Need to run power for a trailer winch....
 

I need to run a cable for the power winch on my boat trailer under the new truck, since its getting close to hurricane season and don't want to get caught with my "pants down". Is there a particular battery I should use, I was going to use the one on the drivers side to keep the cable away from the exhaust on the pass side. I had heard that on the older Ferds (like my 97)the battery on the pass side was the one to use for such connections, dunno why [dummy] Thanks

On my friends car hauler, we mounted a toolbox to the trailer, then mounted the winch and a battery inside, put a fairlead on the toolbox(built a boxtube frame to support it) and it worked great.
For power, we used one of the unused power wires coming from the 7pin, since his trailer just had tail lights and brakes.
I dont remember which one though, but just a thought. It wouldnt be hard to wire into the trailer connector, so basically its only powered when you have the trailer hooked up(which is when you need it anyway), and no running a new wire from the battery.

I think the middle connector in the 7-pin connector is simply a power wire....

Not sure if this is useful information, but my Pace car trailer has an electric tounge jack which is powered by the factory 7 pin connector.

go to a big truck parts supply. They have a plug with one terminal, large, I use one for the hydraulic system on my trailer. It looks just like the seven pin plug for a big truck, not the rv, but has only one large terminal. It is the proper way to do it.... fool proof. Does not matter which battery you use, they are in parallel.

As others stated, the 7 pin plug on your truck has a power and ground wires that are meant to charge a battery on a RV. This wire is usually 10 gauge. I would buy a 7 pin plug from any auto parts, it will have the pin configuration. Wire your winch to the plug and then just plug and play.

If it will run on a 7 pin plug it can't be much of a winch. As far as charging a battery on the 7 pin, there is a horrendous drop in voltage on a 20 foot run of 10 gage.

I have a marine battery mounted in a toolbox on my carhauler that I have hooked to the center on the seven pin plug to charge it. I handles my 8000lb winch no problem. If it wasn't hooked to a battery it would never handle it though. I have used it pretty heavily (dragged a car on that had the 2 rear wheels locked up) and have never had any wiring troubles, just make sure that you give it the opportunity to charge the battery.

Thanks gentlemen, some great ideas...as usual. I already had the cable for the power winch, so I just went ahead and ran it along the frame today, was an easy job and some of the plastic blocks that hold the brake and fuel lines had empty clips, so of course those were used. tied into the drivers side battery and put a fuse on the cable, test light said all is good. I've been thinking of yanking the boat out of the water for a day to clean it up and also, so I can try towing with the new rig. 2800 miles on the clock, it's time to tow something. [guitar]