How to Wire a Brake Controller on a 2009 Ford F-150 Without Brake Controller Port  

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Expert Reply:

Since you converted your 4-Way to a 7-Way, wiring a brake controller like the # 5504 should be fairly easy for you. Most brake controllers use 4 standard wire colors: white, red, black and blue.

White is ground so it should be connected to any good grounding point. Red is the stop light circuit. There is a switch on the brake pedal that activates your brake lights that has a few wires on it. The red wire on the brake controller should be connected to the brake switch wire that goes hot when you press the pedal. The black wire should run to the positive terminal on the car battery for power. You should wire in a 20 or 30 amp breaker on this circuit. Check the brake controller manual for the correct breaker amperage. As a rule of thumb, 1-2 axles with brakes use a 20 amp. 3-4 axles with brakes should use a 30 amp.

Finally, you have the blue wire. This is the brake controller output and needs to be run to the appropriate pin on your 7-Way. Typically we find an existing hole in the fire wall with a grommet and feed the wire through, down the firewall and back along the vehicle frame zip tying to existing wiring harnesses. Remember to keep the wire clear of hot exhaust parts or any moving parts where the wire could get pinched or cut.

I have added links to some pages and videos that should be helpful. The first is a brake controller from scratch page that will walk you through step by step. I have also included a video that should help you out. The last link is to a basic wiring page that shows the most standard way of wiring 7-Way connectors.

expert reply by: Patrick B

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