Electrical/gauge Issues W (1) Of Three Tow Vehicles When Towing My 2014 550

Jerry Kemp

Jerry Kemp

Junior Ranger
Electrical/gauge issues w (1) of three tow vehicles

I'm focusing this on Cary, but happy to have any thoughts or comments from anyone.

Disclaimer - when towing, I always make every attempt to be as safe as possible, and always check brake lights, turn signals, etc to confirm they are functioning correctly. Hoping to head off any tangents with this disclaimer.

And now to get to the punchline and quit beating around the bush.

I have a 2014 550 Special, that I tow with (3) different tow vehicles.

* 1970 IH Scout 800 (primary tow vehicle)
* (Wife's) 2004 Jeep Wrangler
* 1993 Dodge RAM D350

All (3) vehicles are wired for the standard 7 pin towing connector. As commented above in my disclaimer, when my 550 is connected, we always verify that running lights, brake lights, turn signals work correctly.

Anyway, absolutely no issues electrically towing with the Scout or the Wrangler. The Dodge D350 is another story. Although all the lights work properly/as expected, when my 550 is attached to the Dodge, the dash/dash gauges act erratically. Additional detail, this issue occurs both when the 550 trailer battery switch is set both to on and off.

During my last trip with my Dodge towing my 550, I experienced a master cylinder issue (reference thread below), and took the Dodge tow vehicle into the shop upon my return home.

6 State Trip/site Availability/strange On-lookers

In addition to addressing the brake problems, I shared with the shop the electrical/gauge issue I experienced. With (3) vehicles, where (2) work correctly, and only one has an issue, common sense points a finger at the Dodge/trailer wiring. Both myself and the shop predicted maybe a bad ground issue or similar.

Anyway, the shop reviewed my trailer wiring in the Dodge, and found is set up correctly with no issues. They are now wanting to look at the electrical systems on the trailer. I'm fine with this, they are also going to look at my wheel bearings.

hopefully everything will be easy and straight forward, but if there are issues or questions, I'm going to point them to Cary/Camp Inn's phone number.

It will probably be a couple of weeks before I can take my 550 in for review, and any comments, tests or suggestions from anyone are appreciated. Thanks for looking.
 
I always think 'ground' first.
Next make sure the ground and 12v 'hot' wires to the 7 pin receptacle are 12 gauge (heavy).
Once that is done (free, pretty much), start looking for other things.
 
Couple of points to look at.

First off the camper's battery is in no way tied into the running light circuit so battery switch on or off is not relevant.

Lights erratic on the Dodge's dash when camper's running lights are on. That should not be related to the ground wire, that would cause the trailer's running lights and turn signals to be erratic. If you are getting erratic lights in the tow vehicle then it is a current draw issue. The trailer is pulling more load than the circuit that the trailer lighting is tied to in the tow vehicle is meant to handle. I would really doubt that a Dodge D350 would have a inadequate factory installed running light circuit given that it is intended to tow much larger trailers with far more running lights. Either way I suspect this is going to be a wiring issue in the truck, probably a bad connection somewhere creating a high current connection.

Cary
 
Cary Winch said:
Couple of points to look at.

First off the camper's battery is in no way tied into the running light circuit so battery switch on or off is not relevant.

Lights erratic on the Dodge's dash when camper's running lights are on. That should not be related to the ground wire, that would cause the trailer's running lights and turn signals to be erratic. If you are getting erratic lights in the tow vehicle then it is a current draw issue. The trailer is pulling more load than the circuit that the trailer lighting is tied to in the tow vehicle is meant to handle. I would really doubt that a Dodge D350 would have a inadequate factory installed running light circuit given that it is intended to tow much larger trailers with far more running lights. Either way I suspect this is going to be a wiring issue in the truck, probably a bad connection somewhere creating a high current connection.

Cary
Click to expand...


Hello Cary and thank you for the reply.

Sorry if my initial post was confusing. I'm seeing erratic behavior from the dash gauges in the Dodge D350, regardless of whether the lights are turned on or off.

Sorry for the poor verbiage in my initial post.
 
Last edited:
Lipster said:
I always think 'ground' first.
Next make sure the ground and 12v 'hot' wires to the 7 pin receptacle are 12 gauge (heavy).
Once that is done (free, pretty much), start looking for other things.
Click to expand...


Great minds thinking alike. Even for a very basic electrical systems like my Dodge, where most engine systems are mechanical, I'm immediately focused in on grounds.

Bad ground issues can just cause all kinds of bad and weird problems.
 
Wonder what south main auto would say :).

groun immediately came to mind for me. I’ve seen lots of strange bahavior as working as a lot rat at a trailer shop.that was of course long before computer controlled lighting.
 
Sweeney said:
Wonder what south main auto would say :).

groun immediately came to mind for me. I’ve seen lots of strange bahavior as working as a lot rat at a trailer shop.that was of course long before computer controlled lighting.
Click to expand...


Thank you for the post/comment, but I'm not sure what the "south main auto" reference is. I'm relatively new here, is there a thread I need to read to get/understand the comment ?
 
Jerry Kemp said:
Thank you for the post/comment, but I'm not sure what the "south main auto" reference is. I'm relatively new here, is there a thread I need to read to get/understand the comment ?
Click to expand...

Sorry -- South Main is a you tube channel -- he has shockingly little to do with camping :) But, fixes all kinds of vehicles. Definitely worth watching --- he goes through the diagnostic process and fixes for all kinds of problems. He seems to be good at diagnosing electrical issues...
 
Sweeney said:
Sorry -- South Main is a you tube channel -- he has shockingly little to do with camping :) But, fixes all kinds of vehicles. Definitely worth watching --- he goes through the diagnostic process and fixes for all kinds of problems. He seems to be good at diagnosing electrical issues...
Click to expand...

thanks for the reply, I would have never got that.
 
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