Installing Brake Controller And Wiring On 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac

Updated 02/17/2016 | Published 02/16/2016

Question:

Which wire out of the white yellow green and brown/white are the brakes for a trailer wire harness on a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac

asked by: David

Expert Reply:

It sounds like you are wanting to install a brake controller and wiring for your trailer on your 2001 Explorer. The wires you mentioned will probably not be the wires for the brakes you asked about.

If you do not have a factory trailer connector on your Explorer I recommend first installing the Draw-Tite hardware kit, part # 18252. You will need to locate the tail light wiring harness and use the included circuit tester to test the wires by function, and connect them to the harness. The white wire is the ground and should be attached to a clean bare metal surface with a ring terminal. The brown wire is attached to the tail light wire. The yellow is attached to the left turn wire and the green is attached to the right turn wire.

Then you need to use part # ETBC7 to complete the installation. This harness plugs into the 4-way on the vehicle and the balance of the wires are installed as explained in the linked helpful article.

I recommend a brake controller like part # 90195. This is a really popular brake controller because it is easy to install and operate. You will have a red wire exiting the brake controller. That gets connected to the cold side of the stoplight switch located at the top of the brake pedal under the dash. The cold side of the switch should only show power when the brake pedal is pressed. I have attached a drawing that shows how the wiring is run when installing a brake controller.

expert reply by: Jeffrey L