer batteries down, I can still start my truck. (No power to the trailer unless the truck is running).

You're absolutly right about the dealer owing me the "Trailer Wiring Kit". I discovered this as I tried to hook up my brake controller this afternoon. I can see the female end of the connection point under the dash, and I'd rather not do a splice job. I guess I'll go see my dealer on Monday.

I'm not too suprised though they forgot to give me the spare tire as well (it was a line item on my window sticker). The good news is that the tire was missing because I got the 40 Gallon Fuel Tank.

Thanx again.

Jim

 

Dont supose you could give me that website with the wiring diagram.

 

Yeah sure... The site is:
http://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/topics/incomp.html

and the diagram is at:
http://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/non-html/2001/281.pdf

it's a pdf file so you'll need acrobat reader.

Jim

 

OK, got my "Trailer Wiring Kit" today from the dealer and all is well. Installed my Brake Controller in 10 Minutes! It's nice when you have the proper parts/instructions.

By the way if anyone needs the diagrams or other information from the kit, I'd be glad to scan and post it.

Thanx to all.

Jim Martin

 

 

That would be great if you could scan it in

 

Am I reading this right? The switch must be on for the hot wire to be "hot" at the back of my truck [99 super duty]??????
Then to have an "always hot wire" I must run a wire directly from the battery??
Thanks for any help!!!!

 

Gene -

The ignition switch must be on for the trailer breakaway battery to receive a charge. Why would you want it "hot" all the time?

Steve

 

I want to hook up a couple of interior lights in the topper on my truck. I want these to be usable without the switch on. It looks like I will need to run a hot wire from the battery back to the back of the truck to run these lights off of. I will fuse this wire also.

 

Gene -

If you do that, you might want to install a device that cuts off the battery when it gets to a certain level, so you can still start your truck. They were originally designed for boats.....might save you from a "no-crank" someday because of a low battery.

Steve