Does Brake Controller have to be Hardwired on a 2011 Ford F-150 with Factory 4-Way Trailer Connector  

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Expert Reply:

On many Ford trucks, the wiring that leads from the front of the truck to the rear of the truck often times has the additional wires needed to attach to the back of a 7-Way trailer connector. What you will need to do is follow the 4-Way wiring back to where it plugs into another connector.

The harness that is more towards the front of the truck has more wires in it. If you cut away or pull back the covering leading to the forward plug, you should find a blue wire for output to the trailer brakes, and an orange wire for the 12-volt circuit. Use a circuit tester like # PTW2993 if needed to test these wires to verify their functions. The orange wire found in the vehicle harness attaches to the # 4 terminal on the 7-way and the blue wire found in the harness attaches to the # 2 terminal.

The wire that carries the 12 volt power connects to the black wire on a 7-Way like # 37185. The blue wire attaches to the 7-Way blue wire.

If the additional wires are not present on your truck then you will need to run wires all the way from the front of the truck to the 7-Way. If the trailer does not require 12 volt power, you do not have to attach that wire. But if you wanted to, you would use about 25 feet of the # 10-2-1 wire,

Black should go to the 12 volt circuit and white to the brake output. run them under the truck avoiding hot and moving parts, and into the engine compartment. Separate the 2 wires and route the white one through the firewall. Sever the blue brake controller wire a few inches back from controller then attach the white wire you ran to the brake controller end of that blue wire.

The black wire under the hood will connect to the positive battery terminal via a 20 amp or 30 amp circuit breaker (# PK54520 or # PK54530 respectively) depending on what the brake controller instructions call for. I have linked an FAQ article that might help.

expert reply by: Michael H

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