New to me 2017 fleet - how to wire into truck - 2016 Tacoma

[Kerschbaumer]

Is there a wiring harness from FWC that I will need or is there another way from locally available bits - am looking for something plug and play. Is it a tricky install or best left to FWC in Vancouver? I am ok on the tools - but electrical is a bit of voodoo to me.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

First you might contact the dealer.
You said there's one in Vancouver?
It may be worth the money to have it
done for you rather then a DIY job if you
don't have the experience.
It's not that big of a job though.
Frank

 

[makalutoo]

The stock wiring from FWC (on my 2018 fleet) is 10 gauge from the battery of the truck to the camper. There is a 30amp automatically resetting breaker in the engine bay and one in the camper. The wiring goes from the engine bay along the frame rail to the front drivers side of the truck bed where there is an Atwood trolling motor plug that connects to a pig tail that comes off of the camper.

I recently upgraded the wiring to the camper to heavy 2 gauge battery cable to reduce voltage loss. This is a fairly common upgrade on truck campers as the stock wiring would only provide me about 3 amps to charge the camper batteries which was not enough. I am sure it would be fairly easy for you to find someone to wire up the camper, and FWC could definitely do it, though they may not provide heavy gauge wire than there stock setup.

I would be more than happy to send you the wire and the atwood connectors that I took off of my setup if you are interested in paying shipping for them. I wouldn't be able to send them for about a week and a half however.

Here is a thread that will give you all the info you can ask for on charging your batteries.

https://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/13230-i-need-more-power-scotty/

Good Luck!

 

[Vic Harder]

Best to go see Mr Morrissey in Port Moody. He's a good guy. AND do upgrade the wiring from the stock sizes as mentioned by others here.

 

[Kolockum]

I recently upgraded the wiring to the camper to heavy 2 gauge battery cable to reduce voltage loss. This is a fairly common upgrade on truck campers as the stock wiring would only provide me about 3 amps to charge the camper batteries which was not enough. I am sure it would be fairly easy for you to find someone to wire up the camper, and FWC could definitely do it, though they may not provide heavy gauge wire than there stock setup.

Best to go see Mr Morrissey in Port Moody. He's a good guy. AND do upgrade the wiring from the stock sizes as mentioned by others here.

X3 on upgrading the wire size it made a huge difference in the charging capacity. I did my own wiring with a simple solenoid, resettable breaker and a piggy back/add a fuse. There are several good threads here on that.

 

[Kerschbaumer]

Awesome stuff guys - thanks for that. As a general rule I tend to attempt to break things first myself - then seek help if needed. I tried to do a search and not much popped up. If anyone can direct me that would be much appreciated. Wonder if i could run a temp wire to my trailer plug to get through a couple trips have planned then wire it properly.

 

[Kerschbaumer]

Best to go see Mr Morrissey in Port Moody. He's a good guy. AND do upgrade the wiring from the stock sizes as mentioned by others here.

Wow Vic- Just skim read your post on powering the camper - feel like i have opened Pandoras box. Looks like I have some reading to do. This is the tip of the iceberg no doubt.

 

[Vic Harder]

Wow Vic- Just skim read your post on powering the camper - feel like i have opened Pandoras box. Looks like I have some reading to do. This is the tip of the iceberg no doubt.

Read enough to get dangerous... then ask questions! We're here to help!

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

Basic Install video. Might give you a better idea on electrical.

 

[makalutoo]

Hi Stan,

Why does FWC continue to use 10 gauge wire for the battery connection to the truck? When I got my camper hooked up on my Tacoma, my camper battery would charge from 3-6 amps, which often wasn't enough to keep up with camper battery usage on a trip. It seems like this is an issue that many folks have, that could easily be rectified, if FWC would adjust the components used to wire the camper to the truck. Maybe there is more to it that i am not thinking about.

I hope i'm not hijacking the thread.

Thanks

 

[Kerschbaumer]

Not at all - I would love to know that too. I have arranged with the Canadian FWC in Vancouver to send me up all the parts to wire my truck, which will arrive today, and I asked them for heavier guage wire and they said all they have is either the 10 or 12 guage. If I am doing this - I rather do it best the first time - and will swap out the wire - What wire should I use and should I attach to battery or alternator?

 

[Kerschbaumer]

Basic Install video. Might give you a better idea on electrical.

Awesome Stan - thanks so much for that video - super helpful. We are chomping for a road trip this weekend for our Canadian Thanksgiving!

 

[Vic Harder]

4AWG welding cable works well. I used 2AWG and that might be considered overkill. Others here have used 6AWG.

