A comment in another thread got me to thinking. My truck did not come with the factory tow package. I had the dealer add the 7-pin wiring harness and Class IV hitch, but I'm not sure if it has the necessary connections for the easy hook up of a brake controller.

Can someone shed some light on this? How do you hook up the brake controller if your truck didn't come with the trailer tow package?

 

There is still the plug under the dash, above the e brake. I think you just have to buy the wiring harness to connect the brake controller to the existing harness. at least that's what my buddy with a 4.7 gasser and no tow package said.

 

I already have the little pigtail harness from Dodge if that's what you're talking about. I also made them give me one of those with the truck. I just wasn't sure if the truck would accept it if it didn't have the tow package.

I also think I heard somewhere that the blue brake wire is not hooked up on the trucks that don't have tow packages. Anyone know about this?

 

seems to me if he added the harness that it would all be hooked up. Pretty easy to tell by looking in the rear of the plug. Or, you could use a meter to check the wire used to provide trailer power. If it is hot it is most likey that the rest of the wires are.

Also, most of the better controllers tell you if you have a completed circuit when the trailer is plugged up.

How that is handled (prodigy vs jordan) should start another good mini war...


I like my prodigy a lot. However, based on everything I have read lately if I bought new again I would give the jordan a try

 

I have been looking at the Brakesmart controller. Uses an electronic pressure sensor that does not displace fluid and it is compatible with ABS systems. Also you can get optional EGT and boost readouts. Sounds very nice, if my Prodigy goes south, I think I will go for this one.

www.brakesmart.net

Casey

 

I'm not sure I follow exactly what you're saying. What the dealer added when I bought it was the 7 pin wiring connection in the rear bumper and the Class IV hitch. He also gave me the little pigtail that is SUPPOSED to plug in under the dash and hook up to the back of a controller, but since my truck didn't come with the trailer tow package I don't know if there is anything there for that pigtail to plug in to. Make sense?? I thought I read somewhere on here that the plug in is there but there is a blue wire under the hood somewhere that is just coiled up and needs to be hooked up to something. That's what I'm trying to find out.

 

There is no blue wire coiled up under the hood. The brake plug for the controller is under the dash already. The blue wire from the controller plug goes through the firewall and terminates at the connector behind the drivers front wheel. If they installed the brake wire, they normally splice into it at this connector and hopefully used waterproof shrink tubing. Then the wire is run along the frame to the back where it hooks into the 7 pin trailer connector. Why not ask the dealer if he hooked it up?

Casey

 

I went through the same deal as you Hoss and allowed the dealer to install the wiring harness and hitch. If you look under the hood behind the steering wheel you may find a blue wire that is unterminated. There is a wiring harness connection behind the left front tire and I tapped into the harness at this location, with the blue wire from under the hood. I cannot remember the exact wire but it did not have a match on the opposite side of the plug. I used an ohmmeter to trace it to the connector in the cab. I was able to connect the controller with the pigtail just as if the factory tow package had been installed.

 

Guess I'll just have to open the hood up and see what I can find.

 

It does until you look at the price and what's involved in installing the thing.

They want $239 just for the controller and bracket and then $110 for all the stuff necessary to hook it up!! That's ridiculous!! On top of that, it looks incredibly difficult to install. Can't justify spending $350 on a brake controller that isn't even proven. That's just me though.

I didn't see anything on the website to indicate this. You sure you understood that correctly?

 

Let me know. Is it just me or did their controller seem WAY overpriced?? You're talking $350 by the time you buy everything needed to hook it up.

 

Of course we do....that's why I'm asking questions. How do you know this one won't be a nightmare? It appears to be about 10 times harder to install....which usually means more chance of problems. Just seems pretty pricey to me for something that most folks have never heard of before.