trailer brakes locking during backup

[boatman37]

So bought a new 2018 2500 Ram a couple weeks ago and towed the boat for the first time today. Everything was fine until I tried to back up my driveway. Brakes were locking up on me. I have the 5 pin to 7 pin adapter and it worked fine on my old truck. etrailer.com says the center pin should be hot when the reverse lights are on to override the trailer brakes? My center pin has no power at any time (not even when the truck is in reverse).

Anyone ever run into this?

 

[JimS123]

No. When I check my pins, they are always hot. You have a loose wire. Get the dealer to fix it under warranty.

 

[alldodge]

I have the 5 pin to 7 pin adapter ​

The 5 pin connector has no back up connection



What kind of brakes are on the trailer?

 

[boatman37]

The 5 pin is the same as the 4 pin but the 5th pin is for the surge brake override when reversing. It worked fine with my 2013 Ram. etrailer (it was starred out in my earlier post...lol) says the center pin on the 7 prong plug should be hot to activate the override solenoid on the trailer. Actually any hot wire connected to the solenoid will lock it out but the brakes need to work under normal driving...lol. Trailer is a 2016 Venture tandem axle if it matters

 

[boatman37]

ugh....lol. e trailer.

it has disk brakes on the trailer but no idea what brand.

 

[dingbat]

Trailer wiring is not standardized. Adapter wiring is all over the place.....

We have 3 trailers. All three where wired differently. Had three different adapters at one point.

Got tired of the games. Reworked all 3 trailers with 7 pin connectors and never looked back.

 

[alldodge]

Have disk (I installed) on runabout and installed a lighted switch on my 00 and 08 Rams so I can energize the backing solenoid before I stop

 

[Starcraft5834]

"adapters" work.. sometimes....... they offer greater likelihood that the contacts, arent "contacting"... a hassle.. if your trailer wants a 5 way.. buy a 5 way flat and wire it up to your truck.. iboats. or ******** has em if your trailer wants a 7 way, buy a 7 way and wire that to your truck... got a new boat and trailer, tandom with surge breaks requiring reverse lock out......new Shorelandr trailer wants a 7 way, my truck had a 5 flat. I bought a 7 way, cut off the 5 way, striped and wire up the 7 way...its pretty hard to screw it up, as the wires are color coded, the 7 way from Hopkins i think offers directions on what color goes where.. it works fine...

 

[dingbat]

its pretty hard to screw it up, as the wires are color coded, the 7 way from Hopkins i think offers directions on what color goes where.. it works fine...

Don't count on color codes. SAE (automotive) and RV standards differ by wire color

Bought a new truck and had to lengthen the pig tail on the trailer. The Hopkins pig tail I used came with the following directions and chart

Column 1 = molded connector
Column 2 = Function
Column 3 = Usual trailer wire

http://www.hopkinstowingsolutions.co...ring-codes.pdf

White Wire	Ground	White Wire
Red Wire	Left Turn and Brake	Yellow Wire
Brown Wire	Right Turn and Brake	Green Wire
Green Wire	Tail Lights	Brown Wire
Blue Wire	Brake Power	Blue Wire
Black Wire	12 volt (hot lead)	Black Wire
Yellow Wire	Aux.	-

 

[Starcraft5834]

Don't count on color codes. SAE (automotive) and RV standards differ by wire color

Bought a new truck and had to lengthen the pig tail on the trailer. The Hopkins pig tail I used came with the following directions and chart

Column 1 = molded connector
Column 2 = Function
Column 3 = Usual trailer wire

http://www.hopkinstowingsolutions.co...ring-codes.pdf

White Wire	Ground	White Wire
Red Wire	Left Turn and Brake	Yellow Wire
Brown Wire	Right Turn and Brake	Green Wire
Green Wire	Tail Lights	Brown Wire
Blue Wire	Brake Power	Blue Wire
Black Wire	12 volt (hot lead)	Black Wire
Yellow Wire	Aux.	-

it worked fine

 

[boatman37]

The coupler is a Titan model 10 but i'm pretty sure i had a blown fuse. i swapped fuses and now have power to the center pin (the one e trailer says it should be) and the center pin is the one for the reverse lights. still need to hook it to the trailer to verify
don't see anywhere to manually lock it out? the hole in the front top is too far forward to do anything. could probably make a steel plate with a hole in it and stick a bolt through it into that hole?
any other ideas?

the fuse should fixit but would like an option to manually lock it in the future

 

[dingbat]

The coupler is a Titan model 10 but i'm pretty sure i had a blown fuse. i swapped fuses and now have power to the center pin (the one e trailer says it should be) and the center pin is the one for the reverse lights. still need to hook it to the trailer to verify don't see anywhere to manually lock it out? the hole in the front top is too far forward to do anything. could probably make a steel plate with a hole in it and stick a bolt through it into that hole?
any other ideas?

