Off Road Trailer Group Buy (M416 Style) ***Closed***

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Kmrtnsn

Explorer
As I get ready for the completion of my trailer I've been contemplating some additions. I ordered a Max-Coupler, and some small interior pieces but have been contemplating putting my fridge in the tub.

For those of you that ordered yours with the 12V battery, what is your setup for charging? Are you running a DC-DC charger off of the 7-pin? I'm looking for a simple and easy way of maintaining the trailer battery.
 

DannyLLama

Observer
Received trailer today! The thing is just fantastic! and so is Simon. @FourLeafCloverFab thanks for your patience throughout the process.
Trailer.jpeg
 

DannyLLama

Observer
Looks great, Danny! Congratulations!

I just got back from Utah / Moab with mine and will post some pictures later today.

Thanks Scott! I'll be bothering you with more questions as I am overwhelmed with the info and how to... Not to mention Safety.

Simon mentioned something to the effect of Trailer Brake controller. Have you considered one?

@a4rmando it's iKamper sky camp 2.0 that sleeps 4 people. I actually reached out to them for any defect and got one that was dented for almost half off.
 

a4rmando

New member
Thanks Scott! I'll be bothering you with more questions as I am overwhelmed with the info and how to... Not to mention Safety.

Simon mentioned something to the effect of Trailer Brake controller. Have you considered one?

@a4rmando it's iKamper sky camp 2.0 that sleeps 4 people. I actually reached out to them for any defect and got one that was dented for almost half off.
Oh wow! iKampers are nice and that was such a great idea reaching out to them and getting that deal. You scored! BTW, I bought a brake controller. I figured the trailer has electric brakes, so might as well put em to use and I did hear it’s safer, especially when off road. I bought a Reese Towpower 8508211 Brake Controller (Proportional Brake-EVN)
 

norcalscott

Member
Thanks Scott! I'll be bothering you with more questions as I am overwhelmed with the info and how to... Not to mention Safety.

Simon mentioned something to the effect of Trailer Brake controller. Have you considered one?
@DannyLLama For brake controller I went with the Tekonsha 90160. I installed it to the right of the steering wheel (in the JK), around knee height, facing up. That controller does not need to be mounted horizontally to work. This placement is the only place I could find to put it, and it seems to work OK, but it is hard to read the display while driving.
 

norcalscott

Member
As I get ready for the completion of my trailer I've been contemplating some additions. I ordered a Max-Coupler, and some small interior pieces but have been contemplating putting my fridge in the tub.

For those of you that ordered yours with the 12V battery, what is your setup for charging? Are you running a DC-DC charger off of the 7-pin? I'm looking for a simple and easy way of maintaining the trailer battery.
Regarding battery charging - I installed a 100Ah battery in the tongue box, and I have 3 ways to charge - I installed a Renogy 40 Amp DC-DC charger in the tongue box, and ran 6 gauge wire from the Jeep battery to back bumper, through an Anderson connector to feed the charger (60 Amp breaker at the Jeep battery connection). I have a switch box for all my lights and used one of those for turning the charger on and off.

Regarding your question of running this through the 7 pin - those wires are fairly small size so I don't recommend doing that unless you are using a low current charger.

I monitor the battery with a Victron Connect with Bluetooth so I can see state of charge, temperature, etc. from the cab while driving. The Renogy charger will charge the battery from ~50% to 100% while driving in about 90 minutes. The 40 Amp one is likely overkill for one battery - if I had to do over again I may have gotten the 20 Amp, but that fast recharging time is nice to have.

I also have a 220w portable solar system and mounted the solar charge controller inside the tongue box as well. This works better than I expected and can easily keep the battery topped off with about 6 hours of sunlight.

I also recently purchased a NOCO shore power charger since I was in a campground with AC power for a few days. This works really well with my battery - I decided to not mount this in the tongue box so I could use it with other vehicles if needed.

My use for battery power is mainly my Whynter refrigerator (I normally keep it in back of Jeep but did run wiring inside the trailer if I decide to put it in there), lights, and a heated blanket for colder temps in the RTT. I also installed a USB charging hub that I use to charge phones and other USB devices. I've got a small DC inverter for charging laptops. I installed boat LED lights on each side of the trailer (3 each side) and can control each side with a rocker switch. I also installed a spot light on the rear and another rocker switch can turn that on and off.

I attached my wiring diagram and a couple of pictures of the install (before I cleaned it up).

