12 volt electrical cord for tail lights

FishB8s wrote:
How did this turn out? I may be doing the same since I have a Lance plug already installed in my truck, but my new TC uses the round seven pin. So I may be wiring one end of the pigtail w/ a lance plug (male connector) and the other w/ a male 7 pin.

I already have a 7 pin pigtail so I will need to get a male lance plug. Or if they don't sell just the plug I will need the lance pigtail and then add the plug. Any leads on the best price is appreciated.

Also, did the above work for OP? Thanks.

It worked fine for my purposes...I had concluded all I wanted my camper plug to do was supply power for my camper lights. And since I had the second 7 blade outlet in my truck bed already for a 5th wheel trailer this route seemed to be the most reasonable. Now with my camper plugged in at the bed I can still use the bumper outlet for towing.

I did as others suggested and purchased a 7 blade male RV plug with a 7' cord...I then cut off the Lance male plug and spliced the new cord on (when I cut the Lance male plug off I did so with approx. one foot wire so I could either reattach later if I changed back for any reason or I figured I might then sell the Lance plug on ebay to pay for my rv cord).

I plugged into my truck bed and tested it as I went to make sure everything worked. It actually worked out easier than I first thought...even my colored wire coordinated with each other. After I saw everything working correctly I screwed the wire up in the corner of the camper and left a short tail loose for plugging in thru the small door at the floor after the camper is loaded.

I really do appreciate all the advice I received here to help me figure out my options. Good luck with your choice.

Thanks,
Phil

How did this turn out? I may be doing the same since I have a Lance plug already installed in my truck, but my new TC uses the round seven pin. So I may be wiring one end of the pigtail w/ a lance plug (male connector) and the other w/ a male 7 pin.

I already have a 7 pin pigtail so I will need to get a male lance plug. Or if they don't sell just the plug I will need the lance pigtail and then add the plug. Any leads on the best price is appreciated.

Also, did the above work for OP? Thanks.

HoodCanalNorth wrote:
Correct!

Thanks!

Correct!

RoyB wrote:
Thats what I would do - Pick up a 7-way Plug with short cord from ETRAILER that will fit your 7-way truck bed connector.

You can order this from ETRAILER and probably also from AMAZON using etrailers part number. Will look like this...



Etrailer sells these pigtails in two different length sizes.

Be carful when you call your your truck bed connector a 7-PIN COnnector. It is most likly a 7-SPADE connector. I just call them 7-way or 4-way haha... Trailer connectors comes in PINs and SPADEs

You can get the read out for the color wires from Etrailer to only tap the rear lights of the Truck camper and the +12VDC Power and Ground...

You may also run into the problem where the slide in camper doesn't leave much room on the side to plug into the truck bed connector. Be sure to check that out before just ordering the short length version.

Roy Ken

I decided to just purchase one to these 7 way plugs with a 6' cord and cut off the Lance male plug then splice together. I appreciate others pointing out the fact that I can't just make my wire connections by color...I might not have thought of that :)

Just so I make sure I do this correctly, I should be able to use the Lance literature which identifies the wire functions and the literature on e-trailer website which shows the wire functions of the male plug to make the splices correct?

Thanks,
Phil

I have a question that may help the OP:

Where do you tie in for the signals and lights? I understand you would run a dedicated 8ga (or heavier) line for the +12V from the engine compartment, and ground direct to the frame, but what about the rest?

Using ScotchLoks to tie into the wiring harness where it passes under the front of the bed isn't an acceptable solution. Not all trucks are pre-wired for the 5th wheel connector either.

What mkirsch said
Function of plug-

Why add direct dedicated plug for camper? If wired correctly, utilize advantage of larger charge/ground wires= better charging. One less connection, certainly less distance than running thru trucks (small) wiring to rear plug and an extension cord back to camper.
I understand if you have an aversion to wiring or don't want to cut a hole in truck, an extension might be easier. My opinion not much more work or cost to optimize and worth the effort.

It has the same functions as a standard 7-pin trailer plug, just in a different form factor. Your trailer plug also includes a hot 12V source for charging any onboard trailer/camper batteries.

Your truck is already pre-wired for everything. At worst you might have to install a relay or fuse under the hood of your truck to activate the 12V charging functionality.

OK...now this is all really clear as mud.

I didn't realize the plug served any purpose other than lights. Sounds like I need to study this a little more. Because I was also considering adding more batteries and a generator. I like the idea of using the truck charging system to benefit the camper.

Phil Hendrix wrote:
Just so I completely understand the TC plug...is it's purpose strictly to serve as running, turn signal, and brakes lights? If I make an extension cord in some manner and plug into my existing truck plug...am I going to be loosing some feature?

What would be the advantage to installing a new/third socket up front?

Thanks,
Phil

The Lance plug allows larger wires for the charge and ground wires. If you wire the 6-way socket to the truck with the larger wires you will be able to run the fridge on 12V while driving. That is the reason Lance uses that plug.

The wires in the 7-way plug on your truck are smaller and won't give enough charge current to keep up with the fridge, or even give much charge to the battery if you don't run the fridge. But it sure is more convenient.

I put a 7-way plug on mine to use the same socket as the 5th wheel. I then ran a separate set of 6AWG charge wires on the other side for an aux battery that sits in front of the wheel well, and that also connects to the camper with an Anderson connector.

The only thing you lose by using the 7-way plug is the ability to run the fridge on 12v and the ability to provide a good charge to the camper battery while driving. It will provide some charge current, but it probably won't be much. How much will be determined by the truck's wiring.