I'm the original owner of a '98 F-150 XLT 4.6L 4x2 (which I still LOVE driving every day), now with 126K miles. It has the factory tow package and an aftermarket class IV hitch. For the last 5 years I've been towing a 6,500# boat with hydraulic surge brakes, so that's old hat. Now I've been asked to tow a 20' enclosed utility trailer for my kids' high school band. It has electric brakes, which I've never had any dealings with.

Does the '98 have a connection point under the dash for a controller? If so is it hard to access? Does it provide power to the controller? Are any controllers better than others and if so, what's recommended? Any other advice for an electric brake noob?

Thanks very much for any help!

Mike
Kansas City

 

Mike,the '98 F150 is wired for a brake controller. If there's not a factory supplied interface harness in the glove compartment, then you can get one from your dealer,ebay,etc....they're really common. This plug under the dash powers and ties the controller into the rear harness.
I used a Reese "pod" time-based controller on my old F150. It's cheap, worked well, and for the limited towing you're describing-it'll be ideal for the job with minimal investment on your part.
Amazon.com: Reese Towpower 74377 Pod Brake control: Automotive
JL

 

you can get all the info and parts you will ever need from the SPONSOR here on this site. I have dealt with them before and are good to deal with. They even have a video tutorial on hooking up a BC on an F150 that only has the 4 flat connector out back. They sell everything to make it a plug and play experience (other than screwing in a ground wire). You will also need a 30A fuse in slot 108 under the hood.

 

Nice to know I'm not the only Bando dad on here.

As was mentioned, if you have the tow package, you should already be wired and there will be a plug under the dash in the area of the little storage pocket. It should have 3 or 4 wires going to it I think.

You can get a harness when you buy your brake controller that will mate with the dash plug on your truck.

I recommend the Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller. It is an inertial type and works very smoothly. After having a delay type controller, I'll never willingly go back to that type after having the prodigy.

Even if you only tow once in a while, I'd still recommend not just buying the cheapest controller. Nothing raises stress levels like an ill handling trailer setup.

I'd also recommend a weight distribution hitch, if the trailer does not already have one.

I tow a 16 foot enclosed for our band (my daughter graduated 5 years ago) and I asked the Band Parents Association to purchase a WD hitch when they bought the trailer.
The ride is so much better and I believe it would be less stress on your truck by minimizing how much the trailer pushes your truck around.

Just be careful you don't exceed the combined weight rating of your truck.
Our 16 footer is a 2002 United and weighs about 3500 empty.

You really need to weigh your truck. You then subtract that from your Combination weight rating to get the maximum trailer weight you can tow.

With my truck, I'm good for about 5500 in trailer weight.

I have a 97 4.6L Scab 4X4 with 3.55LS.

The 4.6 is pretty impressive for a small V8, but don't expect to be a speed demon, or get any kind of good gas mileage while towing, but you should already know that....

 

Tremendous help everyone, and I appreciate it.

CQ N3UP de KC0KBC, tks for the fb tips! ;-)

Actually, towing the 24' fiberglass boat is much more of a stress on the truck than I hope this utility trailer will be. Pulling that 6,500# through the Ozark mountains down in southern Missouri is a stretch and then some. That little 4.6L motor never ceases to amaze me, although when towing the boat I get around 10mpg on flat highway and I would guess 6 in the mountains. I get the tranny serviced every fall (which makes it every 9,800 miles or so) and Mobil 1 every 3K miles since new. Cheap insurance AFAIC, especially when towing near the top of the capacity.

We live in (what is reputed to be) one of the best school districts in the country, but their budget is non-existent right now just like everyone else's - so any trailer mods aren't likely to happen anytime soon. Since I've already swapped out the original 5K# hitch for a 10K# and the tow distances will be fairly short I'm less concerned about hitch issues and more concerned about things like the trailer's tires are 8 years old and stored unprotected outside, I don't know when hubs were last serviced, that kind of thing. When it comes to towing a trailer I'm pretty AR. But at least this one doesn't get submerged.

So let me see if I've got this straight:

• I'll need to add the 30A fuse.
• I'll need to buy the controller itself.
• I'll need a vehicle specific adapter cable to connect the controller to my harness.
• I DON'T need to run a separate power line for the controller.

Is that it?

Looking around, I see proportional controllers, time delay controllers, and maybe others. I'm not sure I understand why a time delay controller would have an advantage. I'm 100% in agreement on not scrimping on towing equipment. If I agree to do this, I'll spend whatever is appropriate to do it right.

