trailer wiring help

[rthomas1226]

Hey guys so I got a ford trailer wiring hook up and also tried the Hopkins adaptor and there's no power going to the the plug but I have tail brake and turn on the ex its a 96 4.0 is there any other fuses I can check the according to the manual its the same fuse for the truck lights and trailer lights any ideas would be great thanks

 

[rollinstone]

If there's no power going to the plug why are the trailer brakes and turn signals working?

Or maybe I don't understand your question because a lot of it doesn't make sense. Try rewriting your question a bit more coherently.

 

[koda2000]

i don't know if the '96 tail light wiring harness is same/similar to the 2000/2001, but i recently installed a Ford trailer light harness and it just plugs into a socket located right at the driver's side tail light (remove the tail light assembly and for easy access to it, remove the red cap and the trailer harness just plugs in). if the truck's tail, turn and brake lights work you must be doing something wrong or the socket is dirty/corroded.

 

[acabtp]

maybe he's trying to hook up a 6 or 7 pin adapter which has aux power for a dump trailer, winch, etc? if so, that won't work with the harness on the explorer; it is only pre-wired for trailer lights. to get a powered hookup, you'd need to run a wire yourself, add a fuse, etc.

 

[rthomas1226]

Ok updat so I ment to pretty much say I have tail lights on the truck it self but no power going to the plug behind the tail light for the trailer lights except for the licence plate light on the truck used a test light to check it and also tested all my fuses and they're all good except in the fuse/relay box under the hood the 30 amp fuse spot for trailer lights is empty and there's only power on one side of that slot I'm not sure what else I can do unless I get one of those universal splice in kits I'm just doing a 4flat set up to

 

[koda2000]

Ok updat so I ment to pretty much say I have tail lights on the truck it self but no power going to the plug behind the tail light for the trailer lights except for the licence plate light on the truck used a test light to check it and also tested all my fuses and they're all good except in the fuse/relay box under the hood the 30 amp fuse spot for trailer lights is empty and there's only power on one side of that slot I'm not sure what else I can do unless I get one of those universal splice in kits I'm just doing a 4flat set up to

if the fuse slot is empty, of course there is only going to be power on one side of the slot. have you tried just installing a 30A fuse in the empty slot?

 

[rthomas1226]

Yes what I ment was that in the fuse panel the one side has power but when I put the fuse in there's nothing on the opposite end to catch the fuse so its like its a empty slot I looked in it and there I guess I would call it the prongs that feed the power to the fuse aren't on the other side where the fuse plugs in to distribute the power for the trailer lights sorry I make it sound confusing

 

[koda2000]

Yes what I ment was that in the fuse panel the one side has power but when I put the fuse in there's nothing on the opposite end to catch the fuse so its like its a empty slot I looked in it and there I guess I would call it the prongs that feed the power to the fuse aren't on the other side where the fuse plugs in to distribute the power for the trailer lights sorry I make it sound confusing

ok, i understand what you're saying now. i don't have any other suggestions for you though. in my truck a previous owner had wired in a trailer harness by splicing into the wiring for the tail lights directly. i don't know why he did this as there was a brand new, unused Ford harness in the jack compartment. i removed the splices, plugged in the Ford harness and it worked just fine. when you probe the tail light's plug with the test light you get nothing? that doesn't make sense, because you're probing the same power source(s) as what the tail lights are using. did you verify that your test light works by trying it across the battery? i once bought a test light that didn't work - that'll drive you nuts.

 

[rthomas1226]

Yeah the test light works I just got it for this project my other one desided to get up and walk away I went and got a Hopkins universal 4 flat setup with a little converter box and its working for now should put a bigger fuse in for the tail lights to handle trailer lights ? Thanks for the help

 

[rscott771]

Check out this trailer wiring guide. It may help!

http://www.hitchanything.com/trailer-wiring-diagram-guide.html