Brake Controller Installation on 2003 Class A Motorhome w/ Air Brakes  

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Expert Reply:

As long as your motorhome has a brake stoplight switch at the top of the brake pedal, or another dedicated stop light circuit, you can certainly install a Tekonsha P3 # 90195.

In addition to the brake controller, you'll need our Brake Controller Install Kit, part # ETBC7. I'd also get about 15 feet of extra duplex cable, sold as part # 10-2-1. The kit includes a 4-pole to 7-way adapter that plugs into an existing 4-pole trailer connector. If you don't have a trailer connector, how you proceed from there will depend on how your taillights are set up.

If your taillights carry the turn signal and brake lamp on the same circuit, you have what's referred to as a combined system. You can simply cut the 4 pole plug off the adapter and wire it as follows:

Ground the white wire to the motorhome frame
Green wire taps into right turn signal circuit
Yellow wire taps into left turn signal circuit
Brown wire taps into running light circuit

If your turn signals and brake lamps are separate, indicated by a yellow or amber lens over the turn signal bulb, you'll need to install a taillight converter like part # 119178. The converter would install as mentioned above, and the red wire would tap into the brake lamp circuit.

The adapter has 3 additional wires, the purple taps into the reverse light circuit (only if needed), the blue wire carries the brake voltage from the brake controller and the black wire connects to the battery via a 40 amp breaker included in the kit. The blue and black wire would be lengthened using the duplex cable included in the kit and ran to the battery and through the firewall and into the area under the dash.

The brake controller is typically mounted to the right of the steering column, within easy reach of the driver. The controller has 4 wires exiting the rear. The blue wire attaches to the duplex cable that ran under the vehicle, and carries the brake output voltage. The black wire attaches to the positive battery terminal via the 30 amp breaker included with the kit and the white wire grounds to the negative battery terminal. The red wire taps into the brake stop lamp switch, using a circuit that only shows power with the brake pedal pressed.

The remainder of the installation is explained in the instruction links I've provided for you.

expert reply by: Mike L

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