Installing a Brake Controller on a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 z71  

Question:

Helpful Expert Reply:

GM stopped using the plug-in style brake controller connectors after 2007 so there will not be a plug-in port for a brake controller adapter on your truck. Instead, there will be 4 or 5 blunt cut wires taped together under the left side of the instrument panel. These wires can sometimes be difficult to locate, but you should be able to find them near the left side of the steering column.

You should see a white wire (ground), dark blue wire (brake output), red wire with black stripe (12V power), light blue wire with a white stripe (stop light switch wire) and possibly an orange wire (CHMSL) taped together. These wires will connect to the 4 wires coming from your brake controller. The orange wire will not be used. The 4 wires from your brake controller will be white (ground), blue (brake output), black (12V power) and red (stop light switch wire).

I have attached an FAQ article and installation video for you to check out that explains where the wires will be located and how to install a brake controller. The truck in the video is a 2012 Silverado, but the installation process will be the same as your 2013 Silverado.

Once you have the brake controller wired to your truck, you may not have any power going to the brake controller. If this is the case, there is one more step to complete the installation. There will be two wires under the hood that have to be connected to provide power to the brake controller and to the 7-way connector on your truck. These wires are both red and black and have eyelets on them. One wire will be between the power distribution box and the driver side fender and the other wire will be to the left of the power distribution box near the master cylinder.

This step is also detailed in the FAQ and video that I attached.

expert reply by: John H

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