Trailer connector
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Forum Name: Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
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URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=13142
Printed Date: 16 Jul 2025 at 7:25pm
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Topic: Trailer connector
Posted By: AlaskaAviator
Subject: Trailer connector
Date Posted: 28 Aug 2019 at 5:30pm
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I've been having some issues with my pickup break controller and read that the molded plug on the trailer could be the problem. I doubted it though because all the lights work properly but thought WTH I'll change it out. I cut the molded plug off flush so none of the wires were visible. Wired the new plug up with the correct colors to the correct terminals and when I went to check the lights the left turn did not work at the trailer. Tried the right and the tail and marker lights flashed. Come to find out they had the wrong colors going to the lights. The brake and ground and aux were correct. Anyway my brakes still don't work and now the trailer cord is a couple inches shorter. |
Replies:
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 28 Aug 2019 at 5:48pm
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With mine the trailer is wired to the RV Standard. Not sure how your TV is wired but best to verify. Once the wiring is confirmed, then you can determine what is missing. Not enough info in your post to determine the fault. The TV has to be wired correctly as does the trailer, however, to date I have not seen a Pod wired incorrectly. Someone else may have different opinion. You can use a small jumper to troubleshoot the trailer without a TV. The trailer has a 12V connection that allows you to jump 12Vs to various connections, to include the brakes. You can isolate the trailer that way. You can make lights light and brakes energize. I carry a 4" spade jumper that allows me to move 12Vs around the trailer connecter to verify circuits. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 28 Aug 2019 at 5:56pm
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Are you sure the wiring is correct on your truck? Does the truck have a 7-pin connector? Was it factory wired or did you or someone else wire it? And what about the brake controller? Is it wired correctly and do you know it's working? Too many variables and not enough info. Maybe the first thing to do is Google an image of a Bargman connector and check each pin with a volt meter. Then let us know what kind of truck you have and what kind of RPod. TT ------------- 2010 176 FJ Cruiser |
Posted By: AlaskaAviator
Date Posted: 28 Aug 2019 at 5:57pm
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The truck is factory wired. Its right. Brown is tail, green is right and yellow is left. Thats not the way the trailer was wired. I have other TV and they all work fine also. Its not rocket science. |
Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 28 Aug 2019 at 6:01pm
------------- bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
Posted By: AlaskaAviator
Date Posted: 28 Aug 2019 at 7:33pm
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2018 Silverado. I think I have my problem figured out. Im thinking its the controller circuit board. I'll know in a few days when I get the replacement.The brakes worked for awhile at first but now I keep getting a check trailer wiring message. The wiring is good. My other TV works fine. Anyway I just thought it was kinda crazy they had the wires wrong in a molded plug. |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 28 Aug 2019 at 8:06pm
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I just went through a similar scenario with my '11 F-150. No brakes, first replaced the wiring harness and bargman plug, lots of corrosion. Still no brakes. Dealer said it was the pod's brakes that were problematic. Went to the pod dealer, brakes were a bit on the loose side and were adjusted, got it to my campsite and tried the TBC (factory install) manually, brakes worked fine, then tried the foot brake and got nothing. So back to the Ford garage, come to find out the TBC was defunct and had to be replaced, only took a matter of three weeks to get this ironed out. Probably could have come to a conclusion earlier if I had only used my previous vehicle that I have been towing my 177 with, a 2013 Explorer. Just before taking the truck in for the final time I hooked up to the Explorer, brakes worked with both the manual slide on the controller as well as the foot brake. Live and learn.
------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2019 at 7:15am
They didn't have the "wires wrong".. they failed to follow the non binding standard of what color wire "should be", not "must be" attached to which connector. As long as "wire A" is going to and from the right connection circuit, they are good. The brown wire doesn't know what it's hooked to on either end. ------------- |
Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2019 at 7:36am
It worries me that we're not hearing anything about how you arrived at your diagnoses. You thought it was the plug so you cut it off and replaced it. You think it's the controller so you're getting a replacement. Seems like the difficult and expensive way to figure this out. TT ------------- 2010 176 FJ Cruiser |
Posted By: AlaskaAviator
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2019 at 8:52am
| If I can avoid taking the truck to a dealer for repairs a hundred bucks in a couple parts is money well spent. If the controller board doesn't fix it than I may have to.And ya the wires don't care what color they are but why not use the standard so the next person working on it dosen't have to decipher the way its wired. |
Posted By: podwerkz
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2019 at 9:26am
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The 7-way RV plug (flat pins) had a couple of conflicting standards over the last few decades. Its easy to assume the way it is now is the way it has always been, but that's not the case. There is what is called the 'traditional standard' and there is the more recent 'SAE J2863' standard. Then there is the round pin 7-way plug that has it's own standard, different from the other two. And you have not mentioned what kind, brand, or age of trailer you are working on. Could be that you have a mix of cargo trailers and a camper trailer. (sure, we can make assumptions but those assumptions often turn out to be wrong) Whatever type and age of trailer you are working on might be decades old, or it might have a pigtail that is wired for the older standard...maybe a previous owner re-wired it for the other 'standard'. So it turns out that it IS rocket science...sort of. You have to be smarter than the plug you are working on.  Here is more info: https://www.etrailer.com/question-153136.html - https://www.etrailer.com/question-153136.html ------------- r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten! |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2019 at 4:40pm
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You'll notice wire position in the connector is what is standard, not wire color. RVs I have seen are wired to RV Standard, by position. You could have 7 any color wires. Not rocket science. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: AlaskaAviator
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2019 at 10:09pm
| 2019 R-Pod 195. |