I have a 1964 F350, I am looking to tow my pop up trailer, it has brakes on the trailer, this will be the first time I've used trailer brakes, how do they work, I'm guessing an accelerometer style brake controller, and can they be installed on my old truck?

 

Yep, they can.

It needs:

+12V (probably want this on ignition-switched power
Ground
Brake signal (from brake light switch)

Then run wire to the back etc.

 

I installed a Tekonsha Prodigy in my '65 f250...straightforward directions and works well. There are four wires...one to battery, one to trailer brakes, one to ground, and one to truck brake light switch. It has 12 gauge wire for the power so I don't think you'd want to run that through the ignition switch. The unit "sleeps" whenever you haven't touched the brake in more than 10-15 minutes and I unplug it when not in use. Instructions ask you to install a resettable circuit breaker between the battery and the controller.

Then you'll also need to tap into the truck's brake lights and turn signals for the lights on the trailer. If you want to wire in a 7 prong trailer plug to have auxiliary power to camper, I put that on a switch so that I have it if need. I just didn't want the auxiliary power to the trailer connected to the trucks electrical all the time.

You may need a heavy duty blinker once you connect to the trailer. Factory blinker may not work well for more than the lights on just the truck. Mine is located under the instrument cluster.

You asked how the brakes works. For me, the truck brake light switch tells the controller the truck brakes have been activated. Then the contoller applies braking to the trailer in proportion to how hard it senses the truck brakes being applied. The contoller also has a manual lever in case you want to apply the trailer brakes by themselves. You can adjust the contoller to be more or less aggressive.

 

Just a friendly note, if you haven't used them before.

There is a breakaway wire that hooks to a different spot than your safety chains with a battery on the trailer that energizes the trailer brakes should the trailer come detached.

Need to make sure the trailer battery is good and had a charge on it for the system to work.

It is customary to use the thumb push on the brake controller when you first hook up and "feel" the trailer brakes come on to make sure the trailer brakes are working.

Good luck

 

+1 to the Tekonsha Prodigy. I had the P3 in my 1/2 ton truck and it was a great brake controller.

 

I loved my P3 when we used it in the Pathfinder! It was such an upgrade to the freebie Hugh's brake controller the dealership gave us when we bought the trailer. I was a little disappointed that my new F250 came with the OEM brake controller already installed... don't get me wrong, it's pretty nice too, but now I just have the P3 just sitting in a box.