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Old 06-13-2011, 06:12 PM   #21
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Re: New SMB Owner: 93 Ford E250 2x4

The HD trailer tow wires terminate at a 4-way round plastic connector, usually directly over the axle. There will be a plastic dirt cover over it.

No guarantee its there. It was standard on XLT passenger vans, but optional on cargo vans.

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Old 06-14-2011, 01:42 PM   #22
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Re: New SMB Owner: 93 Ford E250 2x4

Quote:
Originally Posted by carringb
The HD trailer tow wires terminate at a 4-way round plastic connector, usually directly over the axle. There will be a plastic dirt cover over it.

No guarantee its there. It was standard on XLT passenger vans, but optional on cargo vans.
thanks again for the tips. I'll look into this weekend.

So now I have a total newb question. I'm not even sure what to search for so I'll just go ahead and ask.

On my SMB, there are three wires that are zip tied to the grill... all three wires have ring terminal connectors on them that look like the yellow one in this pic.


one is definitely a ground wire (mounted right to one of the body bolts) and the other two go to some sort of inverter-something-or-rather that is mounted in the engine bay on the top of the fender well... it's made of aluminum and looks like an inverter of sorts.

what are these wires for? what does the aluminum box do? And are either of these related to the make-shift toggle switch that's mounted just under the dash on the passenger's side of the cab?

I'll try and snap some pics tonight if there are no obvious answers.
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Old 06-14-2011, 03:20 PM   #23
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Re: New SMB Owner: 93 Ford E250 2x4

The aluminum fin inverter thing is probably a battery isolator. One wire should go to your starting battery and the other to your house battery. An isolator prevents the starting battery from draining while you're camping, but allows the house battery to get charged while driving. It operates on the PFM principle.

Toggle switch on dash - maybe to switch the power source for the radio from starting to house battery?

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Old 06-16-2011, 08:14 AM   #24
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Re: New SMB Owner: 93 Ford E250 2x4

I'll have to dig into the toggle switch mystery.

There's also a battery cut-off switch on the driver's side near my left knee. Is this a part of the sportsmobile install, or was that also something the previous owner installed as well? I haven't taken the time to figure out what it does, but I currently have the key off and removed.



you can just barely see the battery cut-off switch/key in this photo




here's a quick updated shot - no photoshop either. Everything is painted and re-installed.

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Old 06-16-2011, 08:21 AM   #25
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Re: New SMB Owner: 93 Ford E250 2x4

That red switch in the picture is typically intended as an electrical system cut-off switch, usually on race vehicles where if there's a crash, you want to be able to kill all electrical contact with the battery. I believe some have the red portion as being removable as well.

FWIW, I've never seen one on an SMB.

Does turning the key do anything?


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Old 06-16-2011, 08:27 AM   #26
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Re: New SMB Owner: 93 Ford E250 2x4

Hi Herb, thanks for the reply. I'm familiar with what the red switch does in general - I have one in my race car

I guess it's another mystery switch I'll have to dig into. It doesn't seem to do anything. My guess is that it somehow separates the two batteries... maybe? I really have no clue.
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Old 06-17-2011, 07:31 AM   #27
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Re: New SMB Owner: 93 Ford E250 2x4

Quote:
Originally Posted by carringb
The HD trailer tow wires terminate at a 4-way round plastic connector, usually directly over the axle. There will be a plastic dirt cover over it.

No guarantee its there. It was standard on XLT passenger vans, but optional on cargo vans.
is this what you are referring to? I was just about to re-install the rear bumper when I saw this tucked up in the frame.


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Old 06-18-2011, 09:05 AM   #28
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Re: New SMB Owner: 93 Ford E250 2x4

Yes, that is the HD trailer harness. If you buy the Ford 7-way RV plug, it connects to the connector your found, and also to the adjacent connector which is currently connected to your 4-way connector.

The Orange wire would normally be connected as well, but it looks like it was borrowed for another function. The orange wire is the "Trailer battery charge circuit" but is often used in RVs for House Power, since it is on a Relay that isolates it from the starting battery when the van is off. Or ot may be reverse lights. I'm don't remember for sure.

If you don't want to shell out the ~$80 for the Ford 7-way connector, you can simply cut the connector off and use a universal 7-way plug that also connects to your existing 4-way. THis is usually less than $20. I went with the Ford setup because I plan on keeping my van until at least 500,000 miles, so I wanted the better weather-resistance of the factory setup.
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Old 06-20-2011, 10:50 AM   #29
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Re: New SMB Owner: 93 Ford E250 2x4

unfortunately we had a time constraint to get this done so we ended up using the $20 version. I hadn't even thought to look to Ford for a factory option. Oh, well, it's installed and everything worked out great.

The brake controller that we had been using in my buddy's truck worked out well in the van. We ordered a new brake controller harness which plugged right in to the Ford factory harness. We tested all the wires in the back to see what worked and what didn't. The orange wire was in fact a hot wire... and for whatever reason was hooked up to the house battery. At some point that orange wire must have also been connected to the starter battery because the wire goes all the way up front into the engine bay and was just hanging out loose - lucky for me it never grounded itself out after all these years. I ended up unhooking that orange wire from the house battery and using it as the main power lead for the tow 7-wire and reconnected it to the starter battery in the engine bay. The green wire is the reverse lights wire.

Anyway, it all worked out well and was easier than we had anticipated since all the wires were already there in the factory harness. Thanks again for the help!

Here's a few shots from that day as we were getting everything sorted and semi-packed. Testing out the new Bus Depot awning. We used one carabiner on the two corners to clip into the metal rings that keep the bungee cord in place on the pop top.



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Old 06-20-2011, 11:36 AM   #30
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Re: New SMB Owner: 93 Ford E250 2x4

I like that awning!
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