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Has anyone got insight and is there any gotchas on installing electric brake controllers?

has anyone got comments on the location of the controller inside?

any comments on good local brands that would suit a territory since the room near the knees is a little tight with my big legs.

 

burnsi

I have just bought a Tekonsha Prodigy, which is supposed to be the most advanced unit available - $129 + freight, which is about $100 better than every other place I could find. It is very small, but have not mounted it yet.

Here's a gotcha - The genuine Ford trailer wiring harness (the bit that goes from the bumper-mounted socket and joins into the car's wiring harness in the tail light cavity area contains the wire for electric brakes. But.....that's as far as it goes! The car's wiring harness and connector does not contain a matching wire! So you have to run your own to wherever your controller lives, which is a downright bitch-of-a-thing to achieve!!!!

I did mine today (the wiring), and it took me 2 hours just to get to the 2nd row scuff plate area.

Also, the Tekonsha is all electronic, and has no pendulum that needs to be set at the right angle.

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Blood Orange GT-P
Zest Territory Ghia AWD

aquahead2001

A mate has had an auto electrician fit an electric brake controller to his TX RWD. The mounting of the controller in his Tezza is a shocker, his being a pendulum type controller that I'm sure he stole off the ark, so it sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb right about his left knee.

The Auto Electrician had difficulties removing the inner pannels and finished up breaking the rearmost RHS bin cover so had to replace the entire panel(Ouch!! $$$$).

Could you run the wiring under the car in conduit etc and bring it in through the firewall with the power supply wiring?

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It took my auto electrician three (3) hours to install the prodigy. They also had not very nice things to say about Ford around running the wires from the back to the front suitable for an electric brake controller. In the USA, Ford has a harness in some models so you can just plug in a unit.

Considering this vehicle was designed after exhastive consulting with potential users, it seems to me the never spoke to anyone who has an electric brake controller, and actually uses it. Surely when Ford tested the heavy duty tow pack (not just the tow ball) was tested it was at least tested with a REAL trailer that by Australian law needs brakes fitted. (or maybe did Ford just did some simulations on the towball).

Here is a novel idea - get a 50c wire fitted as a factory fitted option while they were building my vehicle. !!!

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The auto electrician also suggested the wire for the rear compartment cigarette lighter socket will not drive a decent fridge, and they have already some work on several vehicles to put a higher rating wire to the rear.

burnsi

Absolutely. When you have the rear RH air valve/vent removed (sits behind the bumper) to get access to the trailer harness plug-in points, you can clearly see the rear of the cigarette lighter socket. It's wires look like pretty skinny!

The trailer brake wiring issue - or lack of wire that goes to the front of the car - is a bit strange given the correct wire (even the right colour) exists in the trailer harness.

What's even more strange is the Ford have provided an auxilliary battery feed and earth (pins 9 & 10 on the trailer plug) in the trailer harness, and these wires do indeed match up to corresponding wires in the vehicles harness - and disappear off into the car somewhere - not sure where just yet, but I am quietly hopeful that they end up as an ignition-switched and fuse protected circuit, of enough capacity so that I can charge some remote batteries.

So where did your controller actually get installed? And did you use the plastic mount, or the simple metal bracket?

If anyone is contemplating running wires for any reason to the rear of the car for the reasons discussed in this thread, let me tell you that you ideally need to remove the rear bumper to access the wiring cavity behind the RH rear air outlet vent/seal. You will also need to partially remove the RH rear plastic trim that covers the rear-most pillar, right through to the rear passenger door. BTW - the plastic trim securing snap-in points are very brittle, and will not take mutch effort to break! From the rear passenger door through to the front gets a bit simpler - but scuff plates etc need to be removed etc.

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Blood Orange GT-P
Zest Territory Ghia AWD