Trailer Brake Control

[nick55]

In the truck listed below what is the best way to add a TBC. The previous owner added the new style connector that is already plugged in to the harness that leads under the hood. (found this out the hard way..let's not get in to it ). Does this mean I only have 1 wire to run to the rear of the truck or is there somewhere under the hood I can tie in to?

[ALANSD]

I bought a Tekonsha for my 97 250. I got the harness form an RV dealer for ten bucks that plugs right into the female connector under the dash. Are you saying yours is bypassed ? If so you could splice into the wiring from the stop light switch ...The controllers all use the same wiring set up.

[OLDTOM]

There should be a brake controller plug under the dash near the acc pedal. The factory pigtail plugs in there and the wiring should be in the harness already. You may need to make a rear harness pigtail but the outlet is in the main harness from the factory. They use the same controller pigtail for your model up to present. I just unpluged it from my old truck(95) and plugged it in the new one(04). You may have to check to see what was changed when they hooked it up under the hood. Good luck. If you tow over 2000 lbs make sure you have trailer brakes.

[kf6kmx]

Originally Posted by nick55

In the truck listed below what is the best way to add a TBC. The previous owner added the new style connector that is already plugged in to the harness that leads under the hood. (found this out the hard way..let's not get in to it ). Does this mean I only have 1 wire to run to the rear of the truck or is there somewhere under the hood I can tie in to?

We have basically the exact same truck, but ours is a 2wd!

Unless its been cut or bypassed, there is a plug under the middle of the dash (mine ended up right behind the Firestone air bag control..)
You can get a Tekonsha plug that goes from the truck to their control with no cutting or anything..

We went with the P3 (has a digital screen, and handles up to 4 axles, plus I got it at a discount, I fix the dealer's computer network so he gets me great discounts).
Took about 15min to install... most of that was trying to get my had in behind the Firestone control(doh!)

[kf6kmx]

Forgot to add.. I highly recommend the Tekonshas.. They arent the 'timed units', they proportionaly brake by how hard you are stopping. Usually that means you have to adjust the control so it knows where 'down' is.. Not these, these auto-adjust 300 times a second! I dont know, but I think its based on the same setup as the iPhone and BB Storm detecting phone orientation..

I like the boost feature also... We tow a 2-horse trailer a lot (our primary brake equiped trailer) and I can easily adjust for having the horses loaded or unloaded by the boost setting.. Basically it breaks down to Boost 0-trailer lighter than truck, 1-trailer same weight, 2-trailer slightly heavier, 3-trailer MUCH heavier.
I usually run it boost 0 or 1, then load both horses and go boost 2..
For a big 5th wheel I go all the way to boost 3..
THe paperwork says the boost isnt changing the brake value, but the activation timing, making the trailer add a braking a little sooner.
Its also very nice for pulling more than one trailer, as the brake power is a digital readout and I can keep notes of what power level I use for each trailer and just punch it back in each time to get the same braking I expect every time.