Hi -
I've been lurking on the forum for a while, but now have a question, so I'll start by introducing myself. My wife & I have a 2009 Keystone Outback 26RLS travel trailer & tow with a 2009 Ford F250 V10 truck (using the Ford factory installed trailer brake controller). We got the trailer & truck last fall & have been enjoying them since. After years of tenting & then pop-up camping, it's nice to have amenities. We're currently just weekend & vacation campers, but plan on doing some long term travelling as soon as we can manage.
Getting on to the problem - while towing last weekend, there was a brief chime, and then the dashboard message center flashed the message 'trailer disconnected'. After getting parked, nothing appeared to be physically disconnected. After disconnecting & reconnecting everything, when attempting to adjust the brake controller, the message 'no trailer' was displayed (odd- the thing was right back there - it's a little too big to miss!). When the emergency disconnect was pulled, the trailer brakes did lock up - couldn't budge the trailer. Replaced the emergency disconnect, and tried to set the trailer brakes using the manual overide levers in the truck - there were no trailer brakes.
The truck has been taken to the dealer's service department. They checked all the wiring & connected up to a trailer simulator, with the outcome that the truck wiring checked out as all OK. I mentioned that since the trailer brakes worked fine when the emergency disconnect was pulled, it didn't seem the problem should be in the trailer wiring. When pressed, the Ford service guy did say that the brake control unit in the truck sends out periodic pulses to check if the brake system is alright. He stated that if there is any resistance , say from a corroded connection, that could cause the messages we had seen. That explanation is consistent with what I found after a google search on the problem; it also seems consistent with everything working well up until just recently. His suggestion was that crimped wire connections that allow even a little corrosion to occur could be the source of the problem and that all wire connections on the trailer ought to be soldered to avoid the issue.
Since the truck & trailer are still under warranty, the next stop is the RV dealer so that they can check out the truck-trailer combination. Hopefully they'll be able to find something obvious to them (that an ignorant newbie like me missed) that will fix the problem. My question is: what if they don't? It sounds like the options then would be to a) try and get all the wiring connections soldered on the trailer, or b) forget using the trailer brake controller that came with the truck & instead replace it with a brake controller that doesn't do the annoying pulse/check & then-decide-the-trailer-isn't-there \behavior (if such a thing exists). Any thoughts/advice would be welcome. Thanks in advance.
Al
I've been lurking on the forum for a while, but now have a question, so I'll start by introducing myself. My wife & I have a 2009 Keystone Outback 26RLS travel trailer & tow with a 2009 Ford F250 V10 truck (using the Ford factory installed trailer brake controller). We got the trailer & truck last fall & have been enjoying them since. After years of tenting & then pop-up camping, it's nice to have amenities. We're currently just weekend & vacation campers, but plan on doing some long term travelling as soon as we can manage.
Getting on to the problem - while towing last weekend, there was a brief chime, and then the dashboard message center flashed the message 'trailer disconnected'. After getting parked, nothing appeared to be physically disconnected. After disconnecting & reconnecting everything, when attempting to adjust the brake controller, the message 'no trailer' was displayed (odd- the thing was right back there - it's a little too big to miss!). When the emergency disconnect was pulled, the trailer brakes did lock up - couldn't budge the trailer. Replaced the emergency disconnect, and tried to set the trailer brakes using the manual overide levers in the truck - there were no trailer brakes.
The truck has been taken to the dealer's service department. They checked all the wiring & connected up to a trailer simulator, with the outcome that the truck wiring checked out as all OK. I mentioned that since the trailer brakes worked fine when the emergency disconnect was pulled, it didn't seem the problem should be in the trailer wiring. When pressed, the Ford service guy did say that the brake control unit in the truck sends out periodic pulses to check if the brake system is alright. He stated that if there is any resistance , say from a corroded connection, that could cause the messages we had seen. That explanation is consistent with what I found after a google search on the problem; it also seems consistent with everything working well up until just recently. His suggestion was that crimped wire connections that allow even a little corrosion to occur could be the source of the problem and that all wire connections on the trailer ought to be soldered to avoid the issue.
Since the truck & trailer are still under warranty, the next stop is the RV dealer so that they can check out the truck-trailer combination. Hopefully they'll be able to find something obvious to them (that an ignorant newbie like me missed) that will fix the problem. My question is: what if they don't? It sounds like the options then would be to a) try and get all the wiring connections soldered on the trailer, or b) forget using the trailer brake controller that came with the truck & instead replace it with a brake controller that doesn't do the annoying pulse/check & then-decide-the-trailer-isn't-there \behavior (if such a thing exists). Any thoughts/advice would be welcome. Thanks in advance.
Al
