Can an Electric Brake Controller be Used on a 2004 Freightliner Columbia with Air Brakes

Question:

can I hook this up to a 2004 Freightliner Columbia , which obviously has air brakes? Do you have a easy wiring kit?

asked by: Gregg

Expert Reply:

You can install a brake controller on a large vehicle with air brakes like your 2004 Freightliner Columbia. The only issue that you might run into is you may not have a brake switch at which to get the proper signal for the brake controller red wire. In that scenario you would need to find another dedicated, brake light only circuit somewhere.

There isn't a plug-in wiring harness available for this particular vehicle so the controller will have to be hardwired in. White is ground, goes to the negative battery terminal. Black is 12 volt power, goes to positive battery terminal via a 30 amp circuit breaker, # PK54530. And blue is output to the trailer brakes. Red we already covered.

The alternative is to use an air over electric controller, # HA100400C. These will connect to the air brake lines on the vehicle with input/output wires needed for electrical manual override and output to trailer brakes. It still prefers a connection to a brake light only signal but is optional with this controller.

expert reply by: Michael H