How to keep gooseneck trailer electric cable from getting caught in bumper?

ovrszd · Mar 3, 2015

Plug in the bed.

I pulled my Gn once with the factory plug under the bumper. Next day went to town and bought a plug and play wiring harness with new plug/housing. Drilled a hole in the front of the left rear corner bed upright and installed it. I have no cord dragging or even getting dirt when pulling in bad weather. I also carry a hooked rod that lets me latch/unlatch the hitch without having to climb in the bed. Life is good.

Edit: Here ya go. Took a pic. See how clean? )

MikePA · Mar 3, 2015

When we towed a GN horse trailer, the plug was on the side of the bed, actually in the plastic bedliner.

chrisclark · Mar 3, 2015

ovrszd said:
Plug in the bed.

I pulled my Gn once with the factory plug under the bumper. Next day went to town and bought a plug and play wiring harness with new plug/housing. Drilled a hole in the front of the left rear corner bed upright and installed it. I have no cord dragging or even getting dirt when pulling in bad weather. I also carry a hooked rod that lets me latch/unlatch the hitch without having to climb in the bed. Life is good.

Edit: Here ya go. Took a pic. See how clean? )

That looks great.

ovrszd · Mar 4, 2015

chrisclark said:
That looks great.

30 minute install. By using a plug/play wiring harness I still have the connector under the bumper. I use it when pulling my Son's bumper hitch trailer. Best of both worlds.

RobertN · Mar 4, 2015

Mine is set up like that as noted in earlier post with links to those harnesses. Works great. And, still have plug by receiver hitch for my other "bumper pull" trailers.

ovrszd said:
30 minute install. By using a plug/play wiring harness I still have the connector under the bumper. I use it when pulling my Son's bumper hitch trailer. Best of both worlds.

powerscol · Mar 4, 2015

Out of curiosity, where did you get your plug and play harness at. Drew a blank with my Ford dealer?

schmism · Mar 4, 2015

never occured to me that the plug for a GN or 5th wheel wouldnt be in the bed of the truck. only ones ive ever seen were in the bed of the truck on a 3' pigtail.

I think if i only had one 7 pin recepitcal and it was down at the bumper, id build an extension cord to get it up into the bed and connect it up there so these stories dont happen.

chrisclark · Mar 4, 2015

After watching the videos on etrailer.com, I think adding a 7-pin plug to the bed might be something I can tackle myself.

Thanks,
Chris

Gunny · Mar 5, 2015

chrisclark said:
After watching the videos on etrailer.com, I think adding a 7-pin plug to the bed might be something I can tackle myself.

Thanks,
Chris

I would pretty much bet you could do it yourself. The hardest part is coming up with the proper size hole saw (if you don't already have one).

Drop the tailgate, drill the big hole, feed the wires down, drill the 1/8th holes to screw down the new receptacle, drop the spare tire, unplug your current 7 wire, plug your new one into the circuit, zip tie the excess out of the way, raise the spare tire. Then go get a beverage of choice and sit back looking at how pretty that new receptacle looks back there.

EDIT: I'm pretty sure that after checking out all the online places, Amazon had he best price, etrailer was close and in case you've never ordered from etrailer, they ship almost as quick as Amazon

ovrszd · Mar 5, 2015

powerscol said:
Out of curiosity, where did you get your plug and play harness at. Drew a blank with my Ford dealer?

That's where I got mine. They actually had it in stock. But I'm in GN land with all the cattle farmers around. They said over half of the diesel 3/4 ton and heavier trucks they sell have them installed before they leave the lot.