Brake controller installlation

[Chain Bender]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

CB

 

[jeffsw6]

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]

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]

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]

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