Trailer Charging Cables: Why you need them
Trailer Charging Cables: What, Why, and How
What:
Truck-to-Trailer Battery Cables are exactly what they sound like. It’s a heavy gauge electrical cable that runs from the battery of the tow vehicle all the way to the back bumper, through a disconnect plug, to the batteries on your dump trailer. This is most useful for roll-off trailers that get used all day every day as a regular dump trailer that gets used a few times per week can usually be maintained by either a solar, onboard plug-in, or regular automotive battery charger.
Why:
The two main reasons to install this upgrade are immediate performance and equipment longevity. Electric winches and hydraulic pumps use a LOT of electricity. If you’ve run a roll-off trailer for very long, you’ve probably noticed that at some point in the day the speed slows down. This will vary depending on how new your batteries are, the ambient temperature, how heavy your loads are etc, but the batteries wear down as the day progresses. With this upgrade, the 10th run of the day is going to be just as strong as the first. This is both useful for the operator, but even more importantly, it’s easier on the equipment. When the voltage to an electric motor drops, the amperage increases. More amps means more heat, and heat is the mortal enemy of all things electrical; especially motors. Whether you have a $500 dollar winch or a $2500 winch, giving it the full amount of electricity that it needs is going to make it last longer.
How:
First, lets talk parts. You’ll want to use a minimum of 2 gauge cable for this, 1/0 would even be better, anything heavier than 1/0 is a waste. If you hop on Amazon and search “dump trailer charging kit” you might find a nice looking package that has everything you need for under $200. STOP. Don’t do it. While this does have everything you need, the cables are made of Copper Clad Aluminum. Within a year of installation, possibly less, the wire will pull off of the connector revealing the white powder that was once your charging cable. The end was crimped on right and even had heat shrink, but the wire just corroded to nothing. Save yourself the heartache and do it right the first time.
Instead, you want to look for pure copper wire. Expect to pay at least 3 times the price just for the wire alone, and you likely won’t find it on Amazon. We offer a premium kit with everything you need including mounting hardware and an industrial-grade fuse to protect the wire in case it gets shorted to ground.
When your cables arrive, stretch them out straight in front of the truck with the Anderson plug near the bumper. Feed the end of the cable set down along the brake master cylinder, along the frame rail, back to the rear bumper. Once you get it roughly in place with a small tail protruding from below the bumper, start working your way up to the front of the truck securing the cable along the way. We’ve found it best to secure the positive cable using P-Clamps then zip-tie the negative cable to that.
When you get back to the engine bay, connect the terminals to your truck batteries making sure all connections are clean and tight with no sharp bends in the wire. If your trailer isn’t already equipped with a charge line, repeat the same process for that.
