Trailer brakes
 

I don't know if this is the place to post this, but I am pulling this with my 70 GMC, so....

I borrowed a car trailer yesterday. I needed to hook up a plug on the trailer, the plug that was on it didn't include the trailer brakes. He hadn't ever used the brakes on the trailer. I should say he hadn't had the trailer that long. Anyway, their are two wires for the brakes on the trailer (brakes on only one axle), a black one and a white one. I'm not sure what wire goes to what, and I don't want to hook something up wrong. I would guess the white is ground and the black is hot. Any thoughts?

Re: Trailer brakes
 

It could be either. My experience says that the brake wire is a red one, with the ground black, in your case, I would do a temporary hook up one way, try the brake, if it works, try it the other way, and see which way works best. Dont rely on grounding through the hitch.
This is my non professional opinion.

Re: Trailer brakes
 

:agree: Without trial and error there is no way to be sure :(

Re: Trailer brakes
 

Thanks for the reply guys.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Re: Trailer brakes
 

A couple fuses in your power and ground wire for testing reasons wouldn't be a bad idea.

Re: Trailer brakes
 

Do you have a brake controller on your truck? If not, you might not want to hook the brakes up, because the trailer brakes might lock up prematurely, causing the trailer to try to pass you.

Re: Trailer brakes
 

i agree with jim on this one. i purchased a trailer with brakes on both axels. first time i used it when you turned on the blinker the trailer brakes went on and off with the signal. i decided to rewire the entire trailer. i did a google search and there are a ton of sites with diagrams for wiring trailers. i ended up going to an rv supply store to pick up some lights and stuff and those guys were a wealth of knowledge helping me rewire my trailer.

Re: Trailer brakes
 

Nitor you do have a brake controller in your truck don't you?
The trailer brakes will ground through the connector not the frame. Not a guarantee but some trailers use the black for the positive and white for the negative. Not all brake wires are the same color. If you hook it up wrong you could destroy your brake controller. How about with the trailer removed from your truck place a battery near the front of trailer and run a couple of jumper wires to those brake wires using an inline fuse on each wire. By touching the two wires to the battery posts it should activate the brakes. You should hear a solenoid type of click when activated. Reverse the wires at the battery and touch them again. It may not make any difference which wire is hot as the brakes are magnetically charged when the power is applied.
Are there any RV dealers in your area? Someone there could be of a lot of help as they hook up these all the time.

Re: Trailer brakes
 

I automaticly assumed we were talking surge brakes.
If there is no contropller...then leave them alone and disconnected