hello ,,, i want to hook up a power winch on my boat trailer, and run the winch power thru my connector. but there is no neg ,or pos, power,. the lites on the trailer work fine but i want to just plug the trailer connection in and have power to the winch. i have a 06 f150 with towing package i checked all the fuses and there all good ............ any help ?? thanx

 

I know this is going to sound stupid, but many have made the same mistake. Did you have the lights ON when you checked for power? If so, did you verify that you had a good ground for your test light? (Yes, I've missed both before - and kicked myself later.) I use an in-line tester that runs between the truck and trailer that verifies both sides are working.

Next concern. Most power winches for trailers consume a good deal of power. Are you sure your trailer circuit will handle that much? It sounds like you're planning on disconnecting your trailer lights to plug in the winch. If you do that - and draw too much - you'll have no power (lights) in the circuit you just blew.

 

What type of connector are you using between your boat & truck? eg. 4 flat, 7 round, 5 flat, 6 round.

 

im useing a six flat.. well heres what i did ,,,,thinking about the only next thing for power, is run a hot wire from the battery and splice it in to the connector... naaaa too much trouble.... the only other wire going thru was the electric brake... well with alot of testing continuity and voltage, i found that i can jump the oem connector with a fused link under the dash.. and there i go a hot wire to the connector,,pluged the trailer in and it works great,, ----- as for the first reply, yea i tryed it with the lite on and off .. i figured it mite matter.. and the trailer connector one plug will do lites and power winch.. ;-)

 

Not sure how the '06s are but on the 97-03 truck there is actually a seperate little fuse block for the factory towing package. It's mounted under the hood on the driver's side next to the relay box.

Had a buddy blow a fuse for his trailer and it took us forever to find that stupid fuse block. For some reason the manual says nothing about it either. You almost can't even see it from the drivers side. It's only about an inch and a half wide and about 4 or five inches long. Sorta sits under the lip an the edge of the fender. Sound like you alredy found a solution, but though this might be helpful. Good luck--DIY

 

yeah i seen that fuse box ,, but it just seems to be for the lites only , not for power,, thanx for the input...

 

Don't know if you care to see what is going on with this.

There should be no need to install a fuse under the dash on the OEM connector ( I assume you are talking about the trailer Brake controller connector ) to get power to the rear, if you do have the factory tow package installed.

Q1. You are using a Flat 6 trailer connector, who installed this, and how ?
1.1. The factory tow package, if installed, is a Flat 4 and a 7 pin round, no flat 6 in the options.

If you have the 7 pin round on, the Orange lead is the trailer battery feed ( hot with key in the run position ), this is the pin in the 7 round connector, at about the 01:00 position ( upper right hand of the arc, just past where 12:00 would be at ).
Thing with using this to power a winch, is this is a circuit only good for 11.5 AMPs.

If you jumpered the electric brakes so the circuit is made, this is the Dark Blue wire on the 7 pin round, at about 05:30 postion. This circuit is only good for 21 AMPs.

The tow package from the factory does not have the Relay for the trailer battery feed circuit installed. The plastic bag with the Trailer tow package in the glove box has the Full size ISO relay in it, that needs to be installed by the operator.


Best to check what the inrush current is for the winch and see if you are beyond the operating spec's of the trailer wiring.

I don't recall off hand, if a Flat-6 connector has the battery feed on it, like the 7 pin round. If the winch will operate at the specs of the battery circuit, you might want to consider changing the trailer harness to a round 7 pin, and usign the correct feed, to power the winch. Else, if the Winch draws more then the 21 AMPS, then it would be a case of installing something like the winch harness from Warn. I have these for front and rear, and they use the High AMP 2 pin connectors, which mate to the winch, and also have a jumper cable attachement for them. They go to a HD relay ( to be able to turn them off ), and then to the battery.

 

Just an FYI, that was gone by '99. I know the '98 still had the Aux fuse block, I have pictures of that, and there is a ref in the '98 EVTM.

In '99 the Trailer Tow fuses and Relays were in the Central Junction box, and the Power Distrubution box ( under hood and in the cab fuse panels ).

Ref 1999 Owners manual, pages 152 to 156, depending on which fuse or relay you are looking for. Newer MY Trucks are different page numbers ( '01 starts on page 131 ), but still in the Roadside Emerg section.

Factory trailer tow package install directions also show this starting on page 5.

Just in case you run across something newer then 1998.

 

OK, thanks for the info, and yep, my buddy's truck was a '98, so you'd likely be correct!--DIY

 

I sure could have used your help on figuring this out back in APR.
The documentation in the later printings ( PDF ) of the 1998 OM, don't show the Engine minifuse panel. It drove me nuts trying to find that one, for a problem in a thread. a 6 postion fuse block, with only 2 fuses used.

Might have been a late 98 MY change as well, as the PDF I have for the 1998 does not show this, it lists all the trailer fuses as CJB and BJB located items

The 1997 OM shows the Engine minifuse panel clearly on page 142.

 

Huh, yeah same here, we were ready to run all new wiring to his trailer light connection. Looked all through the manual and it said absolutely nothing about this little 6 position fuse block. Really sorta irritating at midnight of the day he was planning on leaving on a camping trip. Thanks for the info though, I have never honestly had any reason to look at my truck for this panel, but sounds like it probably doesn't have it. I'll have to check it later tonight.--DIY