Camper Wiring Package

[LuvRving]

When I ordered my 2012 3500HD GMC I ordered the Camper Wiring Package. The truck came with the wiring harness coiled up under the chassis just ahead of the rear wheel on the driver's side. I got some heavy duty 7-wire cable and the connector socket and made a neat in-bed connection attached to the bedrail close to the back window. This made conncecting the fifth wheel to the truck a little more convenient. The wiring connections under the bed were soldered, heat shrunk and tapped really well. I like this arrangement rather than having the cable strung out over the rear tailgate.

This has worked well without any issues since May 2012 until I went to get my 5th out of storage a few weeks ago. There was no connection through the inbed connector. The connector on the rear bumper works fine. I have checked each terminal with a tester but there is nothing alive there at all. I am wondering if there are separate fuses for the camper wiring that are separate from the bumper wiring, or is the camper wiring just a tee connection to the rear bumper? I have studied the fuse diangams in the truck manual but I don't see anything that relates to the camper wiring specifically. Also, I am wondering if an issue with the camper wiring may cause an issue with the bumper wiring. I hate to have to start stripping out the camper wiring again because I made sure there would be no weak connections or any chance of water getting into the system.

Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Roger]

I am fairly sure that the camper wiring and bumper wiring both plug into the main wiring harness near the frame rail at the back driver's side of the truck. Check to make sure the plug is secure. There is only one fuse per circuit so if it is good at the plug you probably had a little friend do some chewing over the winter.

[LuvRving]

I am going to check the socket up in the box first but I guess I had better disconnect both batteries on the positive side before I take it apart just in case I short out a pair of terminals. Otherwise I would have to cut one wire at a time in the connections I made under the chassis and cap them before I open the socket. I'm thinking it's in the socket. Question: will disconnecting the batteries cause any kind of computer glitches like oil oil lifer monitor, etc? Thanks!

[jacknife]

Disconnecting the batteries should not cause your data to chang in the computer

[BMullins46]

A good place to start is the owners manual for your truck. The trailer wiring is fused seperate from the truck wiring so that a trailer problem does not affect the truck. I had a blown fuse on my trailer wiring which cause me to no have brake lights, turn signals and emergency flashers. After 4 hours of messing with it we finally got out the owners manual for the truck and looked up the fuses, low and behold when we pulled the cover off the fuse block and looked at the appropriate fuse it was blown. (should have checked the book much earlier).