Parts Needed to Wire 1995 American Eagle Motorhome for Trailer with Electric Brakes

Question

Question:

I own from new a 1995 American Eagle Diesel Pusher. Its a 39 foot, first Wide Body. It was manufactured in May of 1994 but called a 95. It has the seven wire plug mounted on the back. The chassis is a Spartan Mountain Master. Fleetwood thru American Coach manufactured the American Eagle Motor Home. Ive contacted American Eagle people but they are of no help. The 94 year of manufacture is a real detriment to obtain information. Can you give me specific directions, videos, plans, diagrams and products to accomplish the task of getting the coach wired for electric brakes for a trailer. Any wiring diagrams etc., with directions would be appreciated. Back in 94 few states mandated electric brakes. My motor home is in terrific good condition both outside and inside. Its always been stored indoors when not in use. I have approximately 54k miles on my unit. The unit has only been taken out twice in last 14 years.

asked by: John M

0

Expert Reply:

We do have everything you need to wire up your 1995 American Eagle Motorhome so that it can control the brakes on your trailer; however, we do not have access to any wiring diagrams for the RV.

You did mention that the motorhome is already equipped with a 7-Way connector at the rear. This is usually an indication that the tow vehicle is actually already wired up for towing a trailer with brakes and a brake controller is the only thing that needs to be installed. I recommend first taking a look at the 7-Way and checking to see if you can trace a wire going back from the connector at the 5 o'clock position on the outside (7 o'clock on the inside). This is the brake output wire that will send power to the trailer brakes via a brake controller.

If the connection is not there, you will just need to run a lengh of 10 gauge wiring like # 10-1-1 (sold by the foot) back from this pin at the connector to the blue wire of the brake controller you install.

Then for the brake controller itself, I really like the Tekonsha Primus IQ # TK90160. This is a really nice but economical option that will do a great job of activating the trailer brakes at the same time and with the same intensity that you apply to them in the RV.

When installing the brake controller, the red wire on the controller will be connected to the cold side of the brake light switch on the motorhome. This is the wire above the brake pedal that ONLY receives power with the brake pedal depressed, and no power with any other function. You can use a circuit tester like # PTW2993 to verify the correct wire. The black wire from the controller is for 12V power and will be routed to the positive post of the vehicle's battery via a 20 amp circuit breaker # 9506P. The white wire is for ground and will be routed to the negative side of the battery. The blue wire, as mentioned above, will be connected to the brake output pin at the 7-Way connector.

I have attached a diagram to assist.

I have also included a great article that details installing brake controller from scratch that you might find helpful. Please just let me know if you have any further questions during this process.