I am somewhat confused and the dealer is lost. I have a 97 expy EB. I have no directions for the towing package or the relays. I have located the pigtail under the dash. Tested the bullet ends and get the proper signals ie. ground, positive, brake. Now I hooked up my camper 7 pin plug to the outlet. Everything works, turn, stop, backup, parking. The camper has electric brakes and I have a brake controller. I intend to splice the wires under the dash to the brake controller. Now the tricky part, do I need relays installed or does my descrip indicate that they already are in. If I need to install relays where do they need to go? What type of relay.

Thanks

 

As long as you connect positive and negative to the brake controller where required and connect the brake signal voltage to the controller where required, you do not need to add anything else. As long as your explorer came with the brake controller connector under the dash, the wiring to the back of your truck is already in place. The controller generates and sends a signal to the trailer brakes and controls the amount of voltage based upon braking conditions. If you are not getting current to the trailer brakes, re-check the controller connections. If you have further questions, please post again. Good luck, GlennMc.

 

The relays that come in the tow package are for backup lights and charge. If those pins on the trailer plug out the back are working, the relays must be there.

As far as the brake controller goes, just get the male end from Ford which plugs into the female under the dash and splice your controller into that. I have two different controllers that I can swap by unplugging one connector and plugging the other in. Takes about 10 seconds.


Ian



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99 Expedition EB
5.4l, 4x4, 4.10 LS
WMS Tube, Bassani/Gibson Cat Back Exhaust, Superchip Flipchip, PIAA Superwhites

 

It sounds as though i have the relays in, since my brake lights work on the camper so it means I am getting juice. So how does this pigtail work? By getting the plug and hooking up the brake controller does this cause a interrupt and reroutes through the controller and out a line? I had this controller on my bronco and wired it up so I know how the system works and ran the output line to the trailer plug. I hope you understand what I am trying to say.

 

The way it works is that the brake controller sends current to the electric brake output on the connector. This is a different circuit than the brake lights, which jsut come on with the truck lights.

Just because the brake lights come on when you press the pedal doesn't mean the trailer brakes are working (and vice versa).

The wires on your controller will most likely match the wires on the pigtail and you just connect them together.

Ian

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99 Expedition EB
5.4l, 4x4, 4.10 LS
WMS Tube, Bassani/Gibson Cat Back Exhaust, Superchip Flipchip, PIAA Superwhites

 

The line which carries the signal from the brake controller to the trailer is the blue wire in the pigtail. It is prewired wire your controller in and your ready to go.