Hey guys, As you can probably tell I am new to this board and Ford pickups. I am a member of other boards specifically Turbo Buick boards. However that being said I just purchased a 1995 F250 xlt 5.8 5spd with off road and tow package. I will be trailering my Grand National around to events so I will need everything one would need for a trailer. The truck did come with complete tow package so I have the 7 pin connector and class 4 hitch already on the truck but no brake controller up front. I was curios to know if a brake controller is needed and if so where do I hook it up under the dash (what wires and where are they located) the orginal owner did give me an adapter with 4 wires that look like they need to be spliced but he never hooked them up.

Thanks in advance,

 

I hate it when people answer a question with a question so I will give you the long and the short of it.

If you have a trailer in mind for the Buick - AND - it has brakes then here's what you do...

Simply go to this page and it will give you EVERYTHING you need. - http://www.etrailer.com/faq/brakecontrol.asp

If you haven't decided what you want, or can afford, and will be towing to local events, then just get a basic car trailer without brakes and call it done. Drive safe and win some money!

 

Ok, well.... I dont see exactly in my post where I answered my question. So thank you for the link but that did not exactly help me out the way I had hoped. My question is do I need a brake controller or the factory 7 pin connector is enough? I have never towed anything before so excuse me for being un-educated. If there are exact step by step instructions for my exact truck that would be perfect, that is of course if a brake controller is needed.

Thanks again,

 

OK, I think I got it. Thanks to your link I did a little poking around and then poked around under my dash and found the plug for my brake controller wire. Basically all I am missing is the controller itself. Below is a link of the wire harness I currently have that just needs a controller at the other end. Correct me if I am wrong though please.

http://www.etrailer.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=E&Product_Code =18260&Category_Code=BC

Thanks,

 

O.K. Joe. Does your trailer have electronic brakes? If not then you don't need a brake controller at all. Just a standard light hookup will do. The only reaon you would need a brake controller is if you have electronic brakes on the trailer. It will send a voltage signal to the trailer brakes directly propotionate to the amount of pressure you apply to the brake pedal. This in turn would activate the electronic brakes on your trailer. Electronic brakes are only necessary when you are towing a trailer that the trucks braking system cannot handle. If not...the origional link I posted gives an in depth look at the system. It will be the same on all vehicles. I don't want to sound callous (especially when I asked a newbie question myself earlier), but if you don't have a basic understanding of electro-mechanical applications then you should probably take the truck into the shop to have it installed (if you need it). Have you ever seen the aftermath of a jackknifed trailer?

 

You are correct, and yes, I do have a rather in depth understanding of wiring and technical "things" its just I thought the 7 pin connector was more then just a light hookup and actually applied brakes to the trailer as well. That is where my confusion came from. But after reading your link and did some other poking around I realized that infact my 7 pin connector is just a light source for the trailer and nothing more. I will need to get a brake controller which I already have the hookup for as you saw in my post with the link in it, because my trailer does have electrical brakes..well my soon to be trailer (I have not picked it up yet). I am completely new to towing and trailers.. I do appreciate your explanation very much. It was very clear after I realized my own confusion.

Thanks again,

 

Yes the 7-pin connector does carrier the power for the brakes and is not just for the lights.
All you need, as you have already know now is the brake controller and the plug to splice onto the brake controller.
If you have any questions please post them or you can email or PM me.

Also welcome to FTE.

Here is a diagram of you truck wiring for the trailer plug.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g9...terFactory.gif

 

Got ya, but overall the 7 pin connector without the brake controller does not apply brakes on the trailer. I have found everything I need. Thank you very much for the offer and if I do run into any issues I will let you know.

Thanks a lot guys, after I realized my confusion it all made sense.

 

This seems easy reading all these posts. However, my controller comes with 4 wires coming out while my 2005 F150 has 5 wires. One of the wires coming from the OEM is labled 12v from battery. I'm tring not to sound completely ignorant, but, I am lost as to which wires to splice together.

Any help?

 

I do not know what you are talking about, my 2005 Ford diagrams show 4 wires at the controller, here is the diagrams:
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g9...akeControl.jpg

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g9...rwiringpg1.jpg

 

This wire will only be used if your pulling a travel trailer or a trailer with a self contained 12 volt battery that needs to be kept charged or accessories that requires a 12 volt power source. It is not required for the brake controller!

 

You might have to run a wire all the way back to the 7pin connector if you don't have one already. the blue factory wire off the trailer brake plug under the dash ran up to the firewall block then didn't come out the other side. So i had to splice it in and run it back. Hopefully yours being a bigger truck has that all in place already.

 

dcsmith, do you have the wiring pigtail from the dealer? If not, go get one of those and then splice the brake controller into that, which will plug into the truck wiring harness. This makes things a lot cleaner. I installed a brake controller on a 2006 F150, and it also had 5 wires on the connector, while the brake controller had only 4. The truck is wired for +12V, GND, Brake light signal, Control to trailer, and a backlight/dimmer wire. It is important to note that the wire colors may not match. Splice the wires based on function, not based on color. Most brake controllers use a white wire for ground, black for power, red for brake light signal, and blue for the connection to the trailer brakes.

The brake controller I installed did not have any display to backlight, so that wire was not used. I just turned over the end of that wire and taped it to itself to eliminate any chance of it accidentally grounding under the dash. Since it is a 2005, I am almost certain that all the wiring is there and it is just a matter of plug and play with the brake controller itself.

There is also a relay (maybe a fuse) that you can install in the passenger side fuse panel that will enable the 12V charge circuit to the 7 pin trailer connector at the back of the truck.

 

I know I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill, but...

My controller has: white "ground" (no problem), blue "trailer electric brakes" (no problem), black "positive terminal on battery" (?), Red "cold side of stop lamp switch" (?).

Truck pigtail has: white "ground", blue "to trailer electric brakes", green "stop lamp" (?), brown "illumination feed" (?), red "feed wire from battery"(?)

 

I have the same type of problem, I just purchased a brake controller this weekend and it seems to have much less wires then my adapter for under the dash. So I dont know if I will be missing something or it is just not needed.