Tekonsha Prodigy wiring question

[jvencius]

I went down to one of the RV dealers in town yesterday and bought a pre-assembled wiring harness to connect my Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller to the truck's wiring but it only had four wires and the factory pigtail that came in the glovebox has five. The brown wire, labeled "Illumination" is capped off so I'm not sure if I need to worry about using it or not. Should I take the harness that I bought yesterday back or is it fine as is?

 

[Ford_Forgotton]

Your fine, I only hooked up 4 wires on mine.

Should be POWER, GROUND, BRAKE, and TRAILER. I guess if you have a controller that can do illumination of its face, then you'd need the 5th wire.

 

[rvassar]

I went down to one of the RV dealers in town yesterday and bought a pre-assembled wiring harness to connect my Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller to the truck's wiring but it only had four wires and the factory pigtail that came in the glovebox has five. The brown wire, labeled "Illumination" is capped off so I'm not sure if I need to worry about using it or not. Should I take the harness that I bought yesterday back or is it fine as is?

Mine only has 4 wires. The prodigy does it's own illumination.

It's funny, you expect it to be more difficult. It's not. Plug the pigtail in under the dash, and plug the Prodigy in, bolt it to the dash in the dent under the pocket and off you go.

 

[jvencius]

Mine only has 4 wires. The prodigy does it's own illumination.

It's funny, you expect it to be more difficult. It's not. Plug the pigtail in under the dash, and plug the Prodigy in, bolt it to the dash in the dent under the pocket and off you go.

Actually, my install was easier than that (I did it in the parking lot of the building where I go to class Monday and Wednesday nights). I used the cubby in the dash above the T-case lever since, IMO, it's pretty much useless for actually holding stuff. I hacked a hole in the back of the cubby with my Leatherman tool (you can't see it) to pass the cable through and wedged the Prodigy in place with the U-shaped bracket attached.

 

[JimmyDee]

I used the cubby in the dash above the T-case lever since, IMO, it's pretty much useless for actually holding stuff.

Thats where mine is also. I thought the cubby hole was a great place to store CDs until I purchased a Bill's flip chip a few years ago. A little extra pedal pressure would launch the CDs in my lap every time.
So, just like you said, useless except for the Prodigy.
Jim

 

[rvassar]

to pass the cable through and wedged the Prodigy in place with the U-shaped bracket attached.

JV,

Throw some screws in there as soon as you can. The prodigy is an inertia activated brake controller. If it shifts while you've got your foot lightly on the brakes, say just enough to activate the brake lights, it will trigger the trailer brakes. You don't want that sucker to move at all, no matter what kind of manouvers you're doing.

Rob

 

[jvencius]

JV,

Throw some screws in there as soon as you can. The prodigy is an inertia activated brake controller. If it shifts while you've got your foot lightly on the brakes, say just enough to activate the brake lights, it will trigger the trailer brakes. You don't want that sucker to move at all, no matter what kind of manouvers you're doing.

Rob

Can do--I didn't think of that.