Ripped 7-wire pigtail out of RV

[JohnD]

Re: NEVER Buying Another Heartland

Admin note: Excerpted from reply to an unrelated thread.

The day we picked up our trailer, I said that I thought the pigtail wire was way too long and I was afraid that it would catch on something . . . and they said "Nah . . . better to have it too long than too short . . . shouldn't be a problem!"

Well, last night while backing the trailer into the yard, I heard a strange sound and saw sparks . . . turns out the pigtail got caught on the truck's trailer hitch receiver and when I straightened out the truck and trailer, it ripped the pigtail right out of the trailer!

Of course . . . no running lights . . . no brake lights or any trailer brakes!

Great end to a great week of camping, huh.

 

['Lil Guy']

Sounds like a great time to shorten that pigtail.

 

[JohnD]

Sounds like a great time to shorten that pigtail.

Well . . . it needs to be replaced as it was ripped from the trailer.

 

[Bones]

Well . . . it needs to be replaced as it was ripped from the trailer.

Since you have to replace it maybe you will consider upgrading the connection points for the pig tail. perhaps a 7 pole junction box. You can get them pretty cheap and they will help keep weather out.

 

[gwalter]

John I had mine catch on my boat hitch on the truck and tore it all loose. I found the wiring diagram in the owners manual and opened the junction box. I just removed the broken ends, shortened the cable a couple of inches, stripped the wires and screwed them back in. It was about a 15 minute job.


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[JohnD]

John I had mine catch on my boat hitch on the truck and tore it all loose. I found the wiring diagram in the owners manual and opened the junction box. I just removed the broken ends, shortened the cable a couple of inches, stripped the wires and screwed them back in. It was about a 15 minute job.


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I'm going to check into doing that, however I think it may have pulled some of the wires loose down at the plug end as well.

I also have to open up the junction box under the king pin and look at that as that is where the wires are snapped.

I'm hoping that I can fix this with the existing pieces before I have to drop it off up in Loveland on Thursday.



You can see it here . . . however, it actually loops down to the floor of the bed of the truck, which is why I thought it was too long to begin with.

I can see that I will have to come up with something to keep this from happening again!


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Since you have to replace it maybe you will consider upgrading the connection points for the pig tail. perhaps a 7 pole junction box. You can get them pretty cheap and they will help keep weather out.

That is an interesting idea!

I've also seen some trucks that have the 7-pin plug in the bed instead of using the one on the bumper.

I might look into something like this as well.

 

[jmgratz]

Mine is in the bed. I also have one near the bumper hitch but I never use that one. The one in the bed works just fine and if your cord is too short you would rip it out when turning.

 

[JohnD]

Mine is in the bed. I also have one near the bumper hitch but I never use that one. The one in the bed works just fine and if your cord is too short you would rip it out when turning.

And as I found out . . . if it is too long it will get ripped out as well!

The problem with mine was that it hung down to the floor of the bed then draped over the tailgate to plug in to the rear bumper.

I need to come up with some sort of guide that keeps the pigtail from drooping low enough to catch on the hitch, or even slide over the corner of the bed of the truck during a tight turn, yet leave it long enough to reach the plug.



Of course, perhaps I should just unplug the pigtail when making tight turns!

 

[jmgratz]

Guess if you have a bumper pull your wire connection should be on the bumper. The 5er should be in the bed. Regardless of which one you have you should be sure it will not 'catch' on anything. I once pulled our pigtail out after I unhitched and it got caught on our bumper trailer hitch. Since then I have the DW hold the wire when I pull off and I have never pulled it out again.

 

[cookie]

John, you need to check into installing one of these. TOW HARNESS
Or use some ZIP ties to shorten your umbilical cord.

Peace
Dave

 

[JohnD]

John, you need to check into installing one of these. TOW HARNESS
Or use some ZIP ties to shorten your umbilical cord.

Peace
Dave

That is a cool idea, although that particular plug is for older model trucks . . . only showed up to 2007.

I'll research this idea as I think the inbox plug is the answer!

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Hey Gregg & Jim . . .

Did you have any fuses or breakers blow when this happened to you?

 

[JohnDar]

Re: NEVER Buying Another Heartland

Actually, I installed one of those in the bed of my 2009 truck. Pretty easy to do once you get past the pucker factor of having to drill a big hole in the side of the bed.

 

[TravelTiger]

Our new to us truck had a turnover ball hitch, but no plug in the bed, which I thought was odd. We had our mechanic friend remove the in bed plug and wiring harness from our old truck and move it to the new truck. Had to drill a hole in the bed, but it was an easy install. The connections just snap together, no rewiring needed.


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[Bob&Patty]

John, most RV stores have the in bed plug kits. They are plug and play using the OEM harness at the bumper. You then will have the bumper and in bed plugs that still work. As John said, drilling a hole on the side of the bed only hurt for a little while.

 

[JohnD]

Hey Gregg & Jim . . .

Did you have any fuses or breakers blow when this happened to you?

I was looking at the wiring last night and it looks like I should be able to just cut the remaining wires that are connected (not all of the broke), shorten the pigtail maybe a foot or so, and then wire nut the wires back together.

Any tips on how to test the pigtail to see if it is OK to reuse?

 

[MTPockets]

I'm surprised your plug isn't in the bed. This is my second truck pulling 5vr and both were in the bed, current truck came from factory installed in bed on driver side about 18" from tail light.

 

[JohnD]

Do you have photos of the bed installation?

As for the hole, does it go all the way through to the outside of the fender?

 

[Bones]

I'm going to check into doing that, however I think it may have pulled some of the wires loose down at the plug end as well.

I also have to open up the junction box under the king pin and look at that as that is where the wires are snapped.

I'm hoping that I can fix this with the existing pieces before I have to drop it off up in Loveland on Thursday.

View attachment 39687

You can see it here . . . however, it actually loops down to the floor of the bed of the truck, which is why I thought it was too long to begin with.

I can see that I will have to come up with something to keep this from happening again!


- - - Updated - - -



That is an interesting idea!

I've also seen some trucks that have the 7-pin plug in the bed instead of using the one on the bumper.

I might look into something like this as well.

Here is a picture of the junction box for the pig tail. I installed one for my camper. I agree with everyone else to have a bed plug installed and you will be able to shorten your pigtail up.

 

[jmgratz]

Never had a fuse blow.

 

[JohnD]

As it turns out, only two wires actually broke . . . the black and the green wires!

The junction box under the king pin is also bent a little bit.

Here are some photos I just took a few minutes ago: