What Parts Do I Use To Pull a Trailer With Electric Brakes Behind a Kenworth Truck With Air Brakes

Question:

I have a Kenworth with air brakes that I am wondering how to plug into the electric brakes on my 40 gooseneck 5th wheel trailer. Are there adaptors that I can buy to hook the truck into the trailer brakes without having to install another brake kit? Thank you.

asked by: Craig B

Expert Reply:

You will need to install a brake controller on the truck, like Tekonsha Prodigy part # 90885. A brake controller has 4 wire leads coming off of it. The black will be wired to a 12V circuit, typically the battery, for power. The white wire will be connected to a good ground location. The red will go to the stop light circuit. Typically there is a switch that is activated when you depress the brake pedal that activates your brake lights and you can tap into a wire coming off that switch. Finally the blue wire is run from the brake controller back to the brakes on the trailer. This can be done using a 5/6/7-Way connector.

If you write back and let me know what the trailer connector is, I can tell you what parts you will need to finish setting up the brake controller.

expert reply by: Patrick B