There must be a way to do this with a.....2017 Silverado

[robertjp]

I am trying to hook up my 4 flat boat trailer plug AND my wire from the camper 7 way to the truck. The truck has a plug for both but once you plug either one in, there is not enough room with the spring door to get the other one in. Is there some kind of work around here so I can use both going down the road? Thank you. Bob

P.S I have a pic but is there no way to post it without it already being on the web somewhere?

[trail-explorer]

Old Blue wrote:
If it were mine, I would change the boat plug to a 7way plug and just hook up the 4 wires and be done with it...
Bill

That won't solve the problem either, because then all he can do is plug in the boat trailer

he needs lights / power in his camper while also towing a boat trailer.

[trail-explorer]

newman fulltimer wrote:
why would you plug both in at once:h

Because he needs lights / power in his camper while also towing a boat trailer.

[Rubiranch]

I couldn't find an adapter that worked for me so I wired the 4-pin through the 7-pin connector.

[Bedlam]

You only need to remove the 4-pin door to be able to use both sockets at the same time.

[stevenal]

Wardster wrote:
Just remove the spring door

The door provides a retention stop on the seven pin side that would be defeated if removed.

[Rickj91]

Just had to chime in. When I bought my 05 Chev I had them hook up the 7 pin in the box, as said by many here. I pull a boat, cargo trailer, and utility trailer. The utility trailer is a 4 pin, so I bought an adapter that the 4 pin hooks into, which fits the 7 pin on the bumper.

[Fishbreath]

Had the same problem on my 2013 Sierra

Walmart sells a replacement receptacle. It has both types of connectors in one housing. It was about $20.

Remove the existing receptacle from the bumper and unplug the assembly from the wiring harness. The new unit plugs into the harness and then screw the receptacle into the bumper.

https://www.etrailer.com/Custom-Fit-Vehicle-Wiring/Hopkins/30955.html

Took all of 10 minutes to install.

Hope this helps

[deserteagle56]

Can't remember the last time I used the truck/camper and didn't have a trailer hooked to it............

[SideHillSoup]

Mkirsch, that may be the numbers of truck campers with trailers In your neck of the woods, but there are thousands up here in western Canada.
I was in a small town ( pop 3000) near where we camp as we went in to buy some grub and " refreshments " for the weekend.
Because of the new truck and camper we bought we have been looking at truck/ camper / hitch combinations over the last few months to see what will best suit our needs.
Yesterday we were looking and talking with 4 different people in town that have trailers of some kind behind there truck camper combanations.
Up here there are lots of people with more than one RV parked in the back yard. Lots of guys have a camper for hunting and they pull a utility trailer of all sizes and shapes behind them for the equmpment .
The combination of truck / camper and trailer are a common sight up here. Also when I had my 5Th Wheel I installed my second 7 post plug up near the front of the box in my truck which made it easy to plug in.
The second 7 post plug in the bed of trucks is a very common sight.
Soup.

[mkirsch]

robertjp wrote:

mkirsch wrote:
Poor design, because one person in a million has a weird corner case where they need both connections at once?

So only 1 in a million pull a boat with a truck camper?? Seriously?

Yes, and I think that estimate is on the high side.

There are hundreds of millions of trucks on the road. Only a few thousand of those carry truck campers. Only some of those carrying truck campers also tow a trailer of any sort. Only some that tow a trailer tow a boat. Only some that tow a boat do not have a dedicated plug in the bed of their truck for the camper. By the time it filters down there are not many, maybe couple dozen, with this problem.

[SideHillSoup]

Yeti plus wrote:
There is a coiled up wiring harness on the frame just behind the cab on GM trucks to install in the box of the truck for fifth wheel and truck campers. Put that into the box and hook up a 7 pole female plug to plug the camper into, and then the plug on the bumper is good to go for your boat.
On my 2014 I just popped out the plastic cap that GM put on the front wall and fed the wires through put the receptacle on the end of the wires because I couldn't bring myself to drilling a big hole in the side of the box to mount the plug into.
Brian
2014 only has 7 pole plug at bumper.

I have a 2017 GMC 3500 SLE 4X4 short box and I did exsactly what is written in this post.
I tow a snowmobile trailer with a flat 4 plug in the winter and a UTV flat deck, duel axel trailer the rest of the time, and this trailer has the 7 pole plug.

For my camper I installed the extra 7 pole female plug up front inside the box, drivers side.
The wiring harness is coiled up under the bed of the truck just waiting for you.
Soup.

[Grit_dog]

Hard to believe this is really an issue.
3 easy obvious work arounds were communicated.
And yes overthe course of all the trucks sold, it is a small fraction of a percent that haul a tc and tow at the same time

[jimh406]

I have a in bed plug as well. I think adding another plug in bed would be the best solution. Then, you could tow a 7 way as well.

[stevenal]

My boat trailer has surge brakes with a connection to the backup lights to keep the brakes from engaging when backing. The 4 pin never did much good, so I spliced a 5 pin into the camper harness. The 5 pin will also accept the 4 pin connectors on my other trailers.

I've noticed that exclusive or approach on many newer vehicles. New ideas aren't always better.