If you have a single axle trailer, it should be no problem for most trailer breakaway kit. It’s really a matter of battery size and current draw. Specifications say the system must hold the brakes for 15 minutes, so if you’re testing, let it sit for a bit to see. Pull the breakaway switch Pin out, and the wheel should stop and hold solid. It should spin freely if the pin is “IN”. Once you have it all wired in, simply jack up one side of the trailer, and spin the tire. It’s really pretty simple to see that it works. (There are a lot of good arguments for having your lights on when you’re driving anyway.)įinally, wire it up using tips from the Trailer Lights and Wiring article. However, If your system has only a 5 wire plug, you can (in a pinch) wire the breakaway battery charger into the brown “Taillights and Running Lights” wire (instead of the Red) - then always drive with your lights on. We suggest a 7-wire system so you have all the right connections. Also, for the full picture, superimpose this image over the Trailer Wiring Diagrams on that page. You can find a lot more information about connectors and what the wires are for on our Trailer Wiring Diagram page. Such connectors are often built-in stock on pickup trucks and large SUV’s intended for pulling a trailer. These are all available with a 7-Pin vehicle connector - which is very standard. The White provides a return, or ground path for both the battery charger and the brakes. The Red comes in to charge the battery, the Blue powers the brakes if the pull-pin yanks out. The white wire is “Ground” or “Common”, then blue is the “Brake” wire. Power to charge the battery comes from the “Aux +12V Power” wire (Usually Red, but sometimes black). This little bit of schematic attaches into the full trailer wiring diagram from our other article. This is typical, but check your system to be sure the wires (colors) are the same. Here is a wiring diagram for your Trailer Breakaway Kit. The battery in the trailer breakaway kit doesn’t do anything else. If something bad happens and the trailer comes loose, pulling the pin connects the battery to the trailer brakes to hopefully avert disaster. The battery on the trailer needs power to keep it charged, so it does wire into the trailer electrical system. Image of the Hopkins Trailer Breakaway Kit with Battery, Pin Switch and Cable. So, mounting those parts properly, and connecting them for each trip is critical. Pulling the pin connects the battery to the trailer brakes. In reality, the pin pull switch and the cable (which connects the pin to the tow vehicle) are the critical parts. OK, that’s the quick overview of the parts. Here’s a quick unboxing video to show the parts and give a little more explanation. The switch has a cable that attaches - one end to the tow vehicle, and the other end to the switch - so if the trailer gets too far away from the tow vehicle, it pulls the pin to ‘Flip’ the switch. There is a pin switch that turns the brakes ‘ON’ if the trailer does disconnect. The trailer gets a battery so it has power to apply the brakes if needed. It works with all Electric brakes and with the Electric over Hydraulic systems. While there are Hydraulic systems that can do this also, this article is for electric brakes. Please Note: This article discusses the electrical breakaway, not other systems. This includes a lot of trailers built from plans we offer. In most cases, this applies to trailers of more than 3000 lbs. While there are arguments both ways, it’s the law for now, and until we have something better, this is what we do. The idea, I guess, is that (hopefully) stopping a trailer is less of a hazard. It applies the trailer brakes if a disconnect does happen. Either way, that’s where the trailer Breakaway Kit comes in. People forget to tighten the hitch, or don’t get it on totally. We’ve seen how terrible this is - and even more terrible - it’s not that uncommon for a trailer to unhook. The concept of the “Breakaway” is to automatically apply brakes if a trailer comes disconnected from the tow vehicle. However, there are some nuances, and for some in DIY, they are a little intimidating. What in the world is a Trailer Breakaway Kit? If you pull a “larger-ish” trailer, you should definitely know, because it’s a legal requirement in many jurisdictions.
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