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Wiring Trouble & Break Away Battery ?

7K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  Sereno 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,

I just bought a 2003 CM 2 horse slant trailer. It was advertised as super nice needs nothing but of course that's not accurate. Long story, but here's my trouble. I replaced the tires so we're good...it has good floor. The wiring though has had some trouble. My husband has been working on it & has replaced the adapter plug and now has all the lights working except the running lights. He's going to do a little more trouble shooting after some of the snow melts but its been very wacky such as things working one minute and not another...again long story. In short...I'm in search of a wiring diagram as he said the remainder of the wiring isn't visible for him to inspect and the previous owners had done quite a hack job so not sure what's going on. The tack room has a diagram for the pin but that's it. Anyone know where I can find one?

Also...one of the features I liked is the breakaway battery but I have no idea how to use it. My husband is also concerned that this breakaway battery could be affecting the wiring.

Any insight is much appreciated!!!
 
#3 ·
The break away brakes are your emergency brakes if your trailer becomes unhooked from the the tow vehicle. The pin pops out and the brakes engage. You have separate battery on the trailer that controls this. Trailer wiring is a nightmare, so my hubby tells me, he takes any wiring problems to the RV place, he says it's not worth the headache.
 
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#4 ·
Wiring problems are usually do to poor ground connections. I think trailers should have wiring similar to house wire, not that dinky little stuff that corrodes and cracks and lets us down. I applied some wiring goo to the end of the wires in the lamps. It keeps moisture off the connections.
 
#6 ·
Thanks so much everyone...I will have my hubby double check the ground.

Regarding the break away & battery...is there a way to tell if its working properly? Also, there's a clip that I'm not sure where it should properly attach to...does yours have this as well & if so where should it go? Thanks again!
 
#7 ·
Thanks so much everyone...I will have my hubby double check the ground.

Regarding the break away & battery...is there a way to tell if its working properly? Also, there's a clip that I'm not sure where it should properly attach to...does yours have this as well & if so where should it go? Thanks again!
You clip the break away cable to your tow vehicle, that way the brakes only get applied if your trailer detaches from your tow rig. You can test if it's working by attaching to the trailer, pulling the pin then trying to move the trailer.
 
#8 ·
also check truck fuses, you might have blown the trailer running light fuse while trying to fix another issue with the trailer

also if you have a newer chevy/gm your auxilary power might need to be connected (up under the hood, guy at the local trailer place hooked mine up in 2 min, everything was there they just don't do it from factory) and that will control the tack room lights
 
#9 ·
also check truck fuses, you might have blown the trailer running light fuse while trying to fix another issue with the trailer

also if you have a newer chevy/gm your auxilary power might need to be connected (up under the hood, guy at the local trailer place hooked mine up in 2 min, everything was there they just don't do it from factory) and that will control the tack room lights
My hubby checked the fuse and we were hoping that was the answer after everything else. It did need a new fuse and we replaced it but unfortunately still no running lights...the ones on the side have never worked.

We actually have a 2003 For Expedition...the tack room light was working but the one in the trailer wasn't...bought a new bulb though as the other looks bad.
 
#11 ·
Wiring Trouble--Help Please!!

The trailer running lights fuse in the truck keeps blowing...all the lights work now except those which have never worked...they redid the ground and that didn't work. Since it keeps blowing the fuse they think its the wire for the running lights that is short circuiting somewhere. Any other suggestions or experience with this? He tried rerunning the wire in all the visible places but to no avail...the rest of the wiring is behind the frame so it will have to be rewired if we can't come up with anything else and will be a pain. Thoughts???
 
#12 ·
When you say he "checked the ground," where is the ground? I have a ground at every light. I hate, just HATE messing around with grounds.

Easier in the long run just to re-wire it. If you just fix-it-up without knowing what actually caused the problem you will be right back here again 15 - 30 days from now. Or maybe 45... or whenever. When wiring is messed, a re-do is the best fix.

Tip: when rewiring, use all stainless screws and washers for your lights and grounds, leave extra wire behind the lights (about 6 - 8"), just loop it tightly and tighten with a plastic tie.
 
#13 ·
Thanks for the response! I know him & his Dad checked the ground wires more than once, I assume all of them as they have a fair amount of experience with wiring. The horse trailer part is new to my hubby though. They ended up going ahead and rewiring and he sent me a picture of it all lit up in the dark...such a beautiful sight!!! I'm not sure how many hours he's put into it but considering the sellers advertisement its way too many! I will pass the tip along to him too, thanks again!
 
#15 · (Edited)
Bought a used trailer and re-wired the whole thing including the electrical junction box. Hacked wires, different colors twisted together with no tape. When the trailer was moving you could hear the buzzing and popping inside and endless changing of fuses while we worked on this.

Emergency brakes.



Very simple to install. The small black box (located to the right) has a pull out pin attached to a wire that attaches to the car. IF the trailer unhooks from the car, the pull out pin gets yanked out and the trailer brakes lock up. To test: Pull the pin and try driving. The trailer brakes should be locked so it should not move. The box is wired to a small battery inside my manager and wired into the electrical junction box and another wire goes to the trailer brake wire. Most come with directions and easy to do. (IF your wiring is correct that is.)



The battery and junction box are to the right. I installed a padded 2X6 to protect them and secure some smaller items.
Good luck.
 
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