Well looks like I get to replace the PDC(the whole fuse box under the hood.) on this truck now too. Arrrg, had to do the same thing on my old '03. The trailer turn signal relay goes bad and there is no way to fix. Part costs $300 bucks too.
I might tear into this one and see if I can fix it myself.

Anyone one else have this problem or any idea what causes it?

 

I Just Had A Similar Problem On My Trailer, I Had Lost All My Running Lights And Kept Blowing The Fuse Under The Hood. I Was About Five Hours Away From And On Vacation Atv Riding So I Didnt Want To Waste My Time Off Working On My Trailer Lights. So I Took It To The Local Garage Where I Was. They Fixed And Told Me What It Was Was That My Ground Wire Had Rubbed The Frame And Kept Shorting Out My System. I Think What Im Going To Do Now Is Rewire My Whole Trailer And Encase The Wires.

 

Do you think it's the wiring on my trailer or truck wiring? I really can't afford to replace the whole fuse panel right now. I'm gonna have to just re-wire it so it will work. Any advice or help in that area would be appreciated.

 

Most likely trailer wiring. Hook up trailer lights with a battery only. Move the wires around if you can. Even try to move/ shake the lights to simulate on the road. May want to put an inline fuse in the temperary curcuit just in case. The trailers really take a shaking going down the road. Got back from up north with my "winterized" boat and my trailer kept blowing the running light fuse. I stopped a few times pushing & pulling wires and even hitting the lights with my flashlight. Head down the road and in 2 minutes flicker & out. ( my trailer has a 15 Amp fuse on the trailer). My last thought was the license light. Did everything wiggle, shake & kick it the lights would stay on. Last ditch effort I decided to just cut the wire to the license light since that light is the only one that tends to move around on the road. Worked good all night.

 

Yeah i'm gonna check out my trailer this weekend. But i'm still gonna have to re-wire my truck to make it work for now. Cause now I have no power to the right turn signal/brake wire at the connector. Same thing happened to my other '03 truck. I need to figure out a way to re-wire it. But it has got to be something in my trailer that is causing it. Arrgggg and on top of it when I wrecked my truck last year someone stole my nice digital multi-meter while I was going to the hospital. And my new tow strap too. I hate thieves.

 

Check for a recall out on your truck, Masterphreak. If I remember correctly, Dodge changed the amp rating on the PCM from 14 Amps to 17 Amps due to the large volume of resets and warranty claims due to the circuit board failure from the trailer circuit. I am not sure, but try to see if you can get a code reader from the local parts stores to reseat the circuit. (This is assuming you bought a newer or used truck that has not had the recall done to it.) If so then, go to a trusted dealership and have them due the flash/recall. Check here for the recall: http://dodgeram.info/tsb/

Shawn

 

Masterphreak when I was out of town i needed a digital multimeter. Went to a Home Depot and got one for $20. Needed one for figuring out somethig on my boat. Don't know how long it will last but it may save you time. I feel for you, hope you get it fixed as painless as posible.

 

Do you know what TSB # it was for. I didn't see one on that website.

 

The update is somewhat of a joke, and it's not a recall, just a bulletin. Smallish gauge wire only lets them raise the max amperage so high. TIPM takes a few hits and dies. Get a new TIPM and then use the turn signal and park lamp trailer drivers in the TIPM to operate relays to feed voltage to your trailer via a new harness you are going to make with a larger gauge wire. Yes it bites, and no you shouldn't have to do this......but it works and if you don't want to face replacing a TIPM again it's the way to fly.

 

I thought the TIPM was on '05 & up? Is that accurate?

Tony

 

Thats the accronim (TIPM) that I was looking for on my earlier post.

As for Masterphreak question: I think it is this one( http://dodgeram.info/tsb/2006/08-021-06.htm ), but I am not sure since I have not had this problem yet on any of the trailers that I have towed.

I have heard of using relays too, but am wondering why go through all the trouble and have dual circuit via relays. I would rather take the time and strip the cheesy factory wiring and put in quality 12-14 guage wiring from the TIPM back to the Rear Lamps. The wiring got to be laid out along the frame rails, right. The only hic-up would be the TIPM and the Rear Lamps.

SHawn

 

I had the same problem on my 2004. They replaced the whole fuse/breaker assembly under warranty. Now I am having problems with my electric windows that I can't track down. You should be able to wire it directly but what a pain. Good luck.

Hondo

 

That only applies to '06 trucks tho. Mine is an '03. I've already been through this problem on my last '03. I'm guessing it is a short in the trailer wiring. It's the same trailer I used to tow with my old truck. I'll probably just tap into the tail-lights on my truck for now. I did that on my last truck as a temporary fix.