My father was having trouble with his trailer lights when using his 95 Ram. The lights would work perfect without his headlights on, but if it was dark and he needed to turn his headlights on then his trailer lights start to malfunction. If he hits the brake the lights go very dim and if he uses his signal all lights blink (only with his headlights on). He has tried everything he can with the trailer itself with no improvement (New wires, lights, fixtures). So, I brought my Dakota over to hook up to his trailer to see if it was in fact the trailer wiring gone bad or the truck? With my truck hooked up everything works perfect! He seems to think its either a bad ground on the truck somewhere or a fuse related issue. Has anyone else had this issue or have any input about where to look for a problem? He needs to use the trailer this week so any information would be helpful! Thanks alot guys!

 

What plug type are you working with round or flat 4? Factory harness or something homemade? On the truck side, The easiest suggestion is take the ground wire from the plug end and run it straight to the frame. If you are using the round plug take it apart and clean all connections and rewire it.

Note: remember to dis conn the batt before working on the round plug as there are hot wires in there.

 

its a flat 4. he bought the truck used and it was like this. by looking at the setup it looks like an add-on job and not factory. They have 2 wires coming from both tail lights to the trailer whip. So would taking the ground wire (from the trailer whip not the truck) out of the tail light assembly and reconnecting it to the frame help?

 

Sounds like a bad ground somewhere. It is ok during low amp draw but has high resistance during high amp draw. The white wire is the ground wire. It should be connected to the frame.

 

Bad ground or headlight switch or multi function switch are bad.

 

Yes run the white wire to a clean spot on the trucks frame. Have a look at the link below its the better way to wire in trailer lights, Most auto parts store have a similar product.

http://hitches4less.com/1987-ram-pic...er-wiring.html

 

Thanks a million guys, we'll give that a try when the sun comes back out! :-)