What's the point of UY1 camper wiring?

[davepl]

I had assumed this was some aftermarket thing and was going to patch the hole. In fact the wiring to it looked pretty amateur, or at least not what I'd expect from the fact. But there it is on my SPID, "UY1 Camper Wiring".

What's the point of this? I mean what would you actually plug into it? If the camper itself, why would it be up on the B-pillar?

[FirstOwner69]

The point of the wiring is to allow a slide in camper such as those with the cab-over bed to be connected to the truck. In addition to the tail, brake, clearance, backup, signal lights and ground there was also a 12 volt hot wire for charging the camper battery or to light the camper interior lights directly from the truck battery or optional under hood auxilliary battery since a lot of campers at the time did not have onboard batteries. I don't believe there was a wire for trailer brakes. I think electric trailer brakes came along later. GM still offers this option today ($35.00 on my 2006) in addition to the common trailer wiring harness.

I've seen a number of posts on this forum suggesting that the option came as shown in your picture. This is not the way GM delivered this option (at least not on my 69). On mine, the wiring came from GM coiled up under the front of the bed on the left side as it does on today's trucks. It was secured to the back of the cab by a loop and sheet metal bolt. Since a number of trucks have been shown on this forum that have it wired like yours, I'm guessing that there was a kit available to Chevy or RV dealers that had directions suggesting that type of installation. It was probably put on the left b-pillar since the wiring connection on the campers is usually under the part of the camper that hangs over the truck bed on the left side.

As I recall, the factory assembly manual verifies my description of how it was delivered.

[special-K]

It's a factory option to provide a 12v source to the camper unit.My camper had a breaker box with lights,fans,pump for sink,etc. Also had outlets. Mine had an ice box,but some had refrigerators. Yours looks the way it does because,as mentioned,they weren't mounted from factory. The wire was just coiled. Mine also had a jack for the camper tail lamps (and clearance lamps) mounted in the back of the bed below the tail lamps where the bumper hid it when slid forward. My camper wiring was mounted inside the bed and you had to remember to hook it up once the camper was slide to about 6" from the front of the bed. Many people stuck them in the b-pillar,unfortunately.

[davepl]

Thanks... if that's not where it was installed (and it sounds like the connector was not actually installed anywhere), I'm not going to reinstall it.

My truck had an aftermarket trailer brake controller. I'm assuming there was no FACTORY trailer brake option? Or was there wiring but just no controller?

I will probably add one back, but would like to do it as factory-correct (or at least period-correct) as possible, particularly at the back bumper. I have the step bumper.

[SS Tim]

Here are a couple of old posts of mine that might interest you.
Go to #112,114 and 91. There is even a period picture of a connector in use.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=476940&page=5

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by SS Tim

Here are a couple of old posts of mine that might interest you.
Go to #112,114 and 91. There is even a period picture of a connector in use.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=476940&page=5

As stated in the thread referred to in the link above, the camper wiring was not required for the Custom Camper option (which was only an emblem available as an additional option when other specified options were ordered). As I mentioned in my earlier post, the connector was not part of the wiring option as it came from GM, but is probably a period correct connector added by the delivering dealer or an RV dealer (most likely). I have never seen one in the location shown other than on this forum. The RV dealer I bought my camper from merely attached a similar 6-wire connector onto the end of the camper wiring harness. It was sort of like an extension cord.

Regarding the brake. I don't recall electric brake controllers back then as we know them today. Most controllers tapped into the brake line. As I recall the wiring option only had 6 wires... no brake wire. You could just extend the harness plus a brake wire to the back bumper and connect an appropriate trailer connector for a trailer. No factory trailer pre-wiring was available as an option. I'd definitely get rid of the connector on your truck.

[special-K]

No factory brake controllers back then,or even in '92 when I ordered my K3500,just wiring to the rear for lights (looped and tied to the frame just like the camper wiring) with the trailering option. Back then the contollers were not electric anyway. They were wet line operated and used a "T" off the master cylinder to get their juice. I've eliminated those on pretty much every truck that had one once I had to do brake work. They are known to be a source for spongy pedal.