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Old 10-06-2015, 08:38 PM   #1
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THOR #2601
Brake Controller Wiring on Vegas

Is there a brake Controller wire bundle tucked up under the dash -- or will I have to wire in a controller myself?

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Old 10-06-2015, 09:11 PM   #2
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From what I remember you have to wire it yourself.

The upfitters guide shows a harness but I couldn't find the plug and ended up having my dealer wire in the brake controller.

Good thing I did: Thor had the 7-wire plug all messed up. You may want to pick up one of these:
Amazon.com: CURT 58270 12V LED Connector Tester: CURT: Automotive
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Old 10-06-2015, 09:18 PM   #3
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THOR #2601
...yet another do it yourself project. Too much to ask to not have to rewire the plug if they didn't wire it right in the first place.
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Old 10-07-2015, 12:18 AM   #4
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THOR #2562
Every Ford chassis larger than a passenger car I've dealt with has had a plug under the dash. It's always grey on Fords. There's only two types Ford uses. The F53 chassis uses the old style and is to the left of the column. Your E350 chassis plug should be just to the right of the steering column. The F53's come with the adaptor plug with the manuals but I'm not sure on the E350's.
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Old 10-07-2015, 02:28 AM   #5
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Think Jamie is right on this one. Just spent about 15 mins on my back with a flashlight looking for a plug under the dash. The only thing I found was the OSD plug to the right of the steering column. Think I'll do what Jamie did and pay someone else to wire it because I just don't feel like trying to chase the 7 wires from the plug on the receiver to God knows where they terminate and then if they go to the right pin. Spent a career in acft maintenance doing that and I just don't have the patience to do it in retirement.
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Old 10-07-2015, 11:42 AM   #6
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THOR #1469
Not sure about the E350 but on my Class C E450 the plug was almost to the bottom of the top surface of the dash. There was a small rectangular coin/junk/gas card holder that had to be popped out so the plug could be routed lower. It was a royal PITA getting to it.

I still have not located the plug on my Challenger either, but then again, I'm not putting too much effort into finding it.
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Old 12-19-2015, 01:48 AM   #7
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Today I installed my break controller. I can truly say that this was an adventure. First of all, my unit came with a 4 way flat plug, therefore, I had to find the wires on the back of the coach to wire the up a 7 way flat. After researching and calling Dave (thanks Dave). I finally understood the wiring. I was able to connect the blue (break wire) to the trailer connector and run a black (12v) wire from the back of the coach to the front. I installed a 30 amp reset fuse before connecting to the positive port on the battery. After working into the evening with daylight dwindling, I connected the break controller to the wiring harness and (thank god) the break controller recognized the trailer. The wiring harness for the 2016 ACE was located on the left side of the steering column.
For having absolutely no experience with wiring, I am proud to report that after 7 hours and 2 runs to Lowes I finished my project.
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Old 12-19-2015, 02:34 AM   #8
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It isn't a good project unless you've made multiple trips to the hardware store.

When we purchased our unit I had the dealer install a brake controller. They had a heck of a time with the wiring as well.
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Old 12-19-2015, 11:53 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan9841 View Post
Today I installed my break controller. I can truly say that this was an adventure. First of all, my unit came with a 4 way flat plug, therefore, I had to find the wires on the back of the coach to wire the up a 7 way flat. After researching and calling Dave (thanks Dave). I finally understood the wiring. I was able to connect the blue (break wire) to the trailer connector and run a black (12v) wire from the back of the coach to the front. I installed a 30 amp reset fuse before connecting to the positive port on the battery. After working into the evening with daylight dwindling, I connected the break controller to the wiring harness and (thank god) the break controller recognized the trailer. The wiring harness for the 2016 ACE was located on the left side of the steering column.
For having absolutely no experience with wiring, I am proud to report that after 7 hours and 2 runs to Lowes I finished my project.
Dan

No problem. Al I did was confirm what you had already determined.
As a note, I looked at the specs and features for your ACE and it was supposed to come with the 7 pin round connecter at the hitch. That is however, dependent on the build date and the specs do not specify the start date for the 7 pin and 8K hitch. Someone may have goofed on the build.
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Old 05-05-2016, 07:47 PM   #10
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I'm still dorking around with this. So Thor didn't even wire up the rear lights and brake lights to the 7-wire connector? There is a wire harness coming out of my 7-wire connector, but I don't feel like wedging myself under the chassis again trying to figure out where the harness goes.

