Brown Wire Mod

[peterbrown77]

I've seen the 'brown wire mod' mentioned a few times here and was wondering what it was and what its benefits were. I understand it is to disable Control Trac, but why would I want to? Does it increase fuel economy?

Any advice appreciated.

Regards

 

[section525]

Basically it's so you have true 2wd. It prevents the AUTO-4WD from kicking in if the rear tires lose traction.

 

[peterbrown77]

Sounds worth a try. Is there any documentation on this mod?

 

[celly]

Sounds worth a try. Is there any documentation on this mod?

Only about a hundred pages worth. The search function on this or any discussion board for that matter are extremely valuable at finding past discussions. This site has been online for at least 1/2 decade now, so you "might" find some info using this method.

 

[peterbrown77]

Celly,
I appreciate the power of a search tool as much as anyone. FYI, the first thing I did was search this forum. There are 7 hits including this thread, and it is mentioned peripherally in two of them. None of them gives a detailed explanation of the best way to do it or what the benefits are of doing it, particularly related to fuel economy. Try it for yourself and you will see.

Perhaps I am looking in the wrong forum?

Regards

 

[celly]

Don't search the forum. Search the whole site. I considered the BWM myself about a year ago and there are many threads which tell you in detail how to do it. It is definitely one of the more discussed topics on the site which is why you probably won't get a lot of replies on how it's done.

 

[gijoecam]

Go to the main forums page. Click on the List of Useful Threads. It's in there. Beware it's 20-something pages long, but for a full understanding of the mod and how it works, read the whole thing. Good for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

-Joe

 

[briwayjones]

And anything talking about the yellow wire in that thread don't pay attention too.

 

[MONMIX]

I can sum it up in a fee seconds.
Remove the driver seat. Yes REMOVE.
No you cant do it with the seat in, no you cant just slide the seat back.
No you cant just reach in there REMVOE the seat. ( I am saying this because I got into what amounted to an agruement with some one who was head to toe determined to do it with out removing the seat )
Roll the carpet back. You will see a zillion wires. Just about all of then are the exact same size. You will see one wire though that is noticalby thicker than every wire under the seat. Guess what ? It is brown too
This is your victim. Cut it, splice in some wire, run it to the location of your choice. ( I did center console ) put a switch. Pay attention to on / off position. Return to the harness. Heat shrink every thing, put your seat back in.
Half an hour to an hour depending on how clean of a wire job and switch mount you want to do.

 

[gijoecam]

Umm, I'm not trying to pick an argument or anything, but it CAN be done without removing the seat. Tapping in under there is onle useful if you want to put the switch somewhere near there. I did mine all in the dash behind the stereo and the switch went next to the OEM one. Worked like a charm (and no removing the seat)

-Joe