I will be purchasing a new Ford Super Duty F250 later this year. My question: Does this model already have a harness / plug hookup or will I have to improvise my own? What method did you use on yours? Mine will consist of just the running lights, truck positive and ground only. Thanks!

Lance has a special plug for their camper and they run a heavier charge line. You can make your own but my advise is to get one of theirs.

I should clarify.....I was refering to the electrical connection on the truck itself. I have the camper male socket and the female socket for the truck, my concern was splicing into the truck wiring, where, best method, ect................thanks.

I can't tell you on a Ford as I have Cheby. Mine is wired in at the main fuse box under the hood. There are hot lugs that it is wired to. I would think that it is the same place that my trailer wiring is tied in, so everything works,lights etc.

quote:

Originally posted by tlm:
My question: Does this model already have a harness / plug hookup

I think that depends on whether or not you get the towing package. I have an F-350 with the factory towing package and it works great.

Most of us have cut off that Lance plug and thrown it away. We've then installed the large 7 pin (round) plug that goes into your truck's back bumper trailer receptical.

That being said, the Lance COLOR SCHEME is different than what you may think it to be.

Do a search on the net and you can find the color scheme. Print it out and use it to rewire the new plug onto the Lance's wire.

Sure, the wire that came with the camper will be too short, so go to a RV place and buy about 10 feet of 7 part RV wire from them.

Splice it in and your camper will simply plug into the back of your bumper, just like a trailer would.

You may have to do some extra wiring with a battery isolator to get the camper's battery to charge when driving.

Personally I don't see a problem with replacing the Lance plug but be sure that you run a heavy enough charge line. Most trailer lines are not heavy enough to charge properly.

Thanks to everyone for your help.

quote:

Originally posted by narcodog:
Personally I don't see a problem with replacing the Lance plug but be sure that you run a heavy enough charge line. Most trailer lines are not heavy enough to charge properly.

Yep, the 7-conductor trailer wire is only 10-gauge for the charge and ground wires and that's why I don't use it. The extra 10 feet of trailer cable to the truck's factory receptcale only creates more voltage drop.

I use the Lance plug and receptacle with the 8-gauge wire and wire it directly to the truck battery using 8-gauge wire and a 40-amp circuit breaker. Also most truck charge line to the factory trailer receptacle is too small to effectively charge the camper battery or run the fridge on 12-volts.

Bill

Bill S , you got me thinking on this 8ga wire to the batt & braker. Do you use a battery seperator switch, to seperate the truck batts when in the shut down mode. I just rewired my lance camper to a 05 Ford F350 dually diesel,(two batterys). The trk had a 7 pin in the box, fwd left side. I got another lance cable and made a lance to a 7pin on the trk. It is tied to factory wiring harness just below the plug in under the box. How did you wire the 8ga to the box female? What wire on the Lance is the charge line? Thanks for the input. Tim

quote:

Originally posted by Tim:
Bill S , you got me thinking on this 8ga wire to the batt & braker. Do you use a battery seperator switch, to seperate the truck batts when in the shut down mode. I just rewired my lance camper to a 05 Ford F350 dually diesel,(two batterys). The trk had a 7 pin in the box, fwd left side. I got another lance cable and made a lance to a 7pin on the trk. It is tied to factory wiring harness just below the plug in under the box. How did you wire the 8ga to the box female? What wire on the Lance is the charge line? Thanks for the input. Tim

I don't have a battery disconnect switch since our Lance has an automatic battery isolator built in. Using 8 gauge wire I wired the large black wire in the Lance harness directly to the positive post on the driver side battery using a 40 circuit breaker near the battery for safety. I connected the large white wire in the Lance harness, using 8 gauge wire, directly to the negative post on the driver side battery. It's not necessary to separate the two truck cranking batteries.

Using adapters from a RV 7-way standard female connection to the Lance female connector, depending on the wiring used, may cause a voltage drop. I installed the Lance connector in the truck bed near the front.

On my '03 Dodge with the trailer tow package, in addition to the standard 7-way RV connection at the rear bumper, there is a 4-way female connector (boat trailer type) tucked up under the rear bumper. I used this connection for the clearance lights, brake, and turn signals on my Lance connection instead of tapping into the wire harness along the truck frame. I don't like to tap/alter the expensive factory wire harnesses.

Bill