The manual warns of using anything to restrict the movement of the actuator more than once. Doubt they'll provide a method to do so

My coupler has a hole drilled thru the inner slide assembly right in front of the housing case. The pin that locks the coupler to the ball is used to lockout as well.

 

[boatman37]

So had a blown fuse in my truck for the trailer reverse light circuit so replaced the fuse and had power to the center post on the truck 7 pin like i should. connected the 7 to 5 pin adapter and still had power to the #5 terminal on the 5 pin flat plug. connected it to the trailer and put the truck in reverse and nothing. so the fuse either popped as soon as i connected it or when i put it in reverse. can't find these fuses anywhere. even tried the dealer. its a bussman FMM 20 amp. and there is no way that i can see to lock out the coupler. its boxed in so can't even see how i could jam anything in there to stop it from moving? so for now the boat and trailer is stuck in my driveway unable to move it....ugh. any other ideas? guessing the problem is with the trailer? one thing of note, a moron pulled out in front of my Wednesday while i was towing the boat and i slammed on the brakes. not sure if maybe i jammed something? and all my lights are working on the trailer

 

[oldjeep]

If your 2018 has parksense sensors like mine then you need to flip the rear parksense to off for the reverse signal to come on and lock out the brakes. No idea why they wired it that way.

 

[dingbat]

can't find these fuses anywhere. even tried the dealer. its a bussman FMM 20 amp.

https://www.amazon.com/Bussmann-FMM-20-MAXI-Micro-Female/dp/B00T36SGOO

 

[alldodge]

Blowing a 20 amp fuse might mean the solenoid is shorted or the wire feeding it is making contact with ground. Use an ohm meter and check resistance to ground on pin 5

 

[boatman37]

might have found something. got lucky at the local Chevy dealer and they had an old fusebox from a Jeep that had to be replaced and the fuses were still in it so got fuses. came home and looked at the trailer and noticed a blue wire running into the front of the coupler that was actually pinched in the bolt that holds the safety chains on. it has big washers on it and the blue wire was between the coupler and washer and smashed flat. loosened the bolt and got the wire out and it broke in half. looked like it was probably grounded out. there was also a white wire inside the coupler tube that wasn't connected to anything. it is not grounded. i tested it for continuity to the trailer frame and no continuity. but there is a ring connector bolted to the frame with no wire. it had one at one point cause you can see the wires sticking out the other end. my guess is that white wire was grounded there and with the blue wire being broke and grounded that would be my problem?

on another note, this is a 2016 venture trailer that had not been on the road until i bought the boat last august. seems like lackluster quality control from what i just saw.

any ideas what the white and blue wires go to or run?

 

[alldodge]

Post 3 and 9
White is ground, and Blue is the brake controller (electric brakes)

The terminal lug with no wire use to be where the white was
My guess is the blue wire is connected to the backing solenoid instead of a controller pin

 

[boatman37]

thats what it looks like. can't see where the wires go but they go into the coupler from the truck end and towards the trailer master cylinder but can't see that far back. the tube is boxed so can't look from underneath either. both the white and blue wires run into there. the tube it runs into is the actual trailer tubing. the coupler sits on top of this

i referenced your post earlier and figured it was what i thought but wanted another opinion since wiring isn't my forte...lol.

so hopefully i have a weather window in the morning to get these wires fixed and see if that was the issue but pretty sure this was it.

 

[boatman37]

Fixed the wires today and so far so good. Seems to be working as intended. But after backing up then getting out with the truck in park I can hear the solenoid clicking several times (maybe 10-15) then it stops. Is this normal? Everything else seems to be good now.

Thanks for the help!