Just added the OEM trailer brake controller to my 2014 SuperCrew. I wanted to say thank you to everyone who contributed and try to give something back.

I was able to find a work around for taking the truck to the dealer to have the computer flashed to recognize the brake controller. You need a way to connect to the ODB2 port (I used this one: ).

Video of how it's done here:
I just had my plugs/wiring checked out by a mechanic and he said it all looked good.

Thanks again to everyone that contributed.

 

I just did my 2016 SuperCrew XLT with the 4-wire in the rear. I bought the 4-to-7 wire with indicator LED lights from eTrailer and bought some two-wire 10 Guage Marine grade wire from Amazon (50 feet). I probably used 30 feet, strung it alongside other wiring that was in looms. The Marine grade wire is sheathed in something that will never crack or get water damage and it has a red and a black 10 gauge wires inside.

I ran the red 10-gauge into the new Tekonsha P3 brake controller I got from etrailer.com and connected that to the blue wire off the Tekonsha, and then back to the blue wire on the 7-pin. I rigged up a 30 amp breaker on this line that i mounted in the engine compartment toward the front of the vehicle near where the gas shock absorber for the hood is hooked up. So a red wire from under the dash, to the auto-reset breaker, to a red wire from the marine cable, back to the blue wire on the 7-pin.

For power, I got a 40-amp auto-resetting breaker (from etrailer) and ran a wire from the battery, to this breaker, breaker to a 40-amp relay I got on eBay. I wanted to run the 'Accessory' power take-off to run the relay, but I could not find it. I only looked on the battery power box, I'll look again on the driver side for that orange wire. Anyway, I got a lighted 10-amp on-off rocker switch and used double-sided accessory mounting tape and I power the relay switch input from that switch. If I flip the switch on, the light comes on and it is always hot. When I find that accessory wire I will bring power from that into this switch, instead of straight off the battery. Then the switch will normally be left on unless I want to de-power the trailer battery power for some reason. So for now, I can kill the circuit with the lighted rocker switch. The relay is mounted on the battery (passenger) side, along with the 40-amp breaker, on the same place near the hood lift shock. There's a good ground there too, which I needed on the rocker switch to make the light in the switch go on. So power to the rocker switch on the '+', switched circuit (marked with a light bulb for 'load') and from the load to the relay control circuit. Ground on the switch to the ground on the wheel well right under the seam for the hood. Relay switched power from the 40 amp breaker load side, relay output to the black wire (of the Red/Black Marine) and to the red lead of the 7-pin in the back of the truck.

Maybe I'll update this thread with pics I took after I upload them to the computer from the phone (if anyone wants them.)

The Tekonsha P3 brake controller, I used the short bracket and went up to the top lip of the cubby where the brake controller is supposed to go and it hides this cubby, it looks really good there but it is surface mounted, not in the cubby like the Ford controller would be. Again, I'll post a pic if anyone is interested. I did not use the Tekonsha Ford F150 connector accessory since the Ford wiring doesn't go all the way to the rear of the truck, I just made my own wiring from the Tekonsha pigtail. I drilled out the back of the cubby and ran the Tekonsha pigtail through that, so there is no exposed wiring inside the cab of the truck.

The little LED indicator lights on the eTrailer 4-pin to 7-pin adapter help because I don't have to hook up the trailer or use a meter to see if turn signals, brakes or trailer VBATT+ are connected, the LEDs tell me what is active.

I did not run the Reverse light circuit, but I may in the future if I decide to put white LED lights on the back of the trailer.

-- Mark

 

No shortcuts here. Go back to the beginning and determine if your wiring harness from the engine compartment to the rear end provides the 3 additional wires necessary to make a 7 pin connector fully functional. Those wires being a blue brake (from an installed brake controller), a red +12V signal (through relay #9 and fuse 21), and a purple trailer back up light. If those 3 sires are at the terminal in the rear end, then it is relatively simple to add them to the wires provided by the flat pin 4 connector to make the 7 pin connector functional. If you don't have those 3 wires available at the terminal at the rear end, then you have to splice the orange and blue and the other wire for back up lights (I don't need/use them), and run them to the rear end where they can be connected to the 7 pin connector. Installing a brake control involves attaching a brake control unit to a relay connector under the dash. The brake control relay does nothing for you, if you don't have the wiring installed to carry the brake signal back to the 7 pin connector.

 

Just a quick question. When splicing into the orange and blue wires under the hood, are these tapped into so that they still go into the harness or are they simply cut and connected to additional wire to run to the back. I wasn’t sure if they still needed to run into the harness up front?

 

A BIG thank you for writing is post. Your post from 02/26/2013 is still valid. I used your post to hook up a 7 pin trailer plug to my 2011 F150XL V6 that only had a 4 pin conector from the factory. The only thing I did different was to use forscan software hooked to a OBDII scanner to program my computer. (saved having to have my
Ford Dealer program it for me). I used a Ford brake controller and had to splice into the wires in the engine bay for the brakes and power to the trailer. Everything works just as it should and I am very pleased. Would not have attempted to do this work myself without your post. Thank You Again.

 

Hi
In your picture did you pig tail the blue wire for the break controller?
Dam You tube video said cut it and just connect to trailer break control line. Yea well that didn't work the car wouldn't start after that so reconnected and disconnected the trailer break wire. And here i sit LOL

 

Kinda the same question here. The blue wire do i pig tail that and connect the trailer brake controler to it or cut it and connect it to the trailer break control wire
Thanks

 

This thread hasn’t been active for a bit, but hoping for some help. Super informative thread so thanks to everyone who contributed.

I have a 2011 XLT. No trailer tow package from factory. It only has the four wire connection from the front of the truck to the factory harness/plug near the spare tire. It does not have all the wired in that harness that are needed for the TBC to function. As the OP mentions in his write up, some trucks have 7 wires some only 4. Figures but mine only has four. I was hoping to simply add an OEM harness from the spare tire clip to the trailer plug, but no luck.

The truck does have an after market 7 pin trailer plug that has been wired and also has a separately run wire that runs to the engine bay and is fused with a relay on a hot line. The 7 pin trailer plug has also been wired with a blue wire that is run up into the engine bay. This blue wire while hooked up correctly to the 7 pin trailer plug, is not connected in the engine bay. It is coiled up, next to the wiring harness near the drivers side fender. I checked the continuity of this blue wire and it is correctly hooked into the 7 pin trailer plug, utilizing the correct pin.

I installed an OEM TBC today and it is plugged in (but not yet flashed).

So if I understand this thread correctly, I can splice into the blue wire in the harness in the engine bay, which is near the drivers side fender?

Could a person, also splice into the hot in that harness and install the correct OEM fuse and relay (thus allowing me to eliminate the separately run fuse / relay that runs into the fuse box?

Thanks.

 

I have been thinking about tackling this project for some time. I found this thread about a month ago and read over it several times. if anyone is trying to do this i can confirm this works and makes this so much easier than it could have been.

 

I can't tell you how satisfying to see people use this thread. It was quite some time ago I wrote this.
since then I lost my login credentials got busy married kids and now have a 2019 F150 Diesel and a Business lol. Sorry I to all who didn't have a question answered but happy to hear others piped in.
I love having an F150 in part because of these forums. I know whatever problem I have there are good people to help figure it out.
Cheers to the F150
And remember if you do a project write it up cause someone else is going to want to as well haha
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