Trailer wiring

[Johnny]

Recently bought a car trailer with electric brakes. Also received a brake control to be mounted inside the tow vehicle. My question is, how do you wire it up? I figured some BCF members probably have a similar trailer and can help me. I have a 1997 Jeep Cherokee as a tow vehicle. I have a six point round hitch wired in, but are only using the four wires at present for lights. The (lights) all work okay.
Now I want to add the brakes. The PO of the trailer gave me a list of how he had the brake control wired. Here's what he provided:
Black wire to Battery, constant hot lead.
White lead to ground.
Blue wire to rear of car-to trailer brakes.
Red wire to brake light switch (hot side when switch is on.)
My question is where exactly do I hook up the Red wire? Also, how does the brake control operate. It has an adjustable turn switch on the face and an LED light that flashes. What does this all mean?

 

[lawguy]

If it's like the one's I installed (I installed hitches and such while I was in school), the red wire goes to the brake light switch which is activated when you push the brake pedal. This controls when the trailer brakes will come on.

Think about it. If your brake lights are on, you are using the brakes, right? Therefore, the trailer brake controller uses that as a signal to notify the trailer brakes to work. Since the brake light is an on-off proposition and does not vary with how hard you push the brakes, the knob on the controller allows you to control how much braking force the trailer brakes apply and the light tells you when they are working (depending on the model, the light can mean different things, so I can't give much more detail than that).

So to directly answer your question, you have to tap into the wire that runs to your brake lights somewhere. Any wire that goes to the brake light and brake lights only (not turn, or the brakes will activate whenever you signal for a turn). Just connect it to a brake light wire and you're in business.

 

[Daelion]

The light on the control module let you know when the trailer brakes are in use. There should also be a adjustment to fine tune how much braking will be applied to the trailer when you press on the pedal. Usually it's 1 thru 10 setting. 10 being the most pressure applied to trailer brake.2-5 is a good staring point to set trailer brake. When I had mine installed the tech set it to 10! Talk about lock up! Needless to say I trailered my healey back to NY from Calif. on setting 3 without a problem. Hope this info helps.

 

[Johnny]

Thanks to all who responded. I figured the red wire goes to the brake light switch, and the blue wire to the trailer brakes. I wired the red wire to the brake light switch mounted on the brake pedal. After wiring it up I measured the voltage at the rear (blue wire) and only measured a "pulsing" 4 volts. Is that right?

 

[lawguy]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Johnny:
Thanks to all who responded. I figured the red wire goes to the brake light switch, and the blue wire to the trailer brakes. I wired the red wire to the brake light switch mounted on the brake pedal. After wiring it up I measured the voltage at the rear (blue wire) and only measured a "pulsing" 4 volts. Is that right?

<hr></blockquote>

Yeah, that's fine. You may notice more voltage or less as you adjust the controller up or down.

 

[Bugeye58]

Johnny, just a quick "heads up". After you unload the car, and go to park the trailer, be sure to either unplug the brake controller, or turn the gain all the way down. I forgot to do this once, and embarassed myself as I tapped the brakes and locked up all four on the trailer, in front of a large crowd of people!
I have my controller wired to a GM 4 pin "Weatherpack" connector so I can just unplug it, and not disturb my finely tuned settings on the controller. Saves a lot of hassle.
Jeff

 

[Johnny]

Thanks to all who responded. I think it's right, need to try it out. There is one other control, besides the adjustable one. It is a large switch that slides to the left, it is spring loaded and will return to where it began. What is that for?

 

[Randy Forbes]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Johnny:
There is one other control, besides the adjustable one. It is a large switch that slides to the left, it is spring loaded and will return to where it began. What is that for?

<hr></blockquote>

Manual activation of trailer brakes only?

That's how the old hydraulic ones were...

 

[Bugeye58]

Yes, the slider is for manual activation of the trailer brakes. Great for using on a downgrade, but use it sparingly, or you'll overheat the trailer brakes.
Jeff

 

[fordhealey]

just out of curiosity...what kind of trailer did
you get. i'm planning on putting a reese hitch on
my BT7 for a bike rack and planning on getting a
trailer for my JUNK. was considering a motorcycle
type,but am open to suggestion. would really like
something with a surge brake.
gregg

 

[Johnny]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by fordhealey:
just out of curiosity...what kind of trailer did
you get. i'm planning on putting a reese hitch on
my BT7 for a bike rack and planning on getting a
trailer for my JUNK. was considering a motorcycle
type,but am open to suggestion. would really like
something with a surge brake.
gregg<hr></blockquote>
Mine is a open car hauler. Double axle with extended ramps, brakes, and a winch to assist in loading. (Handy if you have a dead car you want to haul). It's 16' long, and has wooden floor.
As a sidebar, I really am going to appreciate the winch when I load my Healey, especially if its raining. I have seen cars spinning their tires on a wet trailer trying to move the car closer to the front. Very dangerous.