Ok, I have a problem with trailer cables. I drive a long bed dually and the trailer plug is under the bumper to the left of the reciever hitch. Last fall I looped the trailer cable on the holder under the gooseneck of our LQ trailer and plugged in the cable to the back of the truck.
After making a tight turn out of the driveway onto our narrow road, the cord popped out of the plug (my truck let's me know when it is disconnected). So I pulled over and pushed it back in, but the little plastic cap that goes over the plug broke. I then attached a looped bungy cord over the trailer cable and fastened to the cable hook with the excess of the cable lying in the bed of the truck and looping over the tail gate. Hubby fixed cap when I returned home and was very nice about my whoops.
Then last Saturday I drove our day trailer gooseneck and the darn trailer cable came out of the cable hook and the looped part of the cable drug the ground and you guessed it, the black rubber scrapped off. Luckily only the brakewire was damaged and the lights continued to work until I got home. Hubby cut off the extra 12-14 inches of cable and rethreaded the plug... I think he is getting tired of fixing my cable delimmas.
My old truck had a plug in the bed, but hubby doesn't want to install one there. :(
So my question is how do the rest of you keep the trailer cable from dragging the ground or popping out of the plug when making tight turns?
Posted 2009-02-11 1:35 PM (#99271 - in reply to #99265) Subject: RE: Trailer Cord/Cable
Expert
Posts: 1416 Location: sc
Got a bolt snap screw-clamped on the cord, with enough slack to run from the bumper plug then over/down the tailgate. Gets hooked to a cargo tiedown in the bottom of the bed right inside the tailgate. Excess cord lays in the bed, and stays there.
Posted 2009-02-11 1:37 PM (#99272 - in reply to #99265) Subject: RE: Trailer Cord/Cable
Expert
Posts: 3802 Location: Rocky Mount N.C.
I use the plug in the bed..... Sounds like your cable is too short already to reach down to the bumper. Maybe if you don't use the loop/hanger so it will give you a little more slack to turn. The spring loaded plug cover on the truck suppose to "latch" to the trailer plug when it's inserted all the way in. Or.... Get you one of these!!
Posted 2009-02-11 3:15 PM (#99281 - in reply to #99265) Subject: RE: Trailer Cord/Cable
Expert
Posts: 5870 Location: western PA
My plugs wiring starts at the very front of the trailers at the top of the hitch posts. I have routed and fastened them along the goose floor joists, by using Adell clamps, until they are supported past the truck's tailgate on the left side of the truck. From here the wiring hangs freely behind the tail gate. Then I cut the wiring with just enough length and slack, to allow the truck to jackknife each way with the plugs installed.
My truck's plug has a clip on the protective cap, that catches the male trailer plugs, and prevents them from pulling out. Even though the plugs slip in and out of the receptacle easily, because they are lubricated with dielectric grease, I have had no problems with any unintentional disconnects, breakage or conductivity issues.
Posted 2009-02-12 6:42 AM (#99327 - in reply to #99265) Subject: RE: Trailer Cord/Cable
Elite Veteran
Posts: 681 Location: Corpus Christi, Texas
I had that happen once with my bumperpull... I drug my plug half to death.. Now I use an adjustable web dog collar with the plastic snap closure and snap it around my bulldog coupler..done fairly loosely, it holds my cord and my pull chains looped up. I don't like them to hang low and possibly drag.. The snap is strong enough to hold them up, but will pop loose if there is reall strain on it.