Are Separate 12V Power Feeds Needed for Curt 4-Pole Harness and Autowbrake Trailer Brake Controller

Question:

I have a 2019 Buick TourX that I used to pull a tear. The tear has electric brakes. Instead of putting a controller on the Buick, Id like to install the Autowbrake on the trailer. Last week, I installed the C12173 Curt Hitch and C56389 Curt Flat 4 harness. Im thinking Im going to install the ETBC7L 7way kit. Would I be able to share hot leads between the flat 4 and the 7way? Id prefer to avoid having to run another line from the hitch to the battery if possible. The C56389 uses a 12ga hot lead, but only a 10a maybe 15a fuse.

asked by: Matt R

Expert Reply:

You can install both the Curt 4-pole wiring harness # C56389 and the Autowbrake Trailer Mount Electric Brake Controller # 3430001 (and the required 7-way kit # ETBC7L) in your 2019 Buick Regal TourX but each one of these items must have its own dedicated power connection to the vehicle battery.

I realize its no fun crawling under the car to route those power wires but this is critical for safety and for proper operation of these devices. For a worst-case example, if there were a fault in the trailer wiring that caused the Curt harness to short out this could also take out your trailer brakes.

You can refer to the linked article for tips that can make this wire routing a little easier. You can also tape together the two power wires, for the # ETBC7L and Curt harness # C56389, so that you only have to deal with routing the wires one time.