Two problems

[AZsix]

I pulled the PUP out tonight to do some work on it and to put some gear in it to get it ready for our trip this week.

This past week I had the 7 prong plug installed but when I went to hook up to it the pigtail cord from the trailer wasn't long enough to reach the plug. The elec. cord is in the frame. I did give it a little tug to see if there was any slack in it and there was none. Do I need to splice in a new section of wire? Also the idiot that installed the plug mounted it to the plastic molding of the bumber instead of bolting it to the frame. I am going to talk to them to see if they will mount it right without charging me. If not between my neighbors and me we can get it bolted up.

That's not my biggest problem however since there seems to be a fairly simple fix for that. My big problem is that when I went to raise it the cable leading to the front right snapped. I am going to have to bring it to a dealer to get a new cable installed (once I get a cord long enough so I can plug my light cord in). Does anyone know how long a process this would be and a rough estimate on the cost? Would it be worth replacing the other cables at the same time? (It's an 88 PUP) Cost is an issue at the moment as well as time. We were supposed to leave Wed for our trip.

[jerryposh]

Same 2 things happened to me. I bought 30 feet of cable at home depot (3/32) and 4 splicing grommets for $12.00 altogether, and removed panels just inside of the lift arms and replaced 2 of them - easy and cheap, took a couple hrs, mostly just starring at the way the cables were run so i wouldnt install incorrectly. the dealer quoted me at $430.00.
The other problem was the missing harness. we towed it home w/o lights taking his word for it that it was just a missing harness, on closer inspection, the idiot bypassed the 4 - 6amp fuses and looks like at one time tried to jerry-rig something by splicing into the wires on the back side (bypassing) of the fuse box - i bought a 4 wire trailer harness and tried to do the same but nothing lights up, i'll check the bulbs next, but if they dont work than i'll buy a taillight kit at wal-mart for $25.00 and make my own tail/brake/blinkers. please let me know if you have any luck.
jerry

[AZsix]

Same 2 things happened to me. I bought 30 feet of cable at home depot (3/32) and 4 splicing grommets for $12.00 altogether, and removed panels just inside of the lift arms and replaced 2 of them - easy and cheap, took a couple hrs, mostly just starring at the way the cables were run so i wouldnt install incorrectly. the dealer quoted me at $430.00.
The other problem was the missing harness. we towed it home w/o lights taking his word for it that it was just a missing harness, on closer inspection, the idiot bypassed the 4 - 6amp fuses and looks like at one time tried to jerry-rig something by splicing into the wires on the back side (bypassing) of the fuse box - i bought a 4 wire trailer harness and tried to do the same but nothing lights up, i'll check the bulbs next, but if they dont work than i'll buy a taillight kit at wal-mart for $25.00 and make my own tail/brake/blinkers. please let me know if you have any luck.
jerry

The cable broke towards the rear underneath at the first pully from the rear. I would think I need to pop it up in order to change the cable which means I would need some help raising it and then propping it up while I remove the old cable. Unfortunately my nieghbor that knows allot about PUP's is out of town for work and won't be home until the end of the week. I'll try to recruit some of my neighbors to help me. They are all RV'ers and real good about helping.

Thanks for replying. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[austinado16]

i bought a 4 wire trailer harness and tried to do the same but nothing lights up, i'll check the bulbs next, but if they dont work than i'll buy a taillight kit at wal-mart for $25.00 and make my own tail/brake/blinkers. please let me know if you have any luck.
jerry

Jerry, this is the point where you break out your voltage/ohm meter (or go buy one from Sears or Autozone, or where ever) and simplify.  

If you're going to go with a 4 wire connector out of your TV and into a 4 wire into the PUP, simply plug  the new 4 wire harness into the truck, activate the right turn signal and then hook up your voltmeter and discover that green is right turn.  Now pop off the tail light lens on the trailer, remove the tail light and look at what color feeds the right turn signal......let's say it's red.  Now go to the front of the PUP and touch the PUP's red to the TV's green.  You should have a flashing right PUP signal.  (That is if you've attached the white ground from the 4 way harness to the trailer frame, and the trailer's white ground wire(s) are all attached to the frame.

Like this.....4 way harness diagram

No need to rewire anything or buy anything.

