wiring brake controller

[mules4me]

I am ready to wire up my Jordan 20/20 brake controller to my new truck and of course there was not a brake harness with the truck when I got home. Purchased after mkt from NAPA and it has (Looking at it plugged in) from left to right 1. blk 2. blu 3. red 4. white and controller has wht-grd red-batt blu-brake. Can anyone advise what hooks up where. Should have wrote it down when took out of old 02 trk



thanks Dave

 

[jelag]

If the NAPA harness is correct your brake controller should have the same color wires and they connect the same way... this was standardized some time back. .

All the brake controllers I've installed in the past few years all have 4 wires. .

12+, 12-, brake wire, ground for controller???

 

[mules4me]

I can sure understand that but what do I do with the black wire. It is the heaviest wire coming out of the truck side.





Thanks for the reply

Dave

 

[mules4me]

turns out that the big black wire is the Hot wire from battery. then hooked wht to wht and blu to blu left red unattached and will try with trlr and see what fuses I blow.

 

[HBarlow]

Black is 12v power to the brake controller, white is chassis ground, red is the stop light signal from truck brake pedal brakelight switch, and blue is brake signal output from the brake controller to the trailer.

The (red wire) brakelight switch signal is required to activate trailer braking with the truck's brake pedal.

 

[mules4me]

Well i left the red wire from the truck side untied to anything and so far everything seems to work. brakes, 4way flashers, all marker lights work. I have no place to hook the red wire too. only 3 wires come out of Jordan. I sure would listen if somebody knows something that I should do different.





Thanks Dave

 

[HBarlow]

I don't have any experience with the Jordan controller so only know the basics of how it works. Perhaps it doesn't use the brakelight switch signal.

Does a Jordan controller have a manual override, independent of service brake (pedal) activation? If so, it may get you in a jam because if you ever activate trailer brakes using the manual override on the controller it won't light your trailer's stop lights. Someone following too closely might not know you are braking and could rear end your trailer.

 

[mules4me]

good point. I will double check and see if brk lghts work with the manual overide



thanks Dave

 

[J D Moore]

mules4me
Check out this URL for installation instructions for the Jordan 20/20
Best Brake Controller Installation
Good luck
Jim

 

[mules4me]

Thanks for the replies. I have the original wiring instructions but it still boils down to four wires from truck to hook with three wires from controller. It appears that the red wire from truck is for brake lights on trlr if you use the hand control on controller.

I am wondering if I hooked red wire to blu wire from controller(brake wire) if that would let the brakes lights work when using the hand control.



thnks DAVE

 

[HBarlow]

Mules,

It probably would but not a very good idea. I think it might apply trailer brakes every time the flasher closed if you activated the emergency flasher. Might also activate trailer brakes when you used a turn signal.

I know nothing about Jordan controllers, have never seen one, but you might want to call Jordan and ask how you activate stop lights on the trailer if you apply the manual brake lever on their controller.

 

[PBJ2500CTD]

Reviewing J D Moore's submitted URL for the Jordan brake controller it appears it uses a physical cable to sense brake activation. You would not use the "red" vehicle wire in this application. As Harvey stated you do not want to hook the "red" up to the "blue" wire due to potentially undesireable feedback issues. The brake sensing wire (red) is normally connected to the cold side of the brake light switch to activate electronic controllers upon brake application. I haven't seen any electronic brake controller activate the brake lights when activating the manual switch. The brake lights are activated through the vehicles normal brake light circuit when pressing on the brake pedal. The manual brake lever should only be used to test the braking function during set-up/calibration and for judicious use in stabilization of a wagging trailer.

 

[J D Moore]

I agree with BJohnson. The red is not used with the Jordan.
Jim

 

[mules4me]

That makes sense. I only use the hand control to test the brakes before taking off, so it seems I have it ready to go as is. :-laf:-laf:-laf



Thanks for all the input. I have had the Jordan since 2002 and it is a great unit and solved some problems I had with horse trlr.



Dave