Trailer brakes lock up. Trailer wireing?
 

I barrowed my father in laws skid trailer the other day and when I hooked up to it I'd drive about 2ft and the brakes would lock up. I dont think it's my pickup or brake controler because when I called him he said it has done it to two other people.
So here's my question what is the wiring diagram for a 6 wire trailer. I have to use a reducer from the pickup to the trailer. The trailer plug has five connections around the outside and one in the middle. Lets say the little piece that sticks is 12 o'clock and the little screw is at 6 o'clock. What would the wire sequence be clock wise and which one in the middle.

Wire colors red, black, green, yellow, brown, and the white one isn't currentlhy hooked up.

Any help would be great.

White is generally GROUND, and is, to my recollection, the center pin on the truck plug. Brown is usually running lights. Green and yellow are brake/directional (green is usually right as you face rear of trailer, yellow left). So a four wire set up would be:
White: ground
Green: right brake/signal
Yellow: left brake/signal
Brown: running lights

Every trailer I have had with electric brakes has a BLUE wire. So I am not sure what someone has used the RED and the BLACK in your description for. Perhaps you can trace the wire forward from the brakes for color ?

Also, in a truck plug, there is often a wire for charging a trailer battery (for an RV setup, but if your truck has a "tow package" it might have this, as my 3500 does with a dedicated fuse....).

A quick way to test on the truck end (end then you would know what is required on the trailer plug, as usually you can only insert one way), is a 12 volt test light - I have had to do this numerous times with new (to me) trucks, as people seem to wire them in all sorts of ways. But if the problem is repeated with other drivers/trucks, could be the brake circuit of the truck, or something going to ground (they are magnetic I think). Tracing and testing may be your only way to resolve the problem.

check your adapter there are 2 diff. wiring possibilitys yours is wrong for that trailer.easy fix switch the wire in the center with the one in the s position on your 6way then remember to switch it back before leaving upon returning the trailer

here is some diagrams to help you. http://www.etrailer.com/faq/wiring.aspx on these diagrams you are looking at the back of the plug.

Thanks guys. I'll have to look at it tomorrow.

is the break away cable too tight? maybe hanging up on a safety chain?

Good info here. The six pin connector has two different ways of being wired. One way uses the center pin for elec. brakes, the other way uses the center pin for 12v power. All other pins are the same in both cases. Your 7 to 6 pin adapter generally has a way to change these two pins if you take it apart.

Dodgezilla raises a good point too. Check that the breakaway switch isn't causing this problem too. Unplug your trailer wiring connector and pull the trailer. Make sure the problem goes away when the trailer isn't plugged into the truck.

I just pulled a 30' tagalong the other day that had the 6 pin plug and sure enough, the brake wire and the battery were switched. I have an adapter from 7 to 6 which I could take apart and I switched the center of the 6 with the battery pin and all worked fine. I took the trailer plug apart and instead of finding brakes to the center pin, there were no wires hooked to the center, so I was pumping straight battery to the brakes. Lock up city! I kinda of figured it out right away because I had hooked up to it the night before and when I went to start the truck in the morning, the batteries were dead. Pumping power to the brakes all night does a number on the battery charge.

Keep in mind that DODGE , for whatever reason , from the factory, has those two wires reversed from EVERY OTHER TRUCK BUILDER...

if you buy new...you will have to reverse these two

Can you elaborate? I swap trailers with my parent's (dmax) and non-Dodge friends all the time and don't have any lighting or brake problems. I also pulled my old trailer with my chevy gasser and suburban before (getting smart) buying my CTD. I had no wiring issues in the transition. :confused:

I would like to know too. We have two trailers with electric brakes and we haven't done a thing to my Dodge, nor my Dad's old Ford Superduty and now his new MC dually.
Only issue that I know of (and it's not much of one) is the interior lights in the car hauler works on the Dodge without having the parking lights on, but on the Ford the parking lights must be on.

MikeyB

Actually, it's only the 6 pin connector that has that condition. Dodge trucks all come with the 7 pin connector which has only one standard wiring pattern. Even all the trailer manufacturers seem to agree on how to wire the 7 pin connector, which is unusual.

http://www.marksrv.com/wiring.htm Same problem.