Electric Trailer Brakes

[fire3110]

I have an 08 Expo EL EB. My Dad has an 08 Expo EL Limited. His came with a trailer wiring hookup with both the Class I (4 Pin) and the Class IV (7 Pin). Mine came only with the 4 pin. We have a large 24' trailer with elec trailer brakes. His has the brake control mounted in it and the trailer brakes work great when plugged into the 7 pin. We intalled the brake control as Ford put a plug for it under the dash. I have the same plug under the dash. If I get a brake controller will the trailer brakes work with my 4 pin connector at the rear of the truck? If not what do I need to do? I didnt find much help in the manual. Thanks in advance.

[chuck s]

Recommend the Tekonsha Prodigy or P3 brake controller. Nothing less! State-of-the-Art and inexpensive. You can easily move this between tow vehicles as both use a snap in bracket or pocket, and the wiring plugs in the back. You need one P3, two Tekonsha-Ford cables, and one additional bracket.



You won't manual find any help because you're not wired for the required 7-pole "Bargman" connector like your Dad has and which has the trailer brakes connector built in. (Also has backup lights, trailer battery charge, and an additional ground connection).

There's a conversion kit that includes this connector. Ford sells one as do most RV dealers. Once you get the kit you need to find the missing three wires lacking from your "boat trailer" connector. The only one Ford furnishes is the Blue brake wire which is "blunt cut, dipped, and taped" somewhere back there.

<-- the photo is a link.

Your Expedition is only rated at 6000 pounds maximum towing capacity. The trailer's weight and any weight in the Expedition other than a 150 pound driver counts against that 6000 pounds. The inexpensive ($350) HD Towing option boosts the maximum towing capacity to 9000 pounds. Consists of all the wiring you're having to rig plus larger engine coolant and transmission fluid radiators.

The larger radiators are available from your friendly Ford dealer and have been successfully retrofitted by at least one member here. Bit I'd start with a good transmission temperature gauge and see if you need either. The transmission radiator is probably the most critical. The Interceptor gauge just plugs into the OBD2 connector under the dashboard. We have HD Tow and all the temperatures stay low. Engine coolant never exceeds 200° and transmission temperature rarely runs more than 200° as well. Not sure how these temps are withOUT the HD tow package.



Since your Dad had HD Tow this gauge will show you what (if any) temperature differences there are in engine coolant and transmission temperature.

You need a good Weight Distribution Hitch for the trailer. Equalizer 1000/10,000 pound WDH is what we have and highly recommend. Just need one. I keep the drawbar on a pad just inside the door of our camper. Perform the setup with the air bags turned OFF. Let me know I can give you my settings that work well with 700 pounds of tongue weight.


-- Chuck

[eddiemoney]

Interestingly enough my hitch says 6000lbs max for Expy, but 9200 with the WDH. Mine has HD package.

[blue85ford]

hey u have to buy a 7 way plug there is a blue wire and a orange wire in the frame rail in the back by where the hitch should go that blue wir is for trailer brakes hook that to ur blue wire or blue terinal on the 7 way plug that u buy the orange wire is for a 12 volt feed to the trailer it will keep your battery charged on your trailer if u have 1 as for the brake box i have a simple box that does the same thing as th other ones i install them at my work and hardly ever put the high end controllers in

[chuck s]

My hitch is rated to 6000 pounds in weight carrying configation. 9100 pounds with a WDH. (Maybe 9200 in the '08s? My '07 manual says 9100. No biggie.)

But don't confuse hitch capacity with maximum towing capacity of the vehicle. That's 9000 pounds for the HD tow option and 6000 pounds without it. I can put a 15,000 pound rated hitch back there and it doesn't change the maximum towing capacity a pound.

I was unaware the Orange wire was back there along with the Blue. Good to know. Worth installing the relay and fuse to get trailer battery charge even though it's normally just a trickle due to voltage drop and the voltage regulator up front designed to not overcharge the starting battery.

--Chuck

[fire3110]

Hey guys thanks a lot for your input. I saw the wire under the rear bumper labeled elec trailer brakes. Still looking for the orange one. Thanks again..BIG help.

[dan_s_johnson]

Hey chuck s

Great post! Thanks for taking the time. You know your stuff and have some nice additions. My brother is really into cars and uses dual interceptor gauges in his gtp. Anyway, I am wondering where you actually have yours located and what kind of pod you have it in. I'd also like to keep an eye on trans temps as I am considering getting a toy hauler trailer. I have the 03 expy 4x4 with the hd towing option which puts me at 8650lbs if I remember right (down from the 8900 lbs because of 4x4). Also, with the brake controller, any recommendations on where to get it cheap and what additional wiring/connector do I need?

I think this will have all I need for a brake controller setup but looking for confirmation
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TEKON...Q5fAccessories

[Fearsam]

Awesome post Chuck! Lots of good info! Another gadget I must have!! The prodigy is a VERY, VERY, nice piece of equipment!!!

[chuck s]

You can get either the Tekonsha Prodigy or P3 inexpensively from RVWholesalers. <-- that's a link to the P3. There's a video about it in there too that'll start playing when you link to the page.

You also need the Ford cable to make it plug and play.



The Interceptor gauge still sits on my dash in a cheap open back gauge pod. Velcroed to the dash. There are F150 pillar pods, but they don't fit my Expedition very well so the gauge is still in her "temporary" mounting. I moved her from center dash to left edge. Doesn't impress the valet parking guys, but it's a truck!



The Interceptor guys used my Expedition as a test bed to find the Transmission Temperature signal on my '07 Expedition in the spring of '07. Trans Temp didn't work. They developed Trans Temp 2. I also like the Trans Slip reading. Shows the transmission locks up very fast towing my 5000 pound trailer.

There are several face plate and display color options. I found the original Green display blinding at night, even on the lowest setting and they put a Red board in the gauge after flashing the ROM to the new program. Much nicer at night, but hard to read in direct daylight. I suspect the Blue is better, but that's a guess.



-- Chuck

[renyren]

Mine only came with the 4 way flat as well. As the others have mentioned get a 7 way plug. I had the tekonsha voyager and didn't like it. I know have the prodigy and it works great. I bought a scangauge II for $170 because it was cheaper than the interceptor. It can display 4 gauges at a time.