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trwelling · 08-17-2022, 10:59 AM

Can anyone tell me if my 2009 Fleetwood Jamboree Sport (E-450) is pre-wired for a brake controller? I just bought it and intend to tow with it (it has a hitch and is wired with 7-way plug). However, it hasn't had a brake controller installed. I had heard that some RVs are pre-wired for electric brakes. Is there any way to tell?

Thanks,
Tristan

Jim_HiTek · 08-17-2022, 12:23 PM

Check your wire colors that terminate at or near the 7-blade receptacle. A typical electric brake system for a trailer has a BLUE wire that controls the brakes. And often just uses a 5-pin receptacle. RV manufacturers continued that tradition of using blue for e-braking when they install that wire as an option.

The 7-blade suggests you don't have the blue wire installed and was installed to flat tow a car. The blue wire setup was an option many years ago but has lost favor with buyers. But the 7-blade CAN be used for trailer towing and incorporate the blue brake wire so check it out. Then google here: https://mechanicalelements.com/trailer-wiring-diagram/

You can run your own blue wire up to the dash (that's what I found in my Winnebago Class A). It's a single blue, 18 ga wire and goes to the traditional e-brake controller, the other wires at the 7-blade are grounds and tail lights, power/grnd is supplied under the dash for the controller, the blue wire is the only one routed to the trailer hitch.

Keep in mind that that rigs tow capacity rating of the hitch is 5,000 lbs and the tongue weight is 500 lbs. Not much if you want to attach a 600-900 lb trailer and than put a big ol' 4600 lb car on top. Better to flat tow. I made an ad free blog article about it here: Towing related...

Tomahawk · 08-17-2022, 07:31 PM

There are a lot videos on youtube on how to install various brake controllers on the E450.
my guess would be it is prewired. My 2017 RAM 1500 was pre-wired. Hookup was really simple. I bought the brake controller and an adapter that was specific to the vehicle make and year. Plug adapter into prewired plug under the dash and into the BC. Mount the BC with 4 screws and double back tape on the manual brake lever and the digital readout. Done. Less than an hour. Most of the time spent figuring out where I wanted to mount things.

l1v3fr33ord1 · 08-18-2022, 04:00 AM

Tristan-

First off, welcome to iRV2!

Second, you should add a "signature" to your profile. It contains whatever info you want; most people put info about their coach there, so they don't have to type it into each message. Instructions for adding a signature are here.

Re: Trailer electric brake wiring. Your coach is pre-wired.

If your coach is built on a 2008 chassis, there's a six-pin connector under the dash to the left of the steering column. See the 2008 Ford Body Builder Layout Book, pages 345 through 348 (link here).

If your coach is built on a 2009 chassis, there's a connector behind the change cup in the dash. See the 2009 Ford Body Builder Layout Book, pages 358 through 360 (link here).

I suggest you do yourself and the next owner a favor by not cutting off the Ford factory connector, or splicing into its wires. Instead, make a plug-and-play installation. etrailer offers a Tekonsha pigtail adapter that fits in the factory-installed connector. If you buy the pigtail you may be able to use it with a different controller, if it uses the same connector and pinouts as the Tekonsha. If not, you can still use the pigtail by cutting off the Tekonsha connector and splicing it to the pigtail that comes with the controller.

For a 2008 chassis: Link to the Tekonsha 3035-P Ford adapter is here.

For a 2009 chassis: Link to the Tekonsha 3034-P Ford adapter is here.

The Tekonsha P3 is a popular choice for a controller. Link is here.