Brake controller installlation

Chain Bender · Feb 3, 2012

Bought a Reese "Echelon" proportional braking system for my 2005 Dodge 2500.

Red, white, black and blue wires come out of a clip that goes into the back of the unit.

Black goes to positive side of the (a) battery with a 20 or 30 amp circuit breaker in the line somewhere.

White goes to ground.

Red goes to cold side of stoplight switch.

Blue goes to blue wire back at the trailer connector.

I'm not as good at crawling under the dash or truck as I used to be. Is this an easy installation or do I need to take it to someone that knows what he's doing?

Thanks in advance,
Chain Bender

dodge man · Feb 3, 2012

If the truck came with a tow package, it should be all wired up under the dash, and on a 3/4 ton, I'd bet that it is. From Resse, you should be able to get an adapter and the controller should plug into the truck with no wiring.

Also a lot of the trucks came with a plug in on one end and bare wires on the other. If you have that for your truck, you can solder up that with the plug in from the controller. Check your glove box or console and see if its laying around.

Its easier just to plug it in though.

dfkrug · Feb 3, 2012

I installed a Reese brake controller in my Tacoma several years ago, and
it was not as easy as I had hoped. My brake switch has numerous
connections and I did not have a good wiring diagram at that time.

I ended up just using the brake lamp signal to trigger the controller,
making all underside connections inside the taillight lens to avoid the
elements. Soldered them, too, instead of using those crappy
connectors that slice into existing wires.

Note that if you decide to pay someone else, they will use these
crappy splices as standard practice usually.

A pal of mine has an old Dodge 2500, and it came with a factory
brake controller. Maybe yours has the connectors available under the
dash for you to just plug in to?

grsthegreat · Feb 3, 2012

All the newer Dodge trucks...going back to my 1994, have them prewired as part of the wiring harness. All you need to do is get the adaptor (NAPA) and its a done deal.

I did mine in about 10 minutes. My ford took less time.

There just plug and play.

RobertN · Feb 3, 2012

My '01 Dodge 2500 was pre-wired. Had pigtail in the glove box. Or, they are cheap from NAPA etc.

Took just a minute to connect the pigtail to the controller, then just plug in to the connector under the dash.

Took longer deciding where I wanted to mount it, than it did to actually hook it up and go.

Chain Bender · Feb 3, 2012

Thks guys. Greatly appreciate your replies. Will go look and see what exist on teh truck now.

CB

jeffsw6 · Feb 3, 2012

I had the Chevy dealer install my TBC because I knew they would be extremely familiar with it. It cost about $150 including the TBC itself. Not a proportional unit though. I would sure like to have one of the new trucks that has that feature integrated!

Soundguy · Feb 3, 2012

my 98 dodge had the plug under the dash.. yours surely will.

even walmart sells the pigtail to plug in under the dash that goes out to a generic flat 4 wire plug for most brake controllers.. or you can snip and solder / butte up from there.

soundguy

grsthegreat · Feb 3, 2012

Soundguy said:
my 98 dodge had the plug under the dash.. yours surely will.

even walmart sells the pigtail to plug in under the dash that goes out to a generic flat 4 wire plug for most brake controllers.. or you can snip and solder / butte up from there.

soundguy

Walmart... Walmart. I dont need no stinkin Walmart

Soundguy · Feb 3, 2012

grsthegreat said:
Walmart... Walmart. I dont need no stinkin Walmart

just saying. in a pinch.. they have them in their towing section.. along with the hoppy 'inexpensive' 50$ controllers.

when I put a controller in my 99 f350 that i took out of my 98 dodge when I sold it.. I just grabbed a 5$ adapter from walmart and it even had the diagram inthe bag to show where to find the plug under the dash.. plugged right in.. and the end of the hoppy plug adapter even fit my drawtight controller.. have seen 3 different controllers that the plug fits.. so it must be common.

my work truck has one of those cheap hoppy controllers, and actually works fine..

technology today is at a point were even the low end stuff, at least, works as advertised.

mind you I LOVE the prodigy in my f450 though.. much spendier of a controller.. but very nice..

soundguy

grsthegreat · Feb 3, 2012

I have the Prodigy in my rigs also. they do work great

Dmace · Feb 3, 2012

Since you have a Dodge truck, there is a plug under the dash that is pre-wired for a brake controller. You can buy the adapter for about $10 that plugs into that adapter and wire it to the brake controller. You may need to put a fuse in the power cable going to the battery but some already have the fuse in the holder.

On my 03 Ram 1500 I ran a new wire from the battery to the 7 pin connector because the factory wire was 12 gauge and I was getting 12.5 volts at the 7-pin. I ran a 10 gauge and it jumped to 13.4 volts.

All my Ford/GM trucks had to be completely wired.

Soundguy · Feb 3, 2012

i think alot of it depends on if it had a factory tow package or not, as to if it was pre wired or not.

incedentally.. on my dodge ram.. i ALSO ran a seperate parallel brake wire to help out the one in t he truck harness..

soundguy

Chain Bender · Feb 4, 2012

Found the harness that came with the truck. Joined the red, white and blue wires but need to go get a 20 amp breaker before I can finish the job.

Thanks again for the pointers.

CB

Dmace · Feb 4, 2012

Soundguy said:
i think alot of it depends on if it had a factory tow package or not, as to if it was pre wired or not.

All Dodge trucks have the wire harness under the dash. The tow package adds the 7 pin connector to the rear and the class III hitch.
Also, if you can't find the red wire at the rear of the truck, sometimes it was cut-off under the truck, directly below the drivers side seat.

Soundguy · Feb 4, 2012

i know the plug would be there.. but if the truck was not specced with a tow package and no 7 pin plug is at the rear, will the actual wire harness be ran back there? I know there is a tap for a 4 pin flat.. and with that and power and brake power you have all you need.. etc..

soundguy

Dmace · Feb 4, 2012

Soundguy said:
i know the plug would be there.. but if the truck was not specced with a tow package and no 7 pin plug is at the rear, will the actual wire harness be ran back there?lP

I found most Dodge trucks have the charging and brake signal wires all the way to the back but some have those two wires (red and blue) cut right under the drivers side seat along the frame rail.

Soundguy · Feb 4, 2012

at least it's better than the old days of having to tap the brak switch.. or get one of those converters if you have the backwards style switch..

Diamondpilot · Feb 4, 2012

Dmace said:
Since you have a Dodge truck, there is a plug under the dash that is pre-wired for a brake controller. You can buy the adapter for about $10 that plugs into that adapter and wire it to the brake controller. You may need to put a fuse in the power cable going to the battery but some already have the fuse in the holder.

On my 03 Ram 1500 I ran a new wire from the battery to the 7 pin connector because the factory wire was 12 gauge and I was getting 12.5 volts at the 7-pin. I ran a 10 gauge and it jumped to 13.4 volts.

All my Ford/GM trucks had to be completely wired.

Give it a break. Ford and GM along with all the imports have had the wiring in the about the same time Dodge did.. Get off the dodge band wagon....

Chris

Dmace · Feb 4, 2012

Diamondpilot said:
Give it a break. Ford and GM along with all the imports have had the wiring in the about the same time Dodge did.. Get off the dodge band wagon....

Chris

Sure they did, when you PAY EXTRA for the towing package. It was not on every truck like the Ram's/Dakota's.