Grounding a trailer

[DOUBLEG]

I recently replaced the electric brakes on my wife's horsetrailer. The brakes were not wired in and the magnets were shot.

No problem getting the brakes wired (grounded thru the plug) and working. Nice to have them when trailering something that is alive.

My question is should I also ground them to the frame?

All the wiring diagrams I can find show the lights and brakes separately never a diagram showing a complete the wiring system. Everything is working but I just have this nagging question.

Thanks.

 

[RayH]

I think grounding through the plug is the correct way but you cant hurt it by also grounding them through the trailer frame. It all ends up at the battery ground either way (common ground system). All thats important is that you get a good, solid and reliable ground, even wire gauge and wire length can adversely effect brake performance, thats how sensitive they are.

 

[MikeD74T]

Grounding to the frame can make the difference between decreased performance vs complete failure if the ground wire were to fail. By the same token it could mask the broken wire by still allowing some brake function. I recommend frame & circuit grounded.

 

[Highbeam]

Grounding to the frame can make the difference between decreased performance vs complete failure if the ground wire were to fail. By the same token it could mask the broken wire by still allowing some brake function. I recommend frame & circuit grounded.

I agree. I will also add that most every trailer light I've worked on is grounded to the metal mount and does NOT use a seperate ground wire all the way to the plug. It is a simple matter of splicing a ground wire to the trailer frame right near the tongue connecting to the trailer plugs ground. Think of it not so much as a seperate ground for the trailer through the ball mount but as an additional and bigger path for the trailer lighting and brakes to get to the plug's ground. Gooder grounds is more better.

 

[DmansPadge]

Adding a ground will not hurt anything and will be easy to do.

 

[Soundguy]

I added a large fem spade terminal at my hitch point on my truck.. and the mate ont he trailer side.. grounded at the same place the breakaway battery is grounded at. i just plug it in when i plug the trailer connector in.

Soundguy