Trailer plug receptacle recommendation

[BWSwede]

Hello all,

I have had my trailer pigtail lose its electrical connection from my truck twice in the past year. Both times I lost my trailer brakes with a full load on the trailer. Each time I narrowly avoided an accident due to my inability to stop.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a 7 blade receptacle to replace the one on my truck? Or all they all more or less the same?

TIA,
Blane

 

[not2old]

My truck has a light on each side of the license plate. I enlarged the hole for one of them and mounted the receptacle there. In it's thirty years it's never been a problem.

 

[skipperbrown]

Go to etrailers.com and read the reviews. Most all the name brands will work for you. And I've had very good experience ordering from them.

 

[Fallon]

Go to etrailers.com and read the reviews. Most all the name brands will work for you. And I've had very good experience ordering from them.

I'd 2nd that. There won't be a lot of difference, but some of the covers & plastic will be a bit more sturdy. Etrailer has good info.

I'd get one that has the 7 pin & 4 pin connectors on it. Handy to not need an adapter when towing small.

 

[Peter 315]

:thumbsup: for etrailer......

 

[woody]

pictures would be nice and I third e-trailer

 

[BWSwede]

Hello all,

Thank you for your replies and recommendation to use ETrailer. I could not find a 7 blade plug with the two pigtails and plugs to connect to my truck's wiring. It turns out it is made anymore. The best they could offer is a plug with screw connections for the connectin of bare wires from the truck. I really didn't want to crawl under there and start rewiring the trailer plug so I looked to see what the problem might be. I found that the pigtail coming from the trailer had gray type powdery corrosion on the contacts so I took an emory board and sanded the corrosion off. I also went to the truck plug and did the same thing there. Hopefully this cures my problem.

Thanks again,
Blane

 

[3Ts]

That will probably fix it for awhile, but I doubt it will last long before you have to do it again. Use some dielectric grease to help reduce the corrosion.

 

[Rebeldad1]

not sure what truck you have.
is it a factory plug?

Curt has a decent line of replacement plugs.
So why is it falling out?
Is the latch on the cover not holding it in place?
is the plug not going into the receptacle far enough?
Is the plug wire too short pulling itself out?

Never had that issue and I have had a lot of trailers

 

[BWSwede]

Here is the full story.

I have a 1 ton pickup with a factory trailer receptacle. I was pulling a will maintained 14k PJ equipment trailer with my tractor on it.

I had been pulling this trailer with this truck for 5 years without a braking issue. Last summer I had my tractor on the trailer (13,450 pounds on the trailer axles per the scales plus of course the tongue weight on the truck) and merged down onto a busy interstate highway during rush hour. I was going about 45 when a car pulled in front of me and put on their brakes. Normally this is not a that big of a deal but this time when I hit the truck brakes and reached down to slide the trailer brake controller lever to further help with the braking there was no response from the trailer brakes. I applied the truck brakes with full force and the front wheels were alternately skidding and then rolling as the trailer rocked forward and back, more so as this action continued. I came within a couple feet of rear ending the car ahead and it scared the living daylights out of me.

About 8 miles later was my first chance to pull onto a shoulder wide enough for the trailer. At that point I saw that the trailer cord was still attached to the truck's receptacle. So I tightened it into place I zip tied the two together. I have been doing this for the last year without issue.

Last week I had just left my house with the loaded trailer and the plug zip tied to the truck's receptacle as I now always do. From my house to the local arterial streets is a 500' elevation drop. A about midway down the hill I noticed my trailer brakes were not responding to my actions on the sliding lever. Once again I found myself with no trailer brakes. Since all I had were the truck brakes they quickly got very hot and started to fade. After not much time I realized there was no way for me to stop the truck and trailer. All I could do was try to control the speed down the hill and hope that no one if front of me stopped. Another white knuckle experience. I got out of the truck once I finally rolled to a stop and saw that the trailer cored was still zip tied to the truck's receptacle. So I cut that tie off and tied it together a little differently and that worked for the rest of the trip.

The cord from the trailer is very long and doesn't even come close to becoming tight at any angle the trailer is from the truck. The trailer cord plug is not damaged at all, and in fact is in really good shape. The truck receptacle or lid is not damaged at all. The spring on the lid is still tight as it should be.

I can't find anything wrong with any of the components except for some of the gray powdery corrosion inside the trailer plug, which has now been cleaned out. I sure hope this solves the issue because I am not sure my heart can take another episode of losing my trailer brakes with my tractor loaded on it.

