Thinking about buying a trailer to pull...

As far as hooking up lights and such. The trailer I am looking at has a five or seven prong set up. Joe C you might remember, what type of set up I have.

Is it hard to reconfigure the wires if they need to be to make everything work?

Do the electric brakes work off the same plug in?

Will have have to have some type of control box for the electric brakes?

One one forum a member said anytime his jake brake kicked in it would also activate his electric brakes on trailer. Is this a good thing or bad thing.

Finally, the trailer has 12 volt lights. I think the lights on my 1990 Country Coach are 24 volt. If this is the case, what do I need to do?

Again, just trying to get some info so I can proceed with this trailer.

Thanks,

Tully

P.S.

I recall seeing a long time ago a lock type box you could put on the trailer hitch when not attached to minimize theft. Anyone hear or know of such a thing?

First Tully, there are adapters that are readily available to go from one plug type to another. Another solution might be to just change the trailer plug. It is easy to make the change with a simple multi-tester. The electric brakes work off of the same connection if the trailer brakes are electric. Your friend probably had surge brakes that activate when the tow vehicle activates it's brakes, (such as in JAKE BRAKE) If the trailer has electric brakes you will need to have a brake activator installed. This could require some extensive wiring, depending on the type of activator installed. Having your trailer brakes applied is good when you apply ANY brake on the tow vehicle. You need to check (multi-tester time again) to see if the bus plug has 12 or 24v. My bet is that it has 12V if factory installed. My '97 CC has factory wired 12V.

Let us know if you have any more questions Tully. Good Luck!!!

Darl

Tully,

I'm pretty sure you would have a pre-wired coach that is ready for a trailer. CC added relays from the 24v side to activate the 12v trailer.

You will have to add a brake controller in the driver area if you do not have one. They will be wired through the 7 conductor plug. You can wire it separate from the JAKE.

When I unhook my trailer I pull the hitch from the bus and put the ball in the trailer and use a padlock so no one can hook onto the trailer. I also put a locking pin in the hitch hole.

Dale,

That sounds promising. Simple plug and play. I sure hope so. Will look into this to see.

Thanks everyone for the help.

Tully

Ok I have my search down to two trailers:

22 Foot V-Nose / Box is 22 foot and V-Nose is additional 30 inches

24 Foot V-Nose/ Box is 24 foot and V-Nose is additional 30 inches

If I went with the 24 foot would that not put me over the legal limit?
I sure would like to go with the 24 foot. However, no certain if that
30 additional inches in the V-Nose will come back to bite me?

Both trailers are the extended height with interior height of 8' 6".

So, how much of an issue would going with the 24 be?

Tully

Tully,

I really think you'll be happy with either one. Seems like the trailers get filled up no matter what size they are. I always take my Harley and a SUV so I just like the extra room.

Tully,
When measuring the trailer length, you will need to consider the overall length including the tongue. A V-nose or flat front does not make any difference to the AOL. Although the V-nose will yield more space inside the trailer.
The 24 footer will likely be a least 29 feet long. It looks like your CC is a 45'er. (45+29=).
I opted for the flat front trailer because I liked the interior layout better. It gives me a work surface and cabinets all the way across the front.

As Dale mentioned in an earlier post, your bus should be set-up with a 12v wiring kit for a trailer but wont include a trailer brake controller. You will also need to run an additional wire for the brakes. I chose to run directly off of the brake switch located in the steering bay. It has a 24v output so a voltage transducer and relay will need to be added as well. You can locate these components in the steer bay as well.

You should have a plenty of spare wires running to the back of the bus. Be sure you use the heaviest one you can find.

I used the aux post on the seven pin connector to supply 12v to the trailer for lighting and battery charging.

My Country Coach is 40 feet.

I thought there was a maximum of 65 feet law.

If this is the case, the 24 foot V-Nose could not be used?

Tully

Maximum of 65 feet only in some states. Others allow as much as 75 feet. The 24' trailer will still put you over length in some. (CA).

I do not pull a trailer. I do however try to comply with the 65 foot length. I am in compliance when we haul the Hummer, but I am 3 feet over at 68 feet when I pull my pickup truck. When I travel solo I do tow the pickup.

This is only my observation, but it appears the length limits are enforced if the driver is doing something stupid like speeding or driving agressively. When we were in Spearfish the police that weighed us made it clear they could care less how much we were overweight or length. But I distinctly remember a fellow that pulled into Prevost Jacksonville with a 45 foot coach hauling a 35 foot trailer. He had just paid $500 to the S. Dakota coffers. He got a ticket for overlength and while he did not like paying it he had two observations. First, he was glad they did not make him unhitch and figure out how to get it hauled out of the state, and second, he considered the fine a cheap price to pay to be allowed to bring all his toys.

My observation was that he was likely a cowboy that got their attention and he got a ticket because he was acting in a foolish manner.

I would not be anxious to go to states desperate for money however because overlength rigs are a revenue source.