Hey guys/gals!
I'm a newbie here to the forum, but i have a curious question for everybody. First off, I have a '97 dak reg. cab with a 3.9. The problem is when I wired up my "plug-n-play" trailer harness it works fine until I turn on the headlights. When the lights are on and I turn on the turn-signals all the lights on the camper "blink". And, when I hit the brakes all the lights "dim". I talked to the local camper place and they say it is a bad ground in the camper. But, I tried it on another truck and the camper is fine. Also I tried my truck on two other campers and it has the same results. Anybody ever had problem like this, or is it just me??? Obviously I have a bad ground in my truck, but can't seem to find it. And, I don't have any other ground related problems on the truck. Any ideas ?????? Thanks ahead of time.

 

Do you have a four or a seven prong connection? An if it is a seven do you have trailer brakes?

I installed a four pin "plug and play" and when I got my camper they wired in the trailer brake and a seven prong so I can look through it and see where the grounds are and hopefully they match to where your grounds are!!!!

Do the lights on the truck dim when the camper is not hooked up?

 

Thanks for the reply Roadrunner. I have the 4-pin wiring harness that plugs into the factory T's at the tailights of my truck. As for the lights, I don't have any problems with the truck electricals, as far as I know. Everything works fine, except for the "light" issue when I hook to my camper and turn on the lights. And the camper tests out fine. It's got me bumfuzzled.?

 

I'll try and check the grounds on my 4 pin and get back to you soon!

 

does the truck work fine without the plug in trailer conector set up if so your trailer wiring may have short replace connectors to see if you have a short
hope this helps Rick

 

Thanks Rick. But the truck lighting is fine with and without the plug in connector. The camper and the after-market plug both test out OK. I've pretty much tried every possibility to find this ground, except re-wiring the whole lighting system on the truck.[:@] The ground has to be in the truck but I don't know where. Just hoping someone has had a similar problem and maybe found a quick fix that I've overlooked.
[:@] Frustrated in WV[:@]

 

Do you mean the amber side marker light blinks with/or alternate with the red rear turn light if you have the vehicle headlights on?

If so thats usually normal. They will dim a bit with brake lights also due to power draw to the brake lights. Remember you are running at least 6 extra light bulbs (2 tail/stop/turn, 4 side markers) on 3 14g wires (yel/brown/grn).

 

Wow!!! I checked the under side and tried to trace the line but the guy at the camper place actually did a good job!! Everyhing was taped, put in wire loom and tucked into inconspicous areas so i really couldn't tell what was going on. I have to bring the camper down for it's inspection later this month so I'll ask my camper guy if he knows what would cause that!

 

Thanks for the reply guys. RP Racing brings up a good point. Never thought of that. However, my camper lights "dim" significantly when the truck lights are on. Maybe the wires in the camper are too small. It is an '82 model, after all. I may try to run larger gauge wires to see.[sm=goodidea.gif] [sm=smiley20.gif]