Blane

 

[Fallon]

There should be a tab on the plug that gets caught by a notch on the spring loaded cover for the receptacle. That should hold the plug in place & prevent it from coming out or inplugged in the event it works loose.

I'm not clear why you have to tie it in if it's a normal 7 pin plug & receptacle. Is that just to keep it tight rather from falling out?

I'm guessing your main issue is the corrosion rather than a loose plug. Any exposed connections on the copper wiring are going to corrode & be problematic in short order. The 7 pin plug & receptacle connectors themselves should be less susceptible to corrosion, but it can still happen. Clean the contacts with electrical contact cleaner & a brush. Or just replace them. They aren't that expensive & much cheaper than the wreck or heart attack when you loose brakes again.

If you have any exposed connections elsewhere between the plug/receptacle & the rest of your wiring I'd just replace things unless you are decent with wiring. You need to get the corroded wiring & connectors replaced.

 

[BWSwede]

The spring loaded lid does have the tab to hook over the tab on the trailer plug. Both times I have lost my brakes the cord did not come unplugged from the truck.

Yes, I zip tie them together to keep them tight.

I am thinking corrosion is the issue as well. The truck blades did not have any corrosion. The female receptacles on the trailer cord did (gray powdery stuff like on a battery terminal). There is no exposed copper wiring.

Perhaps there is also too much space between the tab on the of the truck receptacle lid and the tab on the trailer cord. I am going to check it next time I hook them together.

Blane

 

[rangerfredbob]

If there's corrosion on the contacts of the trailer plug, there's probably corrosion on the screw terminals inside the connector... I've had that before, the steel screws on the cheap ones rusting and losing contact...

 

[Oaktree]

I am thinking corrosion is the issue as well. The truck blades did not have any corrosion. The female receptacles on the trailer cord did (gray powdery stuff like on a battery terminal). There is no exposed copper wiring.

I've never had (or had the need for) trailer brakes, but every time I've had trailer light issues it's been the trailer wiring, not what's on the truck. Might be time and money well spent to replace the harness, or at least the connector and the wiring for the brakes.

 

[woody]

as someone else said clean it and put some dieletric grease on it.

 

[3Ts]

Keep in mind that corrosion products (i.e. copper oxide) are non-conductive. You need contact with the base metal in order to conduct electricity. I would replace the plugs, but if you really want to keep them, scrape the tarnish off down to bare metal - get it shiny. The brass contacts are a copper alloy with probably 30% zinc.

 

[skipmarcy]

When installing receptacles on trucks I always use dielectric grease inside on the screws and wires and then seal where the wire bundle goes into the back of the receptacle with rtv silicone. Then of course use dielectric on the spades inside as already mentioned. I also push a little dielectric into the female holes on the trailer side to help that half of the equation. I ALWAYS solder any wiring connections instead of butt connectors and use heat shrink tube. True mechanics never use Scotch-Loc connectors !!! They are pure trouble and usually cut some of the conductors lessening the capacity of the wire. If you want to be ****, you can use liquid tape over the heat shrink to totally waterproof the joint. When I hook up one of my trailers to either truck the lights and brakes will work ...

 

[BWSwede]

I am pretty convinced it is a corrosion issue. Now, what to do about it.

I have been reading a lot about dielectric grease especially after hearing recommendations regarding its use. I have found that it is a non-conductive material which led me to ask myself why would I put this into a pin connection, especially after reading that one of the manufacturers of it stating that it is not to be used on pin connections. Then I read somewhere that the pin connection when inserted squeezes the grease out of the way to allow the metal to metal contact. Okay, this works but now what happens when the pins (blades) are separated? The metal is now exposed and will corrode as if there was never any grease installed. Or does it magically cover the pins back up when they are separated?

It seems to me that dielectric grease protects pin connections when they are permanently attached together but when they are frequently connected and disconnected the grease is removed from the metal surfaces making the use of the grease a waste of time.

Somebody please enlighten me.

Thank you,
Blane

 

[Ford850]

Dielectric grease is recommended by most trailer supply companies. If you don't use too much making a sloppy mess, it works well to lubricate the pins (easier connections) and seals the metal surfaces so they don't corrode. A very thin coat is all that's needed. Most pins make contact in a very thin area, and that's how it scrapes some off for contact. When not in use the grease creeps back over the surface to protect most of it. I've used it on some connections, and skipped it on others, but it does work for me. I've also used a light coat of fluid film, and sometimes I use WD40 to clean and lube all in one.

 

[John_Mc]

The reason for using dielectric grease, as opposed to regular grease, is that you want something that is non-conductive. Using a conductive grease risks shorting out one pin to another.