[BuddyBear]

Gary,
Sorry to hear about your cable problems.
Check your PMs
Hopefully you can fix it yourself and get on the road this week.

BB

[tlhdoc]

You can contact Fleetwood Folding Trailer division and they will mail you a copy of the lift system manual.  Good luck on the fix.

[BuddyBear]

How about something like THIS...
About half way down, 7 way trailer pre wired cables.
You could cut your pig tail and splice the wires together tape it up and off you go..
Camping World off of the 60 and Mesa Dr. may carries them.
Hope this help.
BB

Go D-BACKS

[AZsix]

You can contact Fleetwood Folding Trailer division and they will mail you a copy of the lift system manual.  Good luck on the fix.

I was able to get a copy of the lift system manual online. Thanks to Buddybear that sent me a link. Here's an update as to my progress

Taking things apart took longer than it should. Being an 88 there are some things that haven't been taken off in some time so I had a couple of minor problems. One was a bolt holding in the housing of the cables underneat was stripped and I had to saw it off. The hacksaw wouldn't fit in that small space so I had to take the blade out and hold in in my fingers and cut the bolt. It took some time (and some cussing) but I got that done and the housing off. I originally thought I had to get into the support post to replace the cable but since it's the main cable I didn't need to do that. What I had to do was drill out a bunch of rivots holding the siding on so I could get to the bottom of the support post. The manual said to drill out the rivots and the protective housing would slide off. WRONG! There are four rivots in the back that I can't get to holding it on. I may be able to pull the pully assembly down and out and then attach the cable that way then the rest will be fairly easy I hope. I am going to check with a dealer tomorrow and hope that they have cable already to go cut to the right size. If not I will go to Home Depot and get it. If anyone is familiar with the rivots in the back of the post please let me know how to deal with them.

The second problem I had was with the elec cord being too short. I went to some auto parts stores today and Checker had a coiled extension that went from a 7 pin to a flat 5. I told the guy that I needed that but a round 7 on both ends. He looked in the catalog and sure enough they have them but it's a special order. When he checked about ordering it said he couldn't order them. I checked with the manufactures website (//www.hokinsmfg.com) and it wasn't there. My guess it was discontinued. Camping World has a six foot cable for $17.77 so I'll pick that up and cut it to the size I need.

Speaking of the elect. cord when I took the pigtail off I noticed that there was a yellow wire in the center that was not attached. Should it be and what could that go to?

I took one picture and will take a couple more tomorrow in case anyone else has the same problem at least they can get an idea of what to look for. For me it was learn as I went. It seemed overwhelming at first but once I get past the little problem of the rear rivots and really isn't that bad. If I have to do it again it will go a lot quicker.

Thanks to those of you that offered suggestion and support. I am still hopeful that we will be able to leave Wed evening for Tucson as planned.

[AZsix]

Success! I successfully replaced the cable and I am now able to pop up the PUP. Thanks to those that offered advice and especially to BuddyBear that sent me the link for the lift system manual. It wasn't as hard as I first thought it would be. It would have been easier if I had help but I had to do about 98% of it myself. Since it's an older unit I did face some problems getting some things to come off which slowed me down some. In the end I got the job done. I am actually pretty proud of myself because when I started I was clueless.

We were supposed to leave tomorrow after work for Tucson but have decided to leave Thursday morning instead since I still have some things to put back together tomorrow. It would be too rushed. We are staying at a campground  (http://www.abtucson.com/) Thursday night and Kartchner Caverns State Park on Friday nght. Sat we head to Wilcox, AZ to do some apple and pear picking. This will be the first time the whole family will be camping in the PUP and only the second trip total.

I'll give reviews of both places next week.

Thanks again for the help. This is a great bunch of people on here!

[tlhdoc]

I am glad that you were able fix the lift system.  Have a great time on the trip.

[austinado16]

Nice job!!  Enjoy your trip.

[BuddyBear]

:-()...Fantastic... :-()

Have a fun and safe trip, AZsix.
The inlaws are bringing my DD back from Kartchner Caverns today. They left Sat. with all the Grand Kids... Retired Moho'ers.
I popped into town to charge up the battery it's been in the low 30s the last couple of night and the heater and battery are getting a workout. CG is about 10 miles from the house so no big deal.
I've got a great story for everyone when we get back.
Gotta get camp'in.. :p
BB