Towing Package Questions
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Yes, with brakes applied. We even turned on the headlights because a buddy of mine found a glitch on his F-150 that required him to have his lights on before any of his trailer lights would work. We also shut the engine off and put it in reverse on level ground with the key turned to on to see if maybe the brake light was interfering somehow, but no voltage there either.
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Yes, they are surge brakes. I need the blue wire to be hot so it will release the brakes when I backup. Went to the dealership today and they have no idea what I'm talking about. They want to run a new wire from the plug directly to the reverse light. When I ask what was the blue wire there for if they were going to have to do that I basically got the deer in the headlights look. My manual says relay 301 is for the tow backup light. But nobody seems to know where 301 is. It's not in the panel inside the truck.
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Any suggestions, because I'm not finding the answers here? I've also talked to a trailer repair shop and an independant mechanic.
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I did find this information on a Crownline site, but I don't want to have to, "rig," anything to make it work right. I am convinced that I have to add a fuse and relay as well, just can't seem to find the one I need to add. Why would something as optional as a trailer charger fuse and relay be available in my panel, but not something more commonly used like the trailer reverse light?!?!
http://www.teamcrownline.com/forums/thread/47662.aspx
http://www.teamcrownline.com/forums/thread/47662.aspx
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1st post, yay me!
The blue wire is for electric brakes. You want to find a black w/pink wire for the backup lights.
If you only have the factory 4-pin on the truck, this wire may not exist, or is in the harness under the truck. If it's not there, you should be able to splice directly into one the the backup lights, though you might want to put it on a seperately fused relay to take some of the load off the stock wiring.
EDIT: If you do a search in this forum section for backup relay, there's a few threads that talk about it. One even said the wire is there even with the factory 4-pin, under the truck. It looks like you'll need a fuse (#14) that goes in the passenger compartment, and a relay (R301) under the hood. It's the same as the fuel pump relay I read.
It's 1AM here, or I'd go out and look at my '03.
The blue wire is for electric brakes. You want to find a black w/pink wire for the backup lights.
If you only have the factory 4-pin on the truck, this wire may not exist, or is in the harness under the truck. If it's not there, you should be able to splice directly into one the the backup lights, though you might want to put it on a seperately fused relay to take some of the load off the stock wiring.
EDIT: If you do a search in this forum section for backup relay, there's a few threads that talk about it. One even said the wire is there even with the factory 4-pin, under the truck. It looks like you'll need a fuse (#14) that goes in the passenger compartment, and a relay (R301) under the hood. It's the same as the fuel pump relay I read.
It's 1AM here, or I'd go out and look at my '03.
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1 - I know this sounds stupid, but are you sure your trailer has a working reversing solenoid? (or if there is even one installed?) I've had 5 surge brake trailers, and none of them came stock with the solenoid kit. Just checking 
2 - if you do have the solenoid, just tie it's activate lead to the reverse lights positive lead on the trailer instead of the vehicle side.
2 - if you do have the solenoid, just tie it's activate lead to the reverse lights positive lead on the trailer instead of the vehicle side.
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1 - I know this sounds stupid, but are you sure your trailer has a working reversing solenoid? (or if there is even one installed?) I've had 5 surge brake trailers, and none of them came stock with the solenoid kit. Just checking
2 - if you do have the solenoid, just tie it's activate lead to the reverse lights positive lead on the trailer instead of the vehicle side.
2 - if you do have the solenoid, just tie it's activate lead to the reverse lights positive lead on the trailer instead of the vehicle side.
1) Yes, I have the solenoid. I have also confirmed that it works by plugging the harness from the trailer upside down into the truck harness and turning on the headlights. This does release the brakes and it backs up without any problems.
2) I can splice easy enough, but I am of the opinon that if I went to the dealership and paid to install the HD tow package they wouldn't splice directly into the lights. I haven't spliced wires on a vehicle since my first car in 1990. Everything these days comes with some kind of adapter or something. Don't mean that to sound like an a$$. I'm sure there wouldn't be any problems with doing it that way. I just like the cleanliness of using some of kit.
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1st post, yay me!
The blue wire is for electric brakes. You want to find a black w/pink wire for the backup lights.
If you only have the factory 4-pin on the truck, this wire may not exist, or is in the harness under the truck. If it's not there, you should be able to splice directly into one the the backup lights, though you might want to put it on a seperately fused relay to take some of the load off the stock wiring.
EDIT: If you do a search in this forum section for backup relay, there's a few threads that talk about it. One even said the wire is there even with the factory 4-pin, under the truck. It looks like you'll need a fuse (#14) that goes in the passenger compartment, and a relay (R301) under the hood. It's the same as the fuel pump relay I read.
It's 1AM here, or I'd go out and look at my '03.
The blue wire is for electric brakes. You want to find a black w/pink wire for the backup lights.
If you only have the factory 4-pin on the truck, this wire may not exist, or is in the harness under the truck. If it's not there, you should be able to splice directly into one the the backup lights, though you might want to put it on a seperately fused relay to take some of the load off the stock wiring.
EDIT: If you do a search in this forum section for backup relay, there's a few threads that talk about it. One even said the wire is there even with the factory 4-pin, under the truck. It looks like you'll need a fuse (#14) that goes in the passenger compartment, and a relay (R301) under the hood. It's the same as the fuel pump relay I read.
It's 1AM here, or I'd go out and look at my '03.
Just looked up fuse 14 and it that looks like what I need. So I'll try the search on those key words and see if I can figure out where the relay should go. Thanks for the best answer I've found yet!
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