Expedition trailer brakes
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Junior User
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Expedition trailer brakes
Hi guys,
I have a 98 Expy 5.4L. I am going to purchase a 21ft. Toy hauler tomorrow. The toy hauler has electric brakes. I need to know what I need installed on my expy to operate the toy hauler's electric brakes.
Is there any other advice that I should consider before I toy it home tomorrow?
Thanks.
I have a 98 Expy 5.4L. I am going to purchase a 21ft. Toy hauler tomorrow. The toy hauler has electric brakes. I need to know what I need installed on my expy to operate the toy hauler's electric brakes.
Is there any other advice that I should consider before I toy it home tomorrow?
Thanks.
New User
Joined: Nov 2005
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my 03 had the towing package on it with the proper 7 way on the back. All I had to do was get a brake controller and the proper adapter from ford and it plugged in right under the dash. This was the factory setup. I am not sure on the 98 maybe someone else has one with experience?
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Joined: Nov 2005
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scratch that, looks as you do not have the trailer package from your other post. You will need to run a line from your battery to your drivers dash area, a ground to there, then a wire from there to the rear of the vehicle for the brake controller. Then wire this all up to your brake controller as well as the switch wire from your brake switch. You can also get a 4 to 7 way adapter that you need to ground at the rear and hook up the brake switch to it (also power if you want to pass through).
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Joined: Nov 2003
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From: Poulsbo, Washington
I do this stuff for a living. If you have a hitch and a plug on the rear of your Expy it is prewired for a brake control and charge line also all the lights etc. are already there. All you have to do is purchase the brake controller and plug harness. If you bought the vehicle brand new it should have come with the harness, if you bought used most likely the harness has been lost. If you have all that taken care of you will most likely have to install the fuses for the brake control and charge line under the hood in the fuse block. If you do not have the hitch or plug on the back then your back at a full wire job as described in the previous reply but I find this very unlikely. The plug connection for the brake control is located under the dash on the driver side above the gas pedal just to left of the console and is grey in color with 5 wires coming out of it, blue, brown, green, red and white. The brake control should come with directions on what wire goes with what, I recommend a Teconsha controller, very reliable and fool proof.
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Originally Posted by marvmart
I do this stuff for a living. If you have a hitch and a plug on the rear of your Expy it is prewired for a brake control and charge line also all the lights etc. are already there. All you have to do is purchase the brake controller and plug harness. If you bought the vehicle brand new it should have come with the harness, if you bought used most likely the harness has been lost. If you have all that taken care of you will most likely have to install the fuses for the brake control and charge line under the hood in the fuse block. If you do not have the hitch or plug on the back then your back at a full wire job as described in the previous reply but I find this very unlikely. The plug connection for the brake control is located under the dash on the driver side above the gas pedal just to left of the console and is grey in color with 5 wires coming out of it, blue, brown, green, red and white. The brake control should come with directions on what wire goes with what, I recommend a Teconsha controller, very reliable and fool proof.
Thanks for the great info!
I purchased my expy used. It did not have a hitch, but it does have the 4 pin plug in the rear. From what you are saying, it sounds like its already prewired. So all I need is a brake controller and some sort of harness. Not sure what kind of harness you are refering to.
Also, what is the charge line under the hood?
Thanks.
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Joined: Nov 2003
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From: Poulsbo, Washington
The harness I am refering to is one that will plug into the the factory harness under the dash, usually it will be a six conductor plug but only four wires coming out of it and usually these are readily available from any auto parts store that has a good electrical section. These wires will connect to the brake control. Also depending on the year of your Expy the plug could either be gray or brown(under the dash). The charge line I was taking about is basically a wire that goes from the vehicles battery back to the plug and is activated when the ignition is on to charge the trailers' battery if so equiped. You said you only had a 4 pin plug? This is only left and right turn including brake lights these wire colors are yellow and green, also brown for marker lights and the fourth is white for ground. Sounds like you may need a little more wiring if you are hauling a travel trailer. Sorry for the delay in response.