Also I'm not sure I understand where the adapter plugs into the harness. One guy I talked to said it was just under the center of the dash, behind the heater duct shroud. Someone else said it was over on the driver's side somewhere. Of course the owner's manual doesn't even mention it. Anyone know for sure?

 

I just re-read Johnny's reply and was reminded that there was an adapter in the glove box for years; I'd forgotten all about it. At some point I needed the room in the box, so took the adapter out - and of course now I have no idea where I put it.

 

You may have to install the fuse and a relay.

You'll need the relay to provide power to the trailer for charging the breakaway battery.
The relay just plugs in if it's not already there.

You should be able to get the brake controller harness when you buy the controller.
Try E-trailer.com, that's where I got my controller.
I had the Ford provided harness for my truck...the previous owner was pretty **** about saving things, thankfully.

The premade harness should just plug in on both ends.

I mounted my controller in the little cubbyhole under the dash near the steering column.
I'm not sure that the 98's have that, but I'd guess they should.
The only drawback to mounting there is that if you get the premade harness, you'll either have to cut it in half and splice it back together, or cut a pretty big hole in the back of the cubby.

The plug should be secured under the dash on the driver's side.
My truck has 2 plugs. One is right near the column, the other is a little further to the right, the right one is the brake controller plug.

73 de Ted

 

Thanks a ton Ted!

 

No problem Mike.

BTW The WD hitch we got for our trailer was about $300 shipped.
It's a Curt Trunion bar setup and came with everything but the ball.

If I remember correctly we got 600lb bars, and the drawhead is good for a 10K lb trailler, way overkill since our trailer has a GVWR of 7000.

The draw head is a real nut buster, heavy and solid....literally, the drawbar is 2" square solid steel, the thing must weigh 30 pounds.

I went with trunion bars because it looked like it would give me better ground clearance and the price was about the same as a round bar setup.
We didn't bother with sway control since the trailer is a tandem axle and seemed pretty stable when I was towing it without the WD setup.

I mainly went with WD to reduce the rear squat on my truck. I had never used a WD setup before, and now I want to get one for my camper.

I don't really have any squat issues with my trailer, but I do like that the WD setup reduces the "porpoising" that I had before I used one. I have since discovered that my rear shocks were shot (the one that broke was a clue) and I now have Bilstein HD's on the truck and the ride is great.

We'll have to hook up on the radio sometime.
I usually operate VHF/UHF mostly, and I have Echolink and I hang out on a repeater that is on Echolink fulltime. I can operate HF phone and PSK31.

If you need any more help or info, let me know.

73 de Ted

 

Good deal Ted, my operating time is very limited these days it seems, with 3 teenagers driving and 2 just starting high school. I do HF phone, a little CW, and just recently got set up to do PSK-31 but haven't played with it enough yet to know what I'm doing; I'd like to rectify that. I also love building QRP related stuff. I think I like building almost more than operating, maybe because I can do it late at night and not be constrained by my HOA antenna restrictions (my antennas are all in the attic).

 

I've now got a Tekonsha P3, the proper adapter, and the 30A fuse was already in place (part of the tow package I assume). Just one problem - I'm having a heck of a time figuring out where to mount the thing. Between the large center part of the wheel blocking much of the view of the lower dash area, and the fact that this generation F150 has almost no flat surfaces (everything's rounded) and the controller has to be mounted level side to side - and they don't want it mounted less than 12" from any RF generating devices (a Yaesu FT-8800R sits on a pedestal on the transmission hump) - I'm out of ideas. The '98 does have the cubby to the right of the wheel, but it isn't tall enough to accommodate the P3 with it's big manual switch on the bottom.

Hmmm.

 

I guess the Prodigy is a little smaller then, because mine fit into the cubby with enough sticking out to clear the manual lever.

I'll have to try and take a picture sometime this week.....

 

Well, I had to break a rule somewhere, so I mounted it near the Yaesu. The only other choice was to drill into the lower dash, which I really didn't want to do and would still be close to the radio.





Thanks for all the help!

 

Finally got a picture of my setup Mike.



The control head for the Yaesu FT8900R is on a Lido mount that just glues to the dash.
The rest of the radio is under the back seat.
I did drill holes to mount the Mic hanger, but they are into the cupholder, an easily replaceable part. (should probably scrounge one up)

The brake controller is removeable if necessary, but I never take it out.

The space on the hump where you have your rig is perfect for a sixpack sized cooler when I take a road trip....sandwiches, soda, munchies....

 

Nice setup, and a good use of space. I tried sticking the P3 into the cubby, but it barely goes in far enough to keep from falling out. And I do use that space for other things that I like to have close to hand. I haven't remoted my 8800 yet, that's been on the to-do list for awhile now. Thanks for the pic!