I have a 12 f150 that I am the 2nd owner of and I am the first person to pull with it. When I got it there had never been a reciever in the hitch until I put one in.
Well this weekend I hooked up my car hauler for the first time and found I had no running lights to my trailer. Tested both plugs on my truck and they were dead. I ended up cutting the wire and tapped into my liesence plate light to get them working.

Anybody else found their trailer wiring faulty?

 

I have a 13. on my 4 plug there was a loose connection, but my 7 plug was fine. I fixed the loose connection on mine before I started using my utility trailer on the road. Plus I had to fix the ground wire for my trailer lights. They would flicker until the surface rust was removed on the hitch. Both plugs work fine now.

 

every time i get a little moisture in the either the trailer plug or the truck plug, i blow a fuse... started proactively wd-40ing both everytime... forget which fuse but doesn't really matter because i have a 06

 

Do you have the relays and fuses in the underhood fuse box. If you have a plastic bag in in the glove box with some fuses and relays guess where they go ? The fact there was no hitch tells me there's a good chance they're not there..... Look in the owner's manual under road side emergency and it will have a diagram of which relays and fuses you need.

 

+2

 

You're confusing your terms a bit.

The "receiver" is that 2" square tube that's bolted to the frame at the back of the pickup. It's often called a receiver hitch. You insert a drawbar (also called a shank) into that tube, and you have a ball mount. The ball mount can be for either a plain ole weight-carrying hitch, or for a weight-distributing hitch.

"Running lights" includes tail lights, but not stop lights. There are trailer light testers available that will tell you which wires in your connector are "hot" and which are not. Here's a link to the 7-pin RV plug tester I have:
http://www.etrailer.com/Wiring/Tow-Ready/TR20117.html

The tail light/running light wire in the plug should be "hot" any time the lights are on. If not, you know you have a wiring or fuse problem in the truck.

Ford pickups with the towing package often come with a fuse and relay in the glove box. The dealer is supposed to install those as part of the pre-deliver inspection (PDI, or dealer prep). But some dealer don't do it right. So the trailer plug won't work right until that relay and fuse are installed. Check your fuse chart and be sure all the fuses and relays that mention trailer are in fact installed in the fuse box. In my 2012, the trailer lights fuse and relay are in the "power distribution box" under the hood - not in the fuse box under the dash.

 

Yes fellas all the fuses and relays are in place. My electric brakes work,brake lights,turns and even the charge wire to my winch battery on my trailer. Only wire that was dead was for the running lights to the trailer.

Reciever,drawbar,shank,whatever...you knew what I meant.