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Originally Posted by marvmart
The harness I am refering to is one that will plug into the the factory harness under the dash, usually it will be a six conductor plug but only four wires coming out of it and usually these are readily available from any auto parts store that has a good electrical section. These wires will connect to the brake control. Also depending on the year of your Expy the plug could either be gray or brown(under the dash). The charge line I was taking about is basically a wire that goes from the vehicles battery back to the plug and is activated when the ignition is on to charge the trailers' battery if so equiped. You said you only had a 4 pin plug? This is only left and right turn including brake lights these wire colors are yellow and green, also brown for marker lights and the fourth is white for ground. Sounds like you may need a little more wiring if you are hauling a travel trailer. Sorry for the delay in response.
I purchased the brake controller with a Ford harness. Does the factory harness travel to the rear of the 98 expy?
I have noticed that there is a hanging plug right next to the 4 plug connector at the rear of the vehicle. I wonder if the hanging plug is the other end to the front harness under the driver's dash.
Any recommendations regarding the fuses?
Thanks!
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From: Poulsbo, Washington
I have a 99 Eddie Bauer Expy and looked at the wiring in the rear. The 7 way plug does plug into the rear at the spare tire on the drivers side, it is a rectangluler plug and is possible that someone has removed the factory 7 way. One way to be sure is to look at the fuse block under the hood there should be spots for fuses labled for trailer lights, brakes, etc. They also use relays in conjunction with the fuses, all these should be labled in your Ford manual and on the inside cover of the fuse block.
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Junior User
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Originally Posted by marvmart
I have a 99 Eddie Bauer Expy and looked at the wiring in the rear. The 7 way plug does plug into the rear at the spare tire on the drivers side, it is a rectangluler plug and is possible that someone has removed the factory 7 way. One way to be sure is to look at the fuse block under the hood there should be spots for fuses labled for trailer lights, brakes, etc. They also use relays in conjunction with the fuses, all these should be labled in your Ford manual and on the inside cover of the fuse block.
I have everything hooked up just like you specified. Thanks so much.
I only have one issue left.
I purchased a 7 way plug and need assistance with the hook up.
The brake controller plugged right into the Ford factory harness under the driver's dash. So I am assumed that the truck was prewired for a brake controller.
However, the rear has the 4 pin plug and a two pin harness right next to it. The two pin harness is Blue and Orange. I was wondering if the blue wire is the brake controller wire. If so, do you know what the orange wire is for? I am assuming that since there is no Black wire, that I am going to have to run a separate power wire to the battery?
Please help. Thanks.
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Joined: Jul 2002
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From: TN
The flat 4 pin plug is just for tail/stop/turn lighting, it does not have the brake function included in those 4 wires.
The blue wire *should* be the brake wire, and the orange *should* be the 12v charging lead for the 7 wire round plug - if you had one installed.
Don't trust me on that - a volt meter shoudl be able to tell you what is what once you have the brake controller installed.
The blue wire *should* be the brake wire, and the orange *should* be the 12v charging lead for the 7 wire round plug - if you had one installed.
Don't trust me on that - a volt meter shoudl be able to tell you what is what once you have the brake controller installed.
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Originally Posted by DRM
The flat 4 pin plug is just for tail/stop/turn lighting, it does not have the brake function included in those 4 wires.
The blue wire *should* be the brake wire, and the orange *should* be the 12v charging lead for the 7 wire round plug - if you had one installed.
Don't trust me on that - a volt meter shoudl be able to tell you what is what once you have the brake controller installed.
The blue wire *should* be the brake wire, and the orange *should* be the 12v charging lead for the 7 wire round plug - if you had one installed.
Don't trust me on that - a volt meter shoudl be able to tell you what is what once you have the brake controller installed.
I bought a $25 Hoppy brand plug and spliced into the leads rather than having to spend $159 from the dealer. Thanks.
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Joined: Feb 2005
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I to was wondering about this and I checked with my local U-Haul location and they installed everything including the brake controler for $150. I thought that was a good deal considering I did not have to worry about contecting the right wires. I had qoutes from $180 - $400(not sure what this shop wanted to do other then rip me off).
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Joined: Nov 2003
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From: Poulsbo, Washington
Sorry I couldn't reply I was switching to cable from dialup and ran into some problems. I read the other posts and sounds like you got it taken care of, blue for the brake and orange for the 12 volt charge line. This is pretty standard on all newer vehicles except for wire colors. Have fun and enjoy.
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