Brake Controller - 2019 Ram Classic

[Eneto-55]

I need some help with a problem setting up a Tekonsha Proddigy P2 brake controller on the new-to-us 2019 Ram 1500 Tradesman Classic pickup we purchased a bit over a week ago.  We are planning to tow an (also new-to-us) camper trailer with it, to our congregation's age-group camping in about 10 days.

I purchased the Tekonsha Prodidy P2 brake controller, but got the wrong adapter cable (to connect it to the Ram's OEM brake controller wire harness connector).  This is all new to me over the last week or so, but this PU we bought was built during the 5th gen era for Ram PUs, but it is basically a 4th gen.  Chrysler, MoPar, or whoever they are continued selling the 4th gen PUs alongside the new model, which is longer, wider, tows a bit more, and has a whole lot of modern nonsense (my opinion) built into it as a "luxury PU" - my grandpa would have laughed at that one, since the only PU he ever owned was a 52 Dodge 3-quarter ton.)  So since it's basically a 4th gen, which ran from 2009 through 2018, I bought the adapter cable indicated as for the 2009.  The OEM connector is completely different.  In fact, if my research is accurate, the following is a list of the different Tekonsha adapter cables for Ram 2009 through 2023:

 

Tekonsha Brake Controller Cables - Compatibility
3020-P
2000 - 2009 Chrysler Aspen : Dodge Dakota, Durango, Ram : RAM Dakota

3021-P
2010 - 2012 Dodge Ram : RAM 1500, 2500, 3500

3023-P
2013 - 2014 RAM 1500, 2500, 3500

3024-P
2015 - 2023 RAM 1500, 2500, 3500

 

I should have gotten the Tekonsha part number 3024-P, but got the 3020-P instead.  I figured I could make an adapter cable for the adapter cable, no problem.  But there are other issues which are pointed out by (for one) a Jeep owner at https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/jl-trailer-brake-controller.8378/page-3.  He says (if I understand him correctly) that if someone hits the manual brake over-ride lever on the controller when the trailer is not connected, it can "fry the vehicle's computer" and "your dash board lights up like a Christmas tree".  It seems that the controller might in that case send voltage back to the vehicle's brake "switch", which in this case is actually the computer, which apparently can't deal with that.  So the Tekonsha 3024 adapter cable has a in-line diode in that wire, only allowing voltage to pass from the brake section of the vehicle's computer to the controller, and not the other way.  But I don't know what size of diode is required for that, and whether I can source on in the time I have left.  (And also wanted to do a test run with the rig, in order to get the controller set correctly for this trailer, etc.)  I would have gotten the 3024-P cable, but it was not available - out of stock.  (I even tried to get it through the Tekonsha site, but it's listed as "in manufacturing", with no projected availability date.  I have also not been able to establish for sure if the wire harness for the 2019 & following 5th gen Rams have the same OEM brake controller connection configuration as the 2019 & following Ram Classics, the continued 4th gens.  Lots of videos & comments on-line do not clarify which model they are dealing with, the new Ram, or the Classic Ram.)

 

Then I also read that a person should have an auto-reset breaker in the circuit, I think the wire that goes to the battery.  Would the Ram already have something like that in the OEM harness?

 

(Just for info sake, while I had at first thought that I would spring for the OEM brake controller, which mounts nicely right in the dash, I decided against it for several reasons, mainly that it requires that the vehicle computer is flashed/programmed - by the dealer.  Also, it integrates the brake controller with the ABS system, an innovation I do not care for.  Not only that, but it's also a good bit more 'bread'.)

 

So, my main questions (unless I am missing something else) are about the diode, and the breaker. 

I would REALLY appreciate any help anyone can offer, as my time is running short on this.  (Also, if anyone has a recommendation for a good Ram forum, that would also be a help.)

[greg g]

Doesn't  Tehonsha have a techlline?  You probably need to go by Vin number.  Another source might be the installation videos on the e trailer site.  They pretty much show the whole process for installing controllers.  At least they did for my setup 12 years ago.

 

Maybe this

 

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by greg g

[Eneto-55]

1 hour ago, greg g said:

Doesn't  Tehonsha have a techlline?  You probably need to go by Vin number.  Another source might be the installation videos on the e trailer site.  They pretty much show the whole process for installing controllers.  At least they did for my setup 12 years ago.

Maybe this:

[LINK included]

Thanks for the link.  I think that is one that I have watched.  (Watched a slew of them, trying to find one that mentions having or needing the diode, or recommend the auto-reset breaker.  OR, one responding to others saying that you do need these things, and explaining why you do or do not need either.)

 

I reckon Tokonsha DOES have a tech line, but while I've never consulted them, I have encountered more than a few "techs" who don't know the answer to a question, but won't tell you that, and just make up an answer.  I trust the "guys on the road" with real world experience more.

[greg g]

Maybe contact some of the others signed up for the camp trip.  Might be another Dodge in the group 

[Dave72dt]

You might want to take a look in your owners manual in the fuse section.  I've been seeing more and more vehicles having a separate fuse and/or relay for trailers.  It may answer some of your questions of it being fused or on a breaker.

[Eneto-55]

1 hour ago, greg g said:

Maybe contact some of the others signed up for the camp trip.  Might be another Dodge in the group 

That's a good idea, but most of the ones I've talked to already are of a more "wealthy" class than we are, and they just took their vehicles in to an RV place had them do what ever it takes.  I'm also a tight wad, so there is that, too....

[Eneto-55]

41 minutes ago, Dave72dt said:

You might want to take a look in your owners manual in the fuse section.  I've been seeing more and more vehicles having a separate fuse and/or relay for trailers.  It may answer some of your questions of it being fused or on a breaker.

That's a fabulous idea!  Found this:

this,

and this

Now I need to go out & see if there are fuses in those spots.  

HOWEVER, from what I've read so far, the thing about the auto-reset breaker is that it will only shut off the circuit until it cools down, then reconnect automatically.  So a person might still have an opportunity to get brakes again while still driving w/o replacing a fuse (which I rather suspect would be VERY difficult to do while buzzing down the highway half out of control due to loss of braking power.  (I know, I'm talking worst case scenarios.)

[Eneto-55]

So, my son came home from work early today, so we went to a local trailer sales place that had what they thought was a different brand adapter cable.  (From all I see, it is actually the genuine Tekonsha cable.  It has the identical warning label, and also has the Tekonsha part number on it.)  

My son tested it to see that there is a diode in the red wire (stoplight), and it does.  (We could also feel the place in the harness where it is located.)  So I'm confident of that now. 

 

The remaining tests concern the fact that on the cable I purchased, while the box says "15-20 Ram 1500, 15-21 2500 & 3500", the wires appear to be in the wrong positions in the brake controller cable to vehicle cable housing.  Three of the wires are incorrect.  The two 12 AWG wires are the Black (Batt) and the Blue (Trailer Brake).  The other two wires are 16 AWG, and they are Red (Stop Light - switch/computer), and White (GND / Battery Neg).  (I would have expected that the ground to the battery would be a heavy wire, but this is how all of the diagrams I've seen show the terminal assignments.

I will test the ones I can that go from the brake controller connector back to the 7-pin connector - well, actually that is just the Blue wire.

 

If