Ranger621

Hi,

The last tme i was towing my pop-up camper a warning popped up on the information display saying the trailer was disconnected and then a chime sounded. We had been on the road for at least 100 miles before this happened. I pulled off the freeway and checked everything and found nothing wrong. We continued on our way and about 5 miles down the road it started to do this again. I do have electric brakes on the camper but they seemed to be okay. I also tow a boat and never had this happen until this trip. Any suggestions??? Thanks in advance.

Ranger621

bubbabud

Sounds like momentary interruption in the trailer brake circuit. Try cleaning the contact blades on the plug and receptical and bend the connectors slightly so they make good contact then coat them with dielectric grease. Chances are the boat does not have electric brakes so the truck would not recognize that trailer.

beakie

Ensure the trailer plug is FULLY inserted into the truck receptacle.

Much the same thing happened to us, I thought camper was plugged in, and it "was" but a little extra shove and it seated sully, probably a full 1/4" further then it was. No problems since.

brulaz

Trailer brake wiring can be pretty bad. Un-wrapped wire nuts exposed to water, flexing wires causing internal breaks. I've had brake wiring go bad on me twice in 3 years.

So you may have to check all the way from the plug back to the drum. As it is intermittent, it could be really difficult to find but maybe a visual inspection will show you something.

PHX 150

Check that you don't have any loose wires inside the trailers 7 pin connector.
It's a possible cause, and it's easy to check.

Ranger621

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. After checking wiring connection I decided to pull a wheel off and inspect the brakes on the trailer. Turns out the wires on the magnet were broken off the left side brake. Being my Palomino camper is 13 years old I decided to just replace both brake assemblies. The trailer disconnected message is no longer active.
Thanks again for everyones help.

Ranger621.

inkyd62

I get the same behavior with a brand new Tennessee Trailer carrying my boat. It says "Disconnected" after the chime but if I pinch the brake control levers together it appears to be connected again. I have the gain all the way up to 10 (about 6300lbs total weight) and never locked the trailer brakes so I don't know if I have normal function or not. I would be surprised for a brand new boat trailer to have a faulty brake wiring system - or should I?

Thanks

brulaz

A boat trailer usually has surge hydraulic brakes, not connected to Ford's electric brake controller. Can the truck detect whether a trailer is connected or not then? Maybe by detecting load on the lighting circuits?

Or does your Tennessee trailer have a electric to hydraulic brake converter? I've heard that some of them have to be modified (?) to work properly with Ford's controller.

inkyd62

Definitely electric brakes on this trailer. Previous trailer was hydraulic, so I'm familiar with how that would work. This is my first trailer with electric brakes.

The trailer seems to be detected and I can go through all the setup screens in the Truck App. I will try contacting the trailer mfr to see if there is any mod needed. I'll post what I find out. Thanks!

Watt-maker

Ford's TBCs are super sensitive. The trailer brake wiring has to be 99% perfect to avoid the message. I'm not saying it's a bad thing but trailers that work flawless with old fashioned TBCs will give these integrated TBCs fits. Sometimes they seem a little too sensitive.