Adding Brake Control to 1992 Ford F-800 with Air Brakes

Updated 10/14/2014 | Published 10/13/2014

Products Featured in This Question

Hydrastar Electric Over Hydraulic Actuator for Drum Brakes - 1,000 psi

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$1130.50

Wiring Kit for 2, 4, 6, and 8 Brake Electric Trailer Brake Controllers

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$57.20

LCD Digital Circuit Tester

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$28.06

Question:

I have a 1992 f800 with 7.8 Brazilian diesel, with air brakes, and I would like to use an electric brake trailer, is there a kit I can buy that has everything included to complete this? Do I need some kind of converter? Tjanks

asked by: Shawn

Expert Reply:

You have a few options to use electric brakes on a trailer with air brakes on a vehicle. You could use Warner brake control # 1300-80. These controllers tap into the vehicle air brake line and send an electrical signal back to the trailer brakes when you step on the vehicle brake pedal.

The other option is to just use a regular brake controller such as # 90885. Electric brake controllers do not tap into the vehicle braking system at all. They only need an input signal that tells it you are stepping on the brake pedal then it sends power back to the trailer brakes.

You will need to hardwire in the controller to the 1992 Ford F-800. On the brake controller the black wire is 12 volt power in and connects to vehicle battery via a 30-amp circuit breaker. The white wire grounds to the vehicle negative terminal. Blue is output to the trailer connector for the trailer brakes. For the wiring and circuit breaker use kit # 5506.

Red will connect to the cold side of the brake switch. The brake switch is located above the brake pedal on most vehicles. Test the wires with a circuit tester such as # PTW2992 to find the wire that only has power when the brake pedal is pressed. If the wire shows power with the headlights or turn signals on it is not the correct wire.

Given that the truck is a huge F-800, it may run on a 24-volt system. If that is the case, you would follow the help article I have linked to the right. Or you could avoid all of that and use Hayes controller # HA100400C.

expert reply by: Michael H