Another Egg in the 'Hood

[peterh]

Ta Daaaa!

I drove down to California Thursday and Friday, dropped our not-quite-faithful mule off at the shop, toured our new little home on wheels and paid the nice man the rest of his money, retreived the truck, hooked up and drove home on Friday/Saturday, arriving at our doorstep after dark.

I have learned some things:
1) Just because the trailer cable Bergman adapter only fits in the socket one way, it doesn't mean that way is the right way. Spent way too much time trying to figure out why my left blinker blinked when I wanted to turn right, the right blinker when I wanted to turn left, and let's not forget the brakes locke up when I turned the lights on.

2) It is no fun towing a trailer in the dark on a very rainy, windy night.

3) Peope really do stop and ask you about your trailer.

4) Just because the nice guy at the used car dealership took your truck off to the repair shop and showed you the bill for the work done, it doesn't mean the work was done right.

5) a 3-liter V6 in a ford ranger will happily tow a Scamp 5th wheel. It's a little slow up the steep hills, and that's it. 15 mpg while towing.

6) That rest stop just before you get to Weed, California gets really windy.

7) Really, really windy.

8) Sometimes you really can buy a trailer sight unseen from Craig's List and have it come out alright.

Picture is of the truck and Scamp 5th wheel at the Valley of the Rogue State Park rest stop off of I-5.

[Alf S.]

Hi: Very...Very...Nice!!! Stripe the truck to match the trailer and It's a combo Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[Terry G.]

talking about wiring, heheh
mine when we found it had two wiring cables coming from the toung area, one on the left and one on the right ???????,huh

any way after we decided to get the rig i made up a tow bar with lights and licens plate holder ( a complete set up) , tested it on the truck and off we went to get the trailer and all went well going home.

after getting home i looked at the wiring and it seems "each side" had a hook up , guess the guy had problems figuring out how to hook lights up, heheh

[Donna D.]

SCORE!! We get to see it at the Northern Oregon Gathering in April...right Peter?

Glad you got home safe and sound and yes, towing in high wind is a white knuckle time....even if not pulling a trailer! (From someone who lives in windy east county Portland, Oregon)

Let the fun and memories begin!!

[BobB]

Congratulations. Looks like a really good rig! Nothing like a stiff test the first trip.

We are headed up I-5 to Camas in a few days. Last trip in July it was over 100 deg at the passes and 2 years ago after Christmas we waited 2 nights in Ashland for the road to open (snow and wind)--always an adventure!

[Frederick L. Simson]

I have learned some things:
1) Just because the trailer cable Bergman adapter only fits in the socket one way, it doesn't mean that way is the right way. Spent way too much time trying to figure out why my left blinker blinked when I wanted to turn right, the right blinker when I wanted to turn left, and let's not forget the brakes locke up when I turned the lights on.
4) Just because the nice guy at the used car dealership took your truck off to the repair shop and showed you the bill for the work done, it doesn't mean the work was done right.
8) [b]Sometimes you really can buy a trailer sight unseen from Craig's List and have it come out alright.

Getting it home the 1st time is often a test.
Congratulations! You passed!

[Roger H]

I have learned some things:
1) Just because the trailer cable Bergman adapter only fits in the socket one way, it doesn't mean that way is the right way. Spent way too much time trying to figure out why my left blinker blinked when I wanted to turn right, the right blinker when I wanted to turn left, and let's not forget the brakes locke up when I turned the lights on.

Peter, one of the interesting things about buying these used is that you never know for sure who wired them up last. There is a standard, and it was probably right on your truck, but if your seller was a DIY kind of guy, he may not have been constrained by convention. I've re-wired several connectors to 'standard' over the years after the previous owner just made sure the right wires connected to each other on HIS wiring job.

Roger

[Brian B-P]

...my left blinker blinked when I wanted to turn right, the right blinker when I wanted to turn left, and let's not forget the brakes locked up when I turned the lights on.

Hey, at least the turn signal lights and brakes work!

Have fun rewiring your reversed connector (almost a mirror image of correctly wired), and congratulations on the new trailer.

[Bill F.]

Ta Daaaa!

I drove down to California Thursday and Friday, dropped our not-quite-faithful mule off at the shop, toured our new little home on wheels and paid the nice man the rest of his money, retreived the truck, hooked up and drove home on Friday/Saturday, arriving at our doorstep after dark.

I have learned some things:
1) Just because the trailer cable Bergman adapter only fits in the socket one way, it doesn't mean that way is the right way. Spent way too much time trying to figure out why my left blinker blinked when I wanted to turn right, the right blinker when I wanted to turn left, and let's not forget the brakes locke up when I turned the lights on.

2) It is no fun towing a trailer in the dark on a very rainy, windy night.

3) Peope really do stop and ask you about your trailer.

4) Just because the nice guy at the used car dealership took your truck off to the repair shop and showed you the bill for the work done, it doesn't mean the work was done right.

5) a 3-liter V6 in a ford ranger will happily tow a Scamp 5th wheel. It's a little slow up the steep hills, and that's it. 15 mpg while towing.

6) That rest stop just before you get to Weed, California gets really windy.

7) Really, really windy.

8) Sometimes you really can buy a trailer sight unseen from Craig's List and have it come out alright.

Picture is of the truck and Scamp 5th wheel at the Valley of the Rogue State Park rest stop off of I-5.

