Ford SD factory brake controller question

[ACZL]

Used truck in sig all last winter w/ a 4 place v-nose enclosed snowmobile trailer and no problems whatsoever. Spring 2015, I add the in line connector for whip for 5th wheel plug in truck bed. Again, no problems. All lights and brakes worked AOK. Put 5er in storage in Oct and no use of either plug until this past weekend. Hook up sled trailer and right away, the lights didn't work at 1st (new trailer June 2014). Fiddle w/ cord at plug in, all work except I had no trailer brakes. Drive a few miles and trailer connect/disconnect displayed a few times. Wrap a micro bungee cord around plug/cord/cover and still no brakes and connect/disconnect displayed several more times all the way home (55-60 miles). Never lost marker, stop or turn lights though.

Take light tester and once ground was established, I had power to everything except brakes (brakes applied via a helper--2x4 and seat moved forward). No power at 5er plug for brakes either. Plug sled trailer in and display says "trl not connected".

So what am I missing or not doing right? What can be done to "tighten" up the connection between the truck and trailer cord or should this not make that much of a difference? Bumper 7-way plug hasn't been used since last spring. Trailer was used a couple times over the summer. but all looks good w/ plug.

Thanks you in advance once again.

[rowekmr]

Bought a 05 F350 CC DRW with gooseneck and 2nd 7 pin outlet in bed. Towed my 20' auto transport trailer and it also says Trailer Disconnected. Put dielectric grease on male plug and tried the outlet in the bed same result yet trailer lights work. In desperation I towed it without brakes (empty) and dialed the gain down to 0 just in case the brakes decided to come out at the wrong time. Curiosity had me dial up the gain when loaded with car and trailer brakes mysteriously worked. A little later I heard the dash chime and saw trailer brake disconnected again and brakes went to nil again. I wonder if my 2 year old trailer is also having corrosion issues?

[Lynnmor]

ACZL wrote:


What would you all recommend?

You live in salt covered New York state. Trailer brakes need to be disassembled EVERY year. They will not operate longer than that if exposed to road salt. Ask me how I know.

Even if not exposed to salt, the junk they call spindles and brakes, needs to be serviced immediately upon purchase, and regularly after that. Self-adjusting is a joke, the drum runnout sometimes is too great for them to work correctly. Factory tolerance is .015" TIR, which is way too much.

[ACZL]

Well I used the sled trailer again this w/e and same thing happened. So I took it to our RV dealer and they discovered that 3 of 4 brakes were seized up. WTH? They are Dexter Never adjust brakes and have had this trailer for less than 2 years (brand new)! They had 4 manual adj brakes on hand, but I told them to button it up and I will call the trailer mfr to explain to them what was found and see if either they or Dexter can help. Dexter's web site says they have 2 yr warranty and RV dealer says it's a 1 yr warranty on whole assembly they's put on.

As for the connect/disconnect, this what's happening and it makes sense now. The truck sends a "signal" to any trailer being towed. As long as the "signal" comes back to the truck, nothing happens. If the "signal" doesn't come back to truck, it says "trailer disconnect". If while in the "disconnect" mode and another signal comes back, now display says "trailer connected". They believe the cause of this is due to the 3 brakes being bad and thus shorting out someplace and likewise brakes not working. When I asked how the brakes got this way (cause), I was asked where I parked it for the summer (on grass w/ possible weeds) and their reply was moisture from grass/weeds. It was suggested to either park on gravel, concrete, blacktop or at the very least--put plywood down under each side. If not, take trailer out once a month, hit brakes several times to "free" things up. Can take wheels off and lube things up w/ never seize if I want to as well instead of taking it out. No cost to park it where I do for the summer, but there is a storage place 1 miles away that has the stone/gravel lot.

What would you all recommend?

BTW---No problem w/ truck was told.

[Me_Again]

ACZL wrote:
I too bought the inline connector from e-trailer and had no problems w/ the 5er but somehow it doesn't want to work w/ the bumper plug (brake wise).

Well then you just maybe identified the problem! Those T-connectors go in between the factory wiring and the bumper 7 pin plug. On my RAM they(RAM) sold me a Curt kit that had you unplug the back side on the bumper outlet and plug in the T-adapter. It was really hard getting at the backside of the bumper outlet. You sure that is not your problem?

Chris

[ACZL]

Sorry for not getting back a tad sooner. Trailer cord has di-electric grease on it since new, so no corrosion. I did try to spread the pins on the truck side w/ a pick, still seemed sloppy. Playing around w/ info center, I see that there either 5th, gooseneck or conventional trail can be selected--not sure if that has anything to do w/ it as I thought it shouldn't make a difference. I too bought the inline connector from e-trailer and had no problems w/ the 5er but somehow it doesn't want to work w/ the bumper plug (brake wise).

[shepstone]

The brake pin on the 7 pin plug on mine got bent over and had similar symptoms take a flashlight and check real good inside of he plug hole

[Chuck_thehammer]

replace truck or trailer connector..

copper Hates road salt .. even a small amount.. even salt dust..

or... fold 1000 grit sand paper around a tooth pick.. and sand contacts in male and female connectors... a pain but works.

[Lynnmor]

The brake controller on your Ford does not output at slow speeds. You can't test while parked.

The plug on the snowmobile trailer is probably corroded from the stupid road salt. Yes, I have about the same truck and snowmobile trailer as you.

[1jeep]

I had the same/similar issue, bought the 5th wheel wire connector from etrailer, plugged it into my factory ford harness. No matter what I tried it would always display no trailer connected, in the end I gave up and removed it. I did call etrailer and found that was a pointless call all they could tell me was the harness wasn't connected...I could have had that conversation with a 4 year old.

[Me_Again]

I would disconnect the T-connector for the inbed 7 pin outlet(if that is how it connects, similar to my new RAM) and spray with contact cleaner, coat with dielectric grease and plug everything back together.

Chris