[Disclaimer - I take no responsibility for the safety of any wiring that anyone does on their trailer or vehicle. Be sure to have your work checked by a vehicle electrical specialist. :) ]

wiring diagram.jpg
wiring2.jpg
wiring1.jpg
 
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Kmrtnsn

Explorer
Regarding battery charging - I installed a 100Ah battery in the tongue box, and I have 3 ways to charge - I installed a Renogy 40 Amp DC-DC charger in the tongue box, and ran 6 gauge wire from the Jeep battery to back bumper, through an Anderson connector to feed the charger (60 Amp breaker at the Jeep battery connection). I have a switch box for all my lights and used one of those for turning the charger on and off.

Regarding your question of running this through the 7 pin - those wires are fairly small size so I don't recommend doing that unless you are using a low current charger.

I monitor the battery with a Victron Connect with Bluetooth so I can see state of charge, temperature, etc. from the cab while driving. The Renogy charger will charge the battery from ~50% to 100% while driving in about 90 minutes. The 40 Amp one is likely overkill for one battery - if I had to do over again I may have gotten the 20 Amp, but that fast recharging time is nice to have.

I also have a 220w portable solar system and mounted the solar charge controller inside the tongue box as well. This works better than I expected and can easily keep the battery topped off with about 6 hours of sunlight.

I also recently purchased a NOCO shore power charger since I was in a campground with AC power for a few days. This works really well with my battery - I decided to not mount this in the tongue box so I could use it with other vehicles if needed.

My use for battery power is mainly my Whynter refrigerator (I normally keep it in back of Jeep but did run wiring inside the trailer if I decide to put it in there), lights, and a heated blanket for colder temps in the RTT. I also installed a USB charging hub that I use to charge phones and other USB devices. I've got a small DC inverter for charging laptops. I installed boat LED lights on each side of the trailer (3 each side) and can control each side with a rocker switch. I also installed a spot light on the rear and another rocker switch can turn that on and off.

I attached my wiring diagram and a couple of pictures of the install (before I cleaned it up).

[Disclaimer - I take no responsibility for the safety of any wiring that anyone does on their trailer or vehicle. Be sure to have your work checked by a vehicle electrical specialist. :) ]

View attachment 619423View attachment 619424View attachment 619425


Thanks! I like that setup. One reason I was interested in using the 7-pin is that I have multiple vehicles and wanted to try to come up with a system that wasn't "vehicle dependent", that would work with anything I hooked it to. I may have to alter my thinking though, based on your description. Thank you very much for the pictures and diagram!!
 

Kmrtnsn

Explorer
@DannyLLama For brake controller I went with the Tekonsha 90160. I installed it to the right of the steering wheel (in the JK), around knee height, facing up. That controller does not need to be mounted horizontally to work. This placement is the only place I could find to put it, and it seems to work OK, but it is hard to read the display while driving.

Both of our Ram pickups have brake controllers but my Jeep didn't. I just installed the RedArc Pro Controller. I tied it into the Mopar 7-pin harness. Unfortunately my 2013 JKU isn't plug and play like the 2018 and later and I had to tap into the harness at the brake pedal. What a pain! There is no slack in that harness at all and it's impossible to reach. Disconnecting the switch from the pedal helps.........a little. What I love about the Redarc is the only thing exposed is a small knob,
53BF6076-0D5F-45CF-A4DB-D6E1B547E6F2.jpeg
 
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norcalscott

Member
Both of our Ram pickups have brake controllers but my Jeep didn't. I just installed the RedArc Pro Controller. I tied it into the Mopar 7-pin harness. Unfortunately my 2013 JKU isn't plug and play like the 2018 and later and I had to tap into the harness at the brake pedal. What a pain! There is no slack in that harness at all and it's impossible to reach. Disconnecting the switch from the pedal helps.........a little. What I love about the Redarc is the only thing exposed is a small knob,
Nice that the knob is all that is exposed on the Redarc! That's where I mounted mine and I was worried my knee would hit it but it doesn't seem to be an issue for me. I agree about the wiring harness, what a pain to get to the pedal wiring - I watched a YouTube video that showed disconnecting the switch and that helped.
 

Kmrtnsn

Explorer
Nice that the knob is all that is exposed on the Redarc! That's where I mounted mine and I was worried my knee would hit it but it doesn't seem to be an issue for me. I agree about the wiring harness, what a pain to get to the pedal wiring - I watched a YouTube video that showed disconnecting the switch and that helped.

Not sure if you've ever used these but they've saved the day for me, more than once!
IMG_0240.JPG
 
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