Ford F150 battery drain when towing Travel Trailer

[Rivolva]

Hello,

I recently purchased a 2019 F150 to pull our travel trailer (it has the trailer package). When I pull the trailer long distances (3 hours+ driving) I'm finding that my F150 struggles to start when whenever I shut off the vehicle (such as in gas stations etc).

Recently, I did a 5 hour drive, and 30 mins from home I stopped for gas and the vehicle wouldn't start back up again and had to get AAA to jump me. It seems to me that the battery is getting drained by the trailer.

I've had the battery, starter and alternator on the F150 checked by 2 different people and each time they have passed with no issues.

I do have a rear view camera plugged into the 12v charger within the cab, and sometimes the kids or my wife or I will charge their phone in the cab as well.

If I unplug the trailer and unplug the rear view camera, I have found that the vehicle has a better chance of starting.

I had an older F150 (2004) previously which had no issues like this, we would charge items in the cab and use the rear view camera etc and it would start fine.

I'm trying to figure out where the source of the problem may lie, any ideas? Could the battery on the trailer be an issue? Could the wiring harness on the F150 be at fault? Is there an issue with newer F150s being able to handle charging devices as well as the trailer?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers!

[theoldwizard1]

Rivolva wrote:
I'm trying to figure out where the source of the problem may lie, any ideas? Could the battery on the trailer be an issue? Could the wiring harness on the F150 be at fault? Is there an issue with newer F150s being able to handle charging devices as well as the trailer?

It could be a dozen different thing. Stop making wild guess and buy a current clamp !

With no trailer attached, start the engine and place the meter on either the positive or negative battery lead. (It may take 5+ minutes for the reading to stabilize, so be patient !)

Record the reading. Remove the meter, shut the engine off and connect the trailer. Start the engine and place the meter on the same wire. After waiting for things to stabilize, you should be getting almost the same meter.

Get out your owners manual and find the page that lists the fuses. Remove any fuse that is associated with the trailer, one at a time, checking the meter each time for a change.