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Old 10-21-2016, 02:41 PM   #1
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Towing 2017 Chevy Silverado Question about charge wire

Just purchased new 2017 Chevy Silverado. Owners manual states it can be towed 4 wheels down with instructions but it states the battery must be disconnected. I assume this is to keep all the electronics from running the battery down while towing. My dealer installed a Blue OX baseplate and ran a charge wire from coach to the trucks battery with 20 amp breaker inline.

I thought I was ready to tow and then ran across a GM Service Bulletin
NO:13-00-89-007 dated June, 2013. Setup procedure for towing, Step 8 says:

"Depower the vehicle by removing the negative cable at the battery. This procedure must be followed or the steering column could be damaged.

I don't really see how having the battery hooked up could cause damage to steering column. However, I have been towing with battery disconnect until I can find out the correct answer because I really don't want to have to pop hood and disconnect the battery every time.

Any advice here would be appreciated.
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Old 10-21-2016, 03:02 PM   #2
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I am sure many things have changed since I set up my 2010 Silverado to tow. At least two things come to mind: 1-most modern automotive steering mechanics are now electro-magnetic vs hydraulic fluid so leaving power on is/can be an issue--have heard similar issues along this line with other vehicles being set up to tow; 2-various aspects of my dash stay energized, even with the key off--including the digital odometer [lots of extra tow miles on the odometer if I don't [in my case] pull a fuse].
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Old 10-21-2016, 03:07 PM   #3
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I'd follow their instructions... We tow a 2007 Saturn Ion 3, and I pull one of the power circuit breakers, after it is all hitched up. Still have 12V available for the break assist, but everything else in the cockpit seems to be dead....
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Old 10-21-2016, 03:14 PM   #4
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OK--don't think electro-magnetic steering was used very much in 2007, but maybe??????
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Old 10-21-2016, 04:26 PM   #5
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We towed a 2010 Siiverado with no issues but once we purchased our 2015 we found out about the battery disconnect while towing. Bit of a pain!
I added a quick disconnect switch to the battery so it adds one step to the procedure.
When disconnecting from the motorhome remember to hit the memory button to reset the seat position.
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Old 10-21-2016, 04:32 PM   #6
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We have found that we needed a 10 gauge wire for both 12 volt and ground wire or we didn't get 13.5 volts or higher when traveling. At the end of 8 hours of travel with Aux. brake and lights on battery was down to less then 11.9 volts.
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Old 10-21-2016, 05:12 PM   #7
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Our experience as well. We towed a 2010 Silverado behind our previous motorhome Dynaquest 340XL, but when we went to the 2014 Silverado, we had to disconnect the battery cable. This is indeed a pain. I think DH installed the disconnect switch, but it still is a pain as you lose all your preset settings. We also had more difficulty getting the 2014 Silverado to shift to travel mode. The little red light on the switch for the transmission was very difficult to see and often would not work the first time. We now are getting ready to tow for the first time behind our new 2017 DSDP 4018.
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Old 10-21-2016, 08:08 PM   #8
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Doug you need to disconnect the negative on the newer Sierras. The steering is electro mechanical and if it is powered up while in tow mode you will be replacing the steering system. Well documented in the towing forum. Look for the posts about the GMC Canyons. Sierra, Cabyon and Chev versions all need the meg disconnect. You can do it manually, buy a switch or get an automated push button like the Battery Brain.

I've wondering about a charge line. Thinking that as soon as you introduce a ground situation to the battery for charging you may supplying power to the entire truck. Something to ponder.
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Old 10-27-2016, 10:38 AM   #9
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Just a thought......

Go ahead & buy a manual disconnect switch for your toad battery. Have your 12V aux/charge line from the coach run into the cab via your 7 pin plug and install a separate fused power port for your toad portable brake system. Your toad battery is now disconnected and brake buddy is isolated on it's own (coach) power.
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Old 10-27-2016, 11:44 AM   #10
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12v neg.

Maybe I am having a brain fart or something, but I am getting ready to put a negative disconnect on the battery and wondered how the tail lights would work without a negative ground? I will be running power from the coach to them but that is not a ground. The lights still depend on the ground to the body. Can the ground from the coach thru the tow bar supply it? Is this overriding the ground disconnect?
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Old 10-28-2016, 05:23 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alan1 View Post
Maybe I am having a brain fart or something, but I am getting ready to put a negative disconnect on the battery and wondered how the tail lights would work without a negative ground? I will be running power from the coach to them but that is not a ground. The lights still depend on the ground to the body. Can the ground from the coach thru the tow bar supply it? Is this overriding the ground disconnect?
Sevral responses were correct about the battery must be disconnected on newer Chevy trucks. I talked to several Chevy service techs and all but one stated that it would damage the steering column if not disconnected. One dealer said he had replaced two steering columns because of mh towing because they did not disconnect the neg.

I had a disconnect installed similar to pic above and all is working great. Much easier than having to get tools out and manually take neg cable off. The 2017 Chevy actually has two ground wires coming off the neg post. One ground goes to the frame and the other to engine block. We found that if you do not run both of these ground wires through the disconnect switch the power will not disconnect. Mechanic said this is the first truck he has seen with the two ground wires.

In response to Alan's thought above.
The battery disconnect of negative terminal takes ground away from the truck so nothing will work on truck. The lights are run through power and ground wires from motorhome to truck lights. I had battery disconnect put on before leaving Foley and all works perfect so far. Also when I installed the wiring for the lights I think I remember the tech running ground wire from the lights to the frame of the pickup. The tech only charged me $75 for the disconnect switch including labor.
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Old 10-28-2016, 08:53 AM   #12
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I had a strange thing happen on a tow vehicle with a new disconnect switch for ground was installed.

The vehicle was an '06 Escalade. It used a Remco pump to look after the all wheel drive issue, that was no problem.. Anyway, as the battery would go flat due to the security system, (Key had to be in Acc. position to shift tranny into neutral) I installed a heavy duty double knife throw switch between the battery ground and the engine/frame. This worked perfectly without issue for about two months.

One morning, I started the car to go to work. The digital dash remained black after the engine started. As it was still under warranty, I took it to the GM dealer.

When I went and picked up the vehicle it was all working well again. I asked as to the issue that had caused the failure of the dash.

The tech said it was the ground switch. He just removed it and all was good again. The switch was not corroded or anything and looked new.

I had to revert to manually disconnecting the ground wire every time I towed that vehicle from then on.

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Old 10-28-2016, 01:39 PM   #13
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I still go back to my original question if " I think I remember the tech running ground wire from the lights to the frame of the pickup, where is the ground coming from when the disconnect is on the neg. side? From the motorhome as this was also said? If the ground came from the motorhome how do you keep it from backfeeding to the frame is it with diodes? And if the frame has a ground have you really disconnected the Neg. side the power? I wonder if the positive side should have the disconnect even if it could be dangerous.

12 volt always has me going in circles.
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Old 10-28-2016, 01:46 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Scout View Post
OK--don't think electro-magnetic steering was used very much in 2007, but maybe??????
OP says it's a 2017 in the original post.
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