I have read many of the posts about Electric Brakes. I just want to make sure I am not missing anything else.

I have a 1999 F150 that until last week had no hitch. I had a class III hitch installed and bought the 4/7 pin harness from Ford. I have that installed properly. It was tested on a machine by the RV camp on my base. The only things that did not work:
1. Reverse Lights
2. Battery Charger
3. Electric Brakes

I am going to get the fuse and relays this week. I believe that will fix numbers 1 and 2.

As I understand it, the only other things I need for towing a larger trailer (4380lb) is a good brake controller and a Ford harness/connector to wire it in?

Is there a picture available for where this controller harness/connector is in the truck?

Is it OK to mount the controller underneath the dash(out of sight)?

Thanks in advance!!

 

There is an additional 30 amp fuse needed for the brake controller. Check out the "sticky" post at the top of the forum for a diagram of where it's located. It's in the fuse box under the hood.

For the controller itself, the plug in for it is under the dash, right above where your right leg is when driving. You will need to get the "pigtail" harness from Ford to plug under the dash. Then you splice that to the brake controller harness that you'll get with the controller.

If you get the Prodigy brake controller, you can also buy a harness that'll just plug right into the truck and the controller in one harness. Costs about an additional $10.00.

As far as location goes, you will need to mount it in a place that you can reach with your hand and not take your eyes off of the road. All brake controllers have a manual slid lever that will engage just the trailer brakes. This comes in handy if the trailer starts to sway on it's own or whatever....

Good luck!

Mitch

 

Thanks, for the information. I am planning on the Prodigy, mostly because, it seems to be the most recommended controller on this forum.

I am also noticing that the OEM towing package included sway bars. I talked to the local Ford parts guy. He says there is only one Ford front sway bar for a 1999 F150. He also says the only Ford rear sway bar is listed as "Lighting". Is there any reason, I should, buy/install a rear sway bar?


Thanks Again!

 

My truck has the factory "tow package" and I only have the front sway bar.... I don't think you "need" a rear sway bar just to tow a trailer, but they do make aftermarket ones, so you can add one if you like.

If you get a Weight Distribution hitch setup, that's all you really need.... You can add some sort of "sway control" device to the WD setup, but that's usually not needed if you load the trailer properly.

 

One more question(at least for now. We are going to practice with a rental trailer prior to purchase of our own. The information provided says the top of the trailer ball should be approx 21" high. My hitch only is 16" at the center of the reciever. I have seen some posts about turning the ball mount upside down to gain a rise instead of a drop. The question is: Is that a safe thing to do?

Thanks

 

The manufacturer of the trailer typically has an approx. height for ball height - if I remeber correctly, my trailer lists a height of 18".

Lately I have seen hitch inserts listed as 2" drop/1" raise -something like that. If the manufacturer markets them that way, then they should be safe to use upside down.

 

Another thing to remember is that the "drop" is considered from the top of the receiver.....

For example, my trucks receiver is 18" above the ground to the BOTTOM of the receiver (20" to the top). I have a 2" (Class 3) drop receiver, but it does not really have any "drop" to it at all... Meaning, the base plate, where the ball mounts, is level with the bottom of the receiver... The top of the ball is near the top of the receiver, so that's where it gets it's 2" drop....

For my Class 4 hitch (an EAZ-Lift Weight Distribution hitch) I have what's considered a 7.5" drop!! I have it on the lowest mounting points to keep my travel trailers hitch height level, which is about 20". The top of the ball is actually level with the top of my receiver... But the lowest part of the drop is 7.5" lower.....

To answer you exact question, "most" drop/rise mounts can be setup either way... If the mount does have different ratings for how it's set (either drop or rise), it should state that on the hitch itself.

In your case, if you are 16" to the middle of the receiver, that means you really need to measure the drop using 17" as your base (measurement to the TOP of the receiver). So you would need a RISE mount that would put the top of the ball at 20". So, you would need a 3" drop/rise mount if I've figured this correctly......

Mitch

You can see an example of the receiver mounts here.



And here is an example of a class 4 (weight distribution) setup... Mine is setup so that the "L" part of the hitch is going down and my hitch head is on the lowest bolt hole...