2017 F350 Trailer Tow Fuse

RonLaDuke · 10-11-2017, 01:38 AM

Question Here....I am trying to get 12V to the onboard batteries to keep them charged while on the road. Problem Here....The relay slot on the truck has no spades to make contact, and the fuse slot seems to have only 1-spade (2 needed to complete the circuit) Anyone had a similar issue??? Got me baffled and the Ford dealer just sent an inquire to Ford to see what they have to say about it. Thanks for any response!

spindrift · 10-12-2017, 07:27 PM

Sorry...I don't understand. Your trailer plug should be providing 12V to the RW.

Jim & Mary · 10-12-2017, 08:15 PM

It's possible your truck is not equipped with a tow package? As Tom said, if it is you should have a 4 pin trailer connector (flat) and a 7 pin connector (round). The 7 pin has a pin for house battery charging. If you don't have the tow package on your truck, maybe the fuse box is not equipped with a trailer charge line.

xtasee · 10-12-2017, 10:57 PM

Some vehicles actually just come with a pigtail that terminates near the fuse box and you need to connect it to get power to the trailer plug I am not sure why the manufactures do that but I can think of several vehicles that are in that category .

spindrift · 10-13-2017, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xtasee

Some vehicles actually just come with a pigtail that terminates near the fuse box and you need to connect it to get power to the trailer plug I am not sure why the manufactures do that but I can think of several vehicles that are in that category .

I've seen that for aux. switches but never for the trailer plug.

And to J&Ms point, if that kind of truck was sold without a trailer package, and the customer didn't know it, the salesperson should be drawn and quartered.

RonLaDuke · 10-13-2017, 10:06 PM

The fuse box has spots for what ford calls “Trailer tow battery charge” which is exactly what I need. The Ford response to my dealer is that there is no fuse for that spot and none intended!! The dealer says every Super Duty truck which is what mine is should be equipped with them. They are wanting me to bring the truck and trailer both to the dealership and they say they will have to do diagnostics to change stuff on the truck computer system to get it to do that....Very strange! I’m NOT going to do that. I am thinking, the truck has an onboard inverter that makes 110 power and if I could just figure how to run a power cord to the truck I could just get a battery charger to put on the batteries? What do you guys think?

Shane Wood · 10-13-2017, 11:25 PM

If it were me being a new truck I would take it to the dealer and tell them to fix it

RCAircraft · 10-14-2017, 12:06 AM

I agree Shane-returning the truck to the dealer to have a properly installed tow package would be best. Vehicle insurance companies also like that in case of an accident or fire.

spindrift · 10-14-2017, 12:07 AM

So...you're wanting to use 120v from the truck's inverter to charge the house batteries in your RW?
The plot thickens.

Jim & Mary · 10-14-2017, 01:29 AM

Well my on board inverter plugs on my 2015 F350 say 150 W, which translates to about 1.25 A AC, which is not nearly enough to run any 12 VDC battery charger I'm familiar with.

mhs4771 · 10-14-2017, 03:00 AM

I'm not even sure that would be enough to power a Battery Tender Junior.
I agree, make the Truck right, or at least have them run a fused line from the battery back to the 7 pin connector for +12 V power.

xtasee · 10-14-2017, 05:04 PM

Here is probably a stupid question. Have you checked to make sure the wiring in the Redwood is correct? I had a huge issue with the 12 V wiring from the factory being hooked up incorrectly and my brakes did not work right. I chased the problem with the truck for quite a while before I realized the people at Redwood installed it wrong from the get-go. I found my problem in the junction box at the pin box .

xtasee · 10-17-2017, 04:29 PM

Ron,

Did you ever get the issue figured out? It would be nice to know the outcome.

RonLaDuke · 10-17-2017, 05:08 PM

Still working on it....been gone for a few days and just now getting back. Will post the resolution when I get to the bottom of it!! Thanks....

RonLaDuke · 10-20-2017, 12:26 AM

Finally got to the bottom of the issue....dealer got response from ford. The 2017 super duties with a brake controller no longer need the fuses!! When a trailer is plugged in and the brake applied that activates a trailer module (trm) that sends power to operate the trailer charging. Who knew.... Evidently not the dealer!!!! Lol

Jim & Mary · 10-20-2017, 12:47 AM

I hope you're not saying the only time the charge is applied to the coach batteries is when you are stepping on the brake? Or just the first time you do.

RonLaDuke · 10-20-2017, 01:11 AM

No...just the first time to activate it I guess.

atom ant · 10-20-2017, 01:16 AM

That would make sense. I towed either the boat or Redwood behind my 2014 Ford, and it knew which one I had plugged in somehow.

xtasee · 10-20-2017, 01:24 AM

I will assume Ford is now like GM. GM sends a very small current down the trailer wiring and knows when a trailer is connected.

My 2017 GM is different than the 2010 GM we had before. The trailer wiring being wrong from Redwood did not surface until I bought the new truck. I spent several hours trying to run down the problem with the new truck before we discovered the problem was in the Redwood.....

I am not surprised that the Tech-support people at Ford had to let the dealer know of the change. They had to run into the issue before they were educated on the small change.

I am glad to know your truck is working fine.

Just curious what led you to think you were not charging the trailer?

RonLaDuke · 10-20-2017, 01:34 AM

I noticed the refrigerator was a not on when hooked to the truck, which ended up just being the outlet at the inverter was tripped somehow? reset that and that took care of that.

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