Please, call me Jim.
OK. Pictures are not available but you really don’t need them. I installed this system on a 2000 Eddie Bauer with a 4 pin connector already installed. I worked with the parts available at my parts store and went with a Reese system including:
1 Pilot® Brake Control #80550 (the back has red, blue, black, and white wires)
1 Trailer wiring adapter #74184 (7 pin receptacle with a 4pin connector, black, blue, yellow(not used for this install), and a white ground)
1 Trailer wiring kit # 85060 (Includes 15’ of 12g black, 15’ of 12g white, and 25’ of 12g blue, 3’ of light gauge red, plus crimp connectors, tip ties, and a 20Amp inline fuse holder)
1 40Amp auto resetting circuit breaker
1 20Amp auto resetting circuit breaker
And an assortment of wiring connectors (especially 12 gauge ring connectors)
Package of #8x1” screws.
Tools:
Screw driver
Drill
Multi meter or hot circuit detector
Wire stripper/crimper
The install was simple, yet required keeping track of. I started by taking the black and blue wires from the wiring kit. I used the provided crimp connectors and attached them to the corresponding color wires on the trailer wiring adapter. I then taped it from the crimp connectors until I was 1 foot from the end of the black wire (14’). I set it aside.
Mounting the receptacle:
I located a flat space in the hitch well of my rear bumper and sized it up to mount the receptacle. I center punched it and used a 2” hope saw to bore through the bumper. **A mounting bracket is available that either screws to the bumper of connects to the hitch with a strap. I thought this would look cheesy** I fed the 15’ of wiring completely through the hole until the receptacle seated flat. Using the predrilled holes in the receptacle as a template, I drilled through with a 1/8th” drill bit and secured it with 4 #8 screws. I drilled another 1/8” hole under the bumper and connected the white ground wire (with factory ring connector) with a #8 screw. Plug in the 4 pin connectors, zip tie them closed, tuck it up into the bumper and zip tie it through one of the many bolt holes. The back end work is done.
Now, run the “wiring harness” you made with the blue and black wires along the driver’s side frame, inboard of the springs. Select a few holes that are close together and run a zip tie through them and around the wires and secure. Do this as needed all the way forward until you can stuff the wire ends into the engine compartment. Affix a ring connector to the black wire and leave it loose near the battery. Feed the blue wire into the passenger compartment through the rubber grommet of your choice. At this point, you have 1 black wire in the engine compartment and a blue one in the passenger compartment.
Mounting the controller:
Select a place to mount the brake controller. Line up the mounting bracket and mark the mounting holes. Pre-drill 1/16” holes and mount the bracket with the screws provided.
Now you need a hot and a ground for the brake controller. Well, I took a look at the 10’ of blue I cut off and at the 15’ of white I never had to touch. I cut about 5 feet of each and bundled them together leaving about 1’ unwrapped on either end. I also wrapped the blue wire in black tape to identify it as hot. Feed this bundle through the same hole you made in the grommet that the blue wire runs through.
Now comes the tricky part, splicing into the brake system. It sounds scary but it really isn’t. Lay right down on the floor and look for the plug going into the brake pedal switch. Use a multi meter and confirm which wire is the cold side brake wire. Do this by connecting to ground and sticking a meter probe into the pin bottoms. Depress the brake pedal… if it only reads on the meter when you press the pedal, that’s the one. On my 2000, it was the solid green wire, second from the end. Use the included crimp tap- open it and wrap it around the wire, insert the 3’ red wire into the second spot and drive the metal tap trough them with pliers. Close the cover. **You can unplug the brake connector to make this easier. Plug it in when you’re done and make sure to test the red line with a meter… it should read when you press the pedal.
At this point you have 4 wires in the cab – a blue from the back, a red from the brake, a white from the engine compartment bundled with a “black” (remember, it was blue but you taped it over. Strip these and connect them to the brake controller by matching colors. Use the crimp connectors provided. Now, tape it all up into a neat harness, zip tie it up and out of the way, and the cab work is done.
Connecting to power:
Now, in the engine compartment we’ve 3 wires black from the back, “black” (was blue) from the cab, and white from the cab. These need to be connected to things, but first they need protection. Start by mounting the 20 and 40 Amp breakers near the battery, pre-drill and affix with 2 screws.** Ok, the breakers were chosen for a reason. The 20 Amp protects the controller which otherwise would not be. The 40 Amp replaces the fuse that came with the wiring kit. The idea is this: Let’s say you overload your brakes and it blows the fuse… now what? Well, the auto reset breaker will restore power to your trailer breaks automatically, restoring your stopping power in case of emergency.** Connect the black from the back to one poll of the 40Amp breaker and tighten the nut. Route the “black” from the cab toward the 20Amp breaker and cut it off at a length that reaches it. Affix a ring connector and attach it to the breaker and tighten the nut. Route the white around to the negative battery terminal cut it to length and affix a ring connector (notice all the ring connectors? That’s why we’ve extras). You also need to cut crimp ring connectors to, and connect 2 pigtails (one to each breaker) to the open terminals on the breakers and tighten the nuts. Now the hookup. Disconnect the positive battery cable, then the negative. Remove the bolt from the negative clamp, pass it through the white ring connector, screw it back into the clamp and re-attach it to the battery. Do the same with the positive, this time using both of the pigtails from the breakers. Reconnect the clam to the battery and tighten.
Guess what? You’re done. Open the door, step on the brake, and a white dot illuminates on the controller. This means you did it right.
There are a number of diagrams and such with these kits to help keep things straight, though there are no real directions. I think all together I spent less than $150
Hope this helps someone
