Trailer wiring questions.

[Pikeman]

I am looking at rewiring my M101 A2 that I recently acquired. I am looking at junction boxes and wiring leads. The plans are to have a battery or two on the trailer to run future accesories, LED lights(inside and cook area). Then of course the standard tail/stop/turn and marker lights along with trailer brakes. I am going to put a 7 pin RV plug on trailer and and vehicle.

My questions are as Follows

1. Junction box- 7 terminal or 10 terminal?
2. Will need 10ga 2 wire for brakes from junction box but what do I need to get to tail lights marker lights? 4wire bonded?

Any help would be appreciated as I am hoping to order parts next day or so so I can be wiring this weekend. Need to get lights working for inspection and registration of the trailer.

 

[johnsoax]

I've always found this link helpful.

http://www.etrailer.com/faq-wiring.aspx

 

[Pikeman]

Thank you for the link to the FAQ. That covers that basic information, however I am planning some additional lighting and a battery. I already knew I needed to run a 7 pin plug. The main question is on the terminal block, since I want to run the additional items if the larger block is required or if the 7 terminal block will still meet my needs. here is a link to the two blocks I am thinking about using.

http://www.etrailer.com/comparison.aspx?pc=38656&pc2=PK52248

 

[dwh]

Those two you linked to are just junction boxes - not fuse boxes.

If you are running a 7-pin connector, then a junction box with a 7 position terminal strip will be enough.

You bring the wires from the 7-pin connector to the terminal block and land them on the terminals.

Then you bring a lead from the trailer battery's positive and land it on the same terminal where you landed the battery positive coming from the 7-pin. You could also tap off a third wire from that same terminal to feed positive out to the trailer's fuse block. Though it would be best to feed the fuse block directly from the battery, you could do it from the terminal strip if the battery-terminal strip wire is sufficient size.

The aux load (accessories and worklights, etc.) positives connect to the fuse block.

The trailer lights (running, brake, left/right turn, backup) go straight to the junction box terminal strip instead of to the fuse block.

 

[Titanpat57]

You need to keep the two systems seperate. 7-pin runs from the vehicle system. Run a seperate box to the battery(s), say like a 6 circut Blue Sea, and run all the accessories and switching from that.

 

[Pikeman]

Thank you for the replies. Right now I am looking at the basic rewire for lights and brakes. The battery/ies and fuse block for the accessories will come later on in the build. Based on the replies so far it looks like the 7 terminal will be fine for trailer lights/ brakes and then later on add a fuse or circuit panel for the auxiliary features.

 

[Mark Harley]

Plugs and wiring on my M101A2

I ran an 8 foot sealed plug 7 pole connector to a junction box on the frame rail of the trailer.
I don't have electric brakes as of now, but I used a 7 pole to have the option to add brakes if I wanted and
to charge a battery from the truck later.

I used a sealed steel electrical box and connected the wires there.
I wired the tail lights and turn signals and for now the battery and brake wires are
capped off.

It is much cleaner and heavy duty with this plug set up.
and it is plug and play easy.

 

[Pikeman]

So I went ahead and placed my order last night and these are the items I purchased. I know I will need more wire to finish it but I do want to make sure it is high quality and in for the long haul. I went ahead and ordered the mini LED side marker lights just to be on the safe side. I know since my trailer was not originally equiped with them I should be ok for inspection but then again I do live in California. Besides being visible is a good thing.

Next on the list is my Brake controller and wiring up the vehicle. The vehicle plug I purchased is a 7 pin(blade) 5,4 flat. This should allow me to pull just about any trailer out there once I get it all wired.