Re: [a/s] My First Tow: A Lesson in Fear

[Jim Dunmyer <jdunmyer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Warren,
 When I plug in my trailer connector, I always check all the lights. As
I roll down the driveway, I always check that the brakes are working.

Every single time, without exception.

Even if the bozos at CW wired it correctly, there's no guarantee that
it'll work the next time you plug it in. Here's a short story:

When I got my A/S last year, I went to the local Coleman place and got a
new plug for the trailer and connector for the truck. They're the common
RV 7-pin (flat) variety.

Wired everything up and all worked great.

Last trip of the season was to the Vintage A/S rally in Pennsylvania.
When we went to leave, the LH brake light didn't work. I finally wiggled
and pressed HARD on the connector and it started to work.

This spring, I bought a different trailer. Plugged it in, and most of
the stuff didn't work. After a lot of fooling around, I ended up
replacing the connector on the truck. Even though it was only a year
old, looked fine, and had power on all the appropiate pins.

Not only did the new trailer now work, so did the A/S, but it took a lot
more pressure to get it seated in the new connector.

When I sold the A/S this week, the new owner plugged it into his vehicle
and nothing worked. I think he doubted that the A/S worked at all, and
he asked that I connect it to my Dodge. I did, and everything worked
fine. So, we hooked up his vehicle again, and lo and behold, this time
everything worked.

Moral of the story: test it every single time, without exception.

Some of your handling problems may have been due to the downhill grade,
it might handle better going uphill.

                                   <<Jim>>