10AWG is rated to carry 30A, but there will be significant voltage drop (power loss) which you don't want and with a Toyota truck (it has a smart alternator) you will get almost no charging happening.

10AWG with the addition of a DC-DC charger in the camper, WILL work because the DC-DC will compensate for the power loss but will draw about 36-40A, (assuming a 30A charger) meaning that the wire is under-spec'd.

No need to go directly to the alternator. Battery posts are fine. If you use 4AWG wire, do put a breaker as close to the battery as possible. Mine is about 6" away. I used a Blue Sea 100A unit. In the bed box, I used Anderson PowerPole connectors to connect to the 4AWG coming from the camper. There is a similar breaker close to the camper batteries.

The power wires run through simple rubber grommets in the truck bed right now. I'll be adding some bulkhead connectors for additional safety there this winter.

In short, I used none of the bits that FWC does.

 

[Kerschbaumer]

K, Thanks - Seeing as I already have the FWC harness w 10 Ga wire on the way - is it ok to simply then swap out the wire for 4GA ?

Would mount the supplied 30A breaker near batter per the video.

 

[Vic Harder]

I think you will find that the supplied connectors will have trouble with the 4AWG. You may want to go with the supplied wire and swap stuff out after this trip you are taking soon.

 

[Kerschbaumer]

Thx - the camper wire appears to be 10ga into a male trolling motor plug. If I wanted to keep the trolling motor plug and upgrade to 4ga wire to the truck battery - I will have a closer look at connecting the 4ga to the female.

I had a look at the Blue Sea calculator and would like to confirm that a 100A breaker is suited to the 4 Ga wire?

We are not heading out of town - camper wont be ready - fighting air leakage in the air bags - will have to take them out and try to seal up the hose fittings - those press in fittings seem like weak link - any wisdom on what to replace with that would be more robust? I already figure I will have to remove the bags to get at the lead coming from the 90 - why i didnt put pipe dope on that when assembling in the first place I dont know......

 

[makalutoo]

I normally use teflon tape on air fittings. Soapy water sprayed on all of the connections and bags can help find out where they are leaking.

It looks to me a 100amp fuse is adequate for 4 gauge wire, but it sounds like you are going to keep the 10 guage wiring in the camper and go keep the Atwood connector. You want the over-current protection sized for the weakest link in the system, which may either be the connector or the 10 gauge wire. So, I think that a 100 amp is to high. I would probably match the 30 amp that FWC uses. Resetable breakers are nice, since they can act as a disconnect.

 

[Kerschbaumer]

Right - thanks - I confess electrical I dont understand very well. So I would then either need to use a 30A breaker at the battery or change the camper wiring to 4ga as well until it gets inside the camper then add a 30A breaker before the wire guage steps down?

After working on airbags well after dark it was disheartening to at the end spray the soapy water and find 2 out of 4 connections leaking - despite trying to reseat the press in connection several times. Gonna dis-assemble and try and fix/test before re-installing.

 

[rando]

I don't think you can use the trolling motor with 4AWG wire. You would have to splice to the 10AWG wire on the plug, which would mean you really should fuse the circuit for 10AWG, as the rating is determined by the smallest wire in the circuit. If you upgrade the wire, you will also need to switch the connector for a higher current plug that can accept the correct wire. That said, using the stock wire (which is rated to 60A) that you already have and using a DC-DC charger may be a more cost/effort effective solution than upgrading the wiring.

As to airbags, I have given up on getting mine leak free. Sometimes they will hold pressure for months, sometimes they leak out in a day or two. My solution is an on board compressor with a paddle valve. When on a trip I use them to level, so we check/adjust the pressure every day.

 

[Kerschbaumer]

I don't think you can use the trolling motor with 4AWG wire. You would have to splice to the 10AWG wire on the plug, which would mean you really should fuse the circuit for 10AWG, as the rating is determined by the smallest wire in the circuit. If you upgrade the wire, you will also need to switch the connector for a higher current plug that can accept the correct wire. That said, using the stock wire (which is rated to 60A) that you already have and using a DC-DC charger may be a more cost/effort effective solution than upgrading the wiring.

As to airbags, I have given up on getting mine leak free. Sometimes they will hold pressure for months, sometimes they leak out in a day or two. My solution is an on board compressor with a paddle valve. When on a trip I use them to level, so we check/adjust the pressure every day.

Can someone direct me to a suitable DC DC charger?

The airbags - - I guess I will try best I can to get them leak free then escalate if needed...tried explaining to wifey this camper business is not so plug and play as I am learning