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Electric Brake Controller for Coach

December 23, 2012, 08:55:46 pm

Ordinarily I use the M&G brake system when towing the toad (uses air from the air brakes to push a 'tongue' in the Jeep master cylinder) and am very pleased with the system.
However this summer I expect to be towing a Pearson Ensign sailboat up to Michigan from Texas and things look a little different.

I had to do some refit of the trailer and chose to install electric brakes rather than surge brakes. I'll digress a moment, see http://www.loopcruiser.com/Pictures/Ensign695 for shots of the boat. The boat weights ~3,000 lbs and the scales at the moving company said the trailer weighs 1,720 lbs - thus the total load, with gear, ~5,000 lbs. I'm not entirely sure that they didn't weigh me too, but never mind.

I have a couple of choices as I see it.
1) Not worry about brake lines to the trailer. (I see above that I didn't exactly say which vehicle I would be towing with. As the Jeep Liberty is only rated at 2,000 lbs, it looks like the coach will have to do the job). The coach has a GVWR of 30,000 and has a towing capacity of 10,000 lbs so probably not real bad.

2)  Wire the coach ('96 36 ft U295) to use the electric brake controller I already have.
This is the option I would like your thoughts on. The coach already has a 7-conductor socket, a 6-conductor socket, and a 4-conductor socket at the back of the coach. I am using a custom cable carrying 4 wires from the 6-conductor socket.

I was not able to get any sensable signals out of the 7-conductor and I will test the 6-conductor tomorrow. I vaguely remember MOT talking about the PO taking out his brake controller when I bought the coach but I was so new that I let it just pass over me.

Questions:
a) Where are the spare wires that supposedly run from the dash to the rear located?
    There was a recent post that gave wire numbers (I'd appreciate a reference) but where are they located?

    I don't see anything obvious when I open the dash. Are ther located there?
  Are they below the retarder controls to the left?

  Where are the located on the rear?

b) How are other folks wiring electric brakes from the coach (assuming they do)?

thanks

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Re: Electric Brake Controller for Coach

Reply #1 – December 24, 2012, 08:58:48 am

               Electric brakes on a [boat trailer]  ?   Was in the boat business for27 years and have yet to see this combo work out with good results . If you have boat lifted off trailer and put in the warter should not be a problem , but if it is backed in to launch ,---this is where the fun with the electric comes in even with the electric unhooked from tow vehicle , water salt or fresh will do it's thing fairly soon . Good luck , hope it works out for you .  Merry Christmas            Brad Metzger

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Re: Electric Brake Controller for Coach

Reply #2 – December 24, 2012, 09:52:51 am

Elliott, on my '99 the spares were rolled up with a bundle of wires toward the left side under the dash cover.  They looked like all the other white wires but terminated in just a clean cut.  In the engine compartment they were on the left (driver) side and low, again in a bundle of other wires and just a clean cut end.  They are very handy additions that I am glad Foretravel had the forethought to include. 

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Re: Electric Brake Controller for Coach

Reply #3 – December 25, 2012, 09:28:41 am

You might consider what we have found to be the only way to keep a functioning set of taillights on a trailer, ones that work every time you plug them in....make a removable harness out of an extension cord with your brake controller on one end, plug for trailer on the other.  You could run it in through the engine hatch, velcro it onto the dash.  Easy and clean especially for a one time use situation.  It can also be used with other vehicles this way.

That's a sweet lookin little Pearson.  I've always admired them.

Chuck

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Re: Electric Brake Controller for Coach

Reply #4 – December 25, 2012, 10:14:01 pm

I have been thinking about a temporary line through the engine compartment.
I like the idea of using an extension cord, wouldn't be much to build adapters at each end. Thanks.

I'll post pictures when I get going.

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