Brian mentioned mirror image in relation to proper wiring. Most of the Bargman type connectors that I have seen come with a diagram showing how to connect properly but the user has to determine whether they are looking at the front or back side of the plug. Making the wrong choice automatically gives you "mirror image". In Canada, Princess Auto sell a test device with 3 LED lights that plugs into a flat four, or flat four Bargman adapter at the vehicle to verify correct wiring on the tow vehicle. The lights indicate Left signal, Right signal, and running lights. Last summer when I was buying and selling used trailers this little tool made life easy, because it only took a minute to test the tow vehicle, and I already had verified the trailers were standard. If the tow vehicle has a Bargman system this still leaves the 12V supply, the brake wire, and one auxilary circuit to verify but most people buying these little trailers only had a flat four plug hanging out of the trunk. When I had to travel any distance to retrieve a trailer I did what someone else already mentioned, I made up a pair of brackets that clamped into the end of the bumper on the trailer, one for the right light and one with a license plate bracket and the left light, all connected to 30' of wire with a Bargman plug on the end. I ran a ground wire with the others right to both lights so I didn't have to worry about ground connection between the Tug and trailer. Twice during the winter months I hooked this system up in less than 5 minutes and was ready to travel. I was going to just buy a set of magnetic lights like the tow trucks use but none of these seemed to have a place for the licence plate(and light) because they don't need it. I didn't want to take that chance so made my own.
Bill

[Andrew Gibbens]

Spent way too much time trying to figure out why my left blinker blinked when I wanted to turn right, the right blinker when I wanted to turn left, and let's not forget the brakes locke up when I turned the lights on.

It has always been my understanding that trailer lights here in Yurp are [b]supposed to work the way you describe.

In addition I believe it is corect practice that when the tow vehicle brake lights come on, [b]all the lights on the trailer should go out.

This is a safety feature, to prevent following drivers from being overloaded with information, and should not be altered......

Andrew

[Donna D.]

This is a safety feature, to prevent following drivers from being overloaded with information, and should not be altered......

Andrew

Andrew if you were in the U.S. I'd accuse you of being a red-neck lightweight molded fiberglass trailer owner

[Bob Cupp]

Whats wrong with being a red-neck lightweight molded fiberglass trailer owner??? I is one!!! (Wisconsin does have red-necks, and all of them are not dumb, there are exceptions.)

[Byron Kinnaman]

Spent way too much time trying to figure out why my left blinker blinked when I wanted to turn right, the right blinker when I wanted to turn left,

Quote form Patrick McManus
"You reason that since only four wires lead from the trailer plug and four wires lead from the car plug, there exists only a limited number of wrong combinations. True. The limited number is 4,389"
Quoted from The Grasshopper Trap by Patrick McManus



I wonder the limited number is with 7 wires.

[RJordanX2]

Morning, glad to see you made it home safely!! I live just a few miles from Valley of the Rogue park. that looks like a great rig, and yes, you need to sign up quick for the gathering, if ther are any spaces left. Usually, there are some cancellations at the park, and Nancy keeps us informed, so do the people that can't make it, if they are within the group.
We all have had some weird hook up experinces, but if all else fails, U-Haul will fix it fast. Just a thought for those who do not want to mess with the electric
have a great time with you new baby.
Via Con Dios
Randy and Renee

[Gina D.]

6) That rest stop just before you get to Weed, California gets really windy.

7) Really, really windy.

Been there, done that Can't beat the view tho!

Congrats! As far as the bargman, I bet the former owners miswired his truck by mis interpreting the mirror image, and simply wired the bargman to match his boo boo. He probably didn't have a clue it was wrong.

[peterh]

The problem with the Bargman wasn't actually wiring. It was easier to plug the one-way plug went into the the one-way-socket upside down than right way up. I sat in a in a Wal-Mart parking lot for a couple hours trying to figure this out . . . then really had to wiggle the connector back and forth to get it in the socket the right way around.

After that, the right signal blinked when I moved the turn indicator lever right, and the left when a left indicator was used . . . and the brakes did not come on full power when I turned the headlights on.

Looking at the socket and connector, they were made to connect the way they wound up; my guess is there was some flashing or somesuch blocking the channel ridge in the socket.

--Peter

[Brian B-P]

Wow... the reason I said it was "almost a mirror image of correctly wired" was that it wasn't quite a mirror across the connector, as you would get by consistently misreading the diagram; it didn't occur to me that the wiring was rotated one-half turn, since plugging them together that way should be impossible!

I would think that while something blocking the groove in the socket would make correct insertion difficult, there would also need to be damage to the ridge on the plug to allow the incorrect insertion. Perhaps some previous owner had a tow vehicle with a socket wired "upside down", and (on the basis the two wrongs make a right) shaved off the ridge to make it work, instead of fixing the socket wiring? Oh well, the Scamp is in better hands now...

[BOBSMITH]

Nice trailer!

Sorry about your wiring problems.

[peterh]

SCORE!! We get to see it at the Northern Oregon Gathering in April...right Peter?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
We'll be there!
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[David & Leslie]

Congratulations on a successful search for the "just right for you" FGRV! Ah - wiring ... penance for the fun we'll all have with our trailers, eh? Glad you got home safely and wish you many happy memories as you camp with your 5er. Looking forward to seeing you at the Gathering, too! Take care, L 'n D