As others have noted, it is not legal to tow that trailer anywhere without that battery being present and functional. And you know how the Universe treats folks who stick their necks out: sure as God made the little green apples, and even with 50 years of incident-free towing under your belt, that would be the one time when you'd be rolling down the road, only to be passed by the trailer, which would then cause a horrible wreck, killing several innocents, and sending you away for the rest of your life while bankrupting everyone you know to pay the fines and the wrongful death claims.
So do the right thing, take the battery out, go buy a new one, and install it before moving the trailer.
Our running lights will not work without the house battery hooked up, they are grounded through the neg cable. If the battery is too heavy and awkward to handle yourself, get some help.
traveltrailergirl wrote: Hi all...
Was just hookin up my trailer to my truck and kinda damaged a post on my 12v battery...do I need the batery hooked up to tow...can I tow the trailer to a battery store to replace the post? Dang!!
Thanks for any help!
If your battery is damaged to the extent that it needs replacing, why don't you simply remove the battery and put it in the back of your truck and drive to the store?
HTH;
John
Thanks for all the great/quick responses AND information!! I decided not take any chances so I put the darned battery in the truck and drove to get a new one! Found out I couldn't just replace the post...
naturist wrote: As others have noted, it is not legal to tow that trailer anywhere without that battery being present and functional. And you know how the Universe treats folks who stick their necks out: sure as God made the little green apples, and even with 50 years of incident-free towing under your belt, that would be the one time when you'd be rolling down the road, only to be passed by the trailer, which would then cause a horrible wreck, killing several innocents, and sending you away for the rest of your life while bankrupting everyone you know to pay the fines and the wrongful death claims.
So do the right thing, take the battery out, go buy a new one, and install it before moving the trailer.
Your comments about "doing the right thing" reminds me of a few recent posts. re: Folks openly stating they do NOT removal wheel hubs every year (even when Dexter axle documentation clearly states 12 months or 12,000 miles within their maintenance schedule) to perform simple mandatory brake inspections / cleanings. They connect and tow - until a brake problems reactively does happen. After all, their grandfather and father never inspected trailer hubs. They "towed and towed" - until something stopped working....
* This post was
edited 05/17/12 10:33pm by spike99 *
montanacamping wrote: My trailer brakes do not work if I do not have a battery hooked up also you will not have a break a way brake.
Not correct! Trailer brakes work from the truck under normal circumstances, but need the trailer battery in the unlikely event of a break-away.
That is why I said my camper, I have not looked into it as of why but my camper needs the battery in place for my brakes to work, I found this out this year when I went to pick it up out of storage and forgot my battery, I hooked my truck up and my controler told me no conection, put the battery in and worked fine. I knew that it was not the truck because I pull alot of other trailers and never have a problem. The only thing I can think is they run the ground to the battery so people do not pull there trailers with out the break away working also.
romore wrote: Our running lights will not work without the house battery hooked up, they are grounded through the neg cable. If the battery is too heavy and awkward to handle yourself, get some help.
same thing if you have a ground through the cord your lights would have the ground they need...
Being it is a DOT requirement to have a working electric brake system including the break-away switch and all of this could be a hugh insurance issue for you if anything happens and they can prove the electric brakes were not working.
This is not something we would want to mess with.
Like others has indicated on here if your know the battery is damaged like you say just remove the battery and carry it with you and go get it replaced. The batteries are just standard deep cycle batteries sold at Walmart or any number of auto parts places. Even SAMs Club and COSTCO carry deep cycle batteries. Most of the RV trailer folks carry the Interstate Brand of deep cycle batteries. This is probably the brand of the one you have. You wont have to take the trailer anywhere. batteries are easy to remove just like in a car, probably easier in the trailer.
If you are not battery savy take a cell phone picture of the connections before you disconnect as they are very easy to get reversed. The best way we found is to observe the stamped "NEG" or "-" symbol on the battery case and make sure this is the battery cable that goes to the trailer frame ground. Your new battery may have its terminals on the other side. Just watch out where the negative Battery terminal post is located and make it is the one that goes to frame ground which will be real close to the battery area.
My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - PM me Roy and Carolyn
RETIRED DOAF/DON/DOD/CONTR RADIO TECH (42yrs)
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2010 F150, 5.4,3:73 Gears,SCab
2008 Starcraft 14RT EU2000i GEN
2005 Flagstaff 8528RESS
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Another thing to think about is...on most TT with a slide, the slide will not work without an onboard battery.
Steve & Joyce
2011 Chevrolet 2500 Z71 4X4
2013 Montana High Country 343 RL
1996 Celebrity 200 Boat
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