Trailer wiring harness too short

[dm6]

I am at fault here for waiting until the last minute to try to hook my pop up trailer up to my new truck, but I finally got a proper drop ball mount and hooked it up but then the wiring harness barely reaches the high plug on the truck. I see some extenders on Amazon and other online places but I need to find something local because I need it by Thursday. Where would be a good place to look? RV dealer? Uhaul? Ram dealership? This is for a 7 pin connector.

 

[farmallboy]

Most places sell 4 pin extensions. I personally have never seen a 7 pin extension locally.

If you do rv or find one at a trailer place I would imagine cost will be high. For something that loves most of its time under you back seat, I would consider building my own. Just depends on how “last minute” you are.

 

[LateToTheParty]

Tractor Supply, AutoZone, Advance Auto, Napa, etc...

Not sure who will have them in stock ready to pick up today, but I did a quick search for "7 blade extension" and found a few places here local to me that have them.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Just buy some 7 conductor cable from the local shop and cut/ splice it in or buy a male end, 1ft of 7 conductor cable and a female end make your own in 10 mins

 

[dm6]

This looks like this would work:

One of these and then just connect the wires to one of these. Will that work to make an extension? I have a Lowe's a couple minutes away. Or, it looks like I can get both ends for $10 a piece without the wire and could buy the wire separately. Do you guys know what gauge wire would be needed?

 

[CdnHO]

Do it right. Don't forget this is the connection for your brakes. Most trailer places sell replacment cables with molded 7 pin connector. They come in various lengths. Might cost a little more than on line but you are on a deadline.

 

[dm6]

Do it right. Don't forget this is the connection for your brakes. Most trailer places sell replacment cables with molded 7 pin connector. They come in various lengths. Might cost a little more than on line but you are on a deadline.

Of course. The ideal way would be to replace the whole cable all the way to wherever it originates on the trailer, but where might that be? The wiring comes out of the frame right at the tongue and I don't know where it originates. So my best bet is probably buying that prewired pigtail I linked above because it will have all of the proper gauge wires, and then just connect that to the female plug I linked above, make an extension. There is nothing unsafe about that, is there? That seems like it would be just like the extensions they sell online.

 

[CdnHO]

Of course. The ideal way would be to replace the whole cable all the way to wherever it originates on the trailer, but where might that be? The wiring comes out of the frame right at the tongue and I don't know where it originates. So my best bet is probably buying that prewired pigtail I linked above because it will have all of the proper gauge wires, and then just connect that to the female plug I linked above, make an extension. There is nothing unsafe about that, is there? That seems like it would be just like the extensions they sell online.

The extension will at least save the trip. Not the way I would do it but that will probably work.

 

[dm6]

The extension will at least save the trip. Not the way I would do it but that will probably work.

It sounds like you have wired these before. Do you know where these harnesses usually splice in to the rest of the trailer? Would they typically be spliced in somewhere in the channel by the tongue, or do they typically go farther back? I don't see any slack or anything where the wire comes out of the channel, but seeing that most of these harnesses I see online come in the 3-7' range, I am assuming they must not be a full run all the way to the back of the trailer.

 

[jkempken]

It sounds like you have wired these before. Do you know where these harnesses usually splice in to the rest of the trailer? Would they typically be spliced in somewhere in the channel by the tongue, or do they typically go farther back? I don't see any slack or anything where the wire comes out of the channel, but seeing that most of these harnesses I see online come in the 3-7' range, I am assuming they must not be a full run all the way to the back of the trailer.

the wires will go all the way to end back of the trailer, you will be better off cutting off the plug, installing a new plug with the correct length of wire plus some extra and protecting the slices or whatever method you choose to connect, then stuffing the extra in the tongue. Should take all of 10 minutes with the proper tools.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

This looks like this would work:

One of these and then just connect the wires to one of these. Will that work to make an extension? I have a Lowe's a couple minutes away. Or, it looks like I can get both ends for $10 a piece without the wire and could buy the wire separately. Do you guys know what gauge wire would be needed?

Yep that works great and its just as good as changing out your cable….. use 12 gauge wire minimum i would even do 10 personally

 

[CdnHO]

It sounds like you have wired these before. Do you know where these harnesses usually splice in to the rest of the trailer? Would they typically be spliced in somewhere in the channel by the tongue, or do they typically go farther back? I don't see any slack or anything where the wire comes out of the channel, but seeing that most of these harnesses I see online come in the 3-7' range, I am assuming they must not be a full run all the way to the back of the trailer.

They usually enter the body of the trailer at the front of the floor at the point where the actual trailer starts and the hitch A frame is welded. Usually the cable enters through a removeable plate behind which the connections are located.