Jamie -- how did Thor have yours messed up? Wrong color wires going to wrong pins? Based on the BIRD discussion it appears Thor does nothing to maintain integrity of wiring color.

I sent a customer service question to Thor asking for a wiring diagram for the connector and whether it was supposed to have been wired from the factory.
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Old 05-05-2016, 09:54 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bevedfelker
Jamie -- how did Thor have yours messed up? Wrong color wires going to wrong pins? Based on the BIRD discussion it appears Thor does nothing to maintain integrity of wiring color.
My dealer did all the work figuring that out. Best I could figure is that they plugged in one of those tester plugs (like the one I linked to above) and traced the wires back. If I'm remembering correctly the brake and reverse lines were not correct at the 7-wire connector.
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Old 05-05-2016, 11:24 PM   #12
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THOR #2601
One other thing I asked Thor is whether the plug is supposed to be wired by the factory -- and if mine isn't, can I get my dealer to do it as a warranty issue. Not holding my breath on that answer.
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Old 05-06-2016, 03:30 AM   #13
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That be good info for me on the brake controller hook up I do have the seven way plug but not sure if they wired it right I'll have to hook it up to the pontoon trailer to see
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Old 05-06-2016, 05:12 PM   #14
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Here is the Thor response from Ron Baker in Customer Service:

"The plug should be wired all except the brake controller part which we do not do. The brake control wire should be the blue wire under the coach just below the driver’s seat in the chassis harness and run back to just behind the gas tank and stop. We do not hook up or complete this portion of the plug, this is on the customer and would not be covered.
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Old 08-06-2016, 03:15 AM   #15
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Just found this thread tonite. I purchased our used 2014 ACE exactly 1 year ago. Knowing I would be purchasing an enclosed trailer to haul our motorcycles in the near future, I had Lazy Days installed the brake controller on delivery day. Didn't really pay any attention to it since we didn't have a trailer, it would often flash 'n.c'. Apparently that means 'no connection'.
So today we finally purchase a 7 x 18 enclosed aluminum trailer from the manufacturer in Ocala. He plugs in the 7 pin connector so he can start testing the lights. The lights inside the trailer didn't come one. To make a long story short, the 7 pin connector had a 4 pin plug behind it. So both the interior lights and the brake controller weren't getting power.
I contacted Lazy Days and they said they would look at it in 2 weeks, but I would have to pay to have it repaired. I complained that since they installed the brake controller, they should have known upon testing the controller that the 7 pin plug was not wired correctly. The guy on the phone wouldn't take responsibility. We'll see what happens in a couple of weeks.
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Old 08-16-2016, 05:08 PM   #16
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Getting ready for the battle on Friday. Hope there is none. Getting all sorts of mixed info on this thread. My controller is mounted to the right of the steering column. I have not had the time to trace any wires nor can tell if a plug was already there for it. But I did find my bill from when I had the controller installed on delivery day. And according to the price the controller is being sold for on Lazy Days website, they charged me approx $282 to install it. I've never had any additional work done there and don't know their hourly rate. But I would guess that's 3-4 hours labor and they apparently didn't check it at the hitch end to see if it's wired correctly. I sure hope they make it right with no cost to me.
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Old 08-16-2016, 06:47 PM   #17
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Fooch -- they didn't need a trailer to check the wiring. There is a "trailer simulator" that they should have that plugs in to the seven-way plug and allows them to check all the wiring to include the brake signal from the controller.
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Old 08-16-2016, 06:52 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bevedfelker View Post
Fooch -- they didn't need a trailer to check the wiring. There is a "trailer simulator" that they should have that plugs in to the seven-way plug and allows them to check all the wiring to include the brake signal from the controller.
Thanks. My point exactly. They should have known the coach wasn't wired correctly for the 7 pin plug by the hitch and it should have never left the dealer that way. And for the $282 they charged in labor, they should have also known this. We'll see on Friday.
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Old 08-16-2016, 09:25 PM   #19
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All they needed was this $7 7-wire trailer plug tester.
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Old 08-20-2016, 12:23 AM   #20
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Took her in today to get a bunch of stuff done. Lazy Days said they'll make good on the brake controller install and even put in a 'charge' line. Don't know what they found, but I guess they realized they messed up on the install. We'll see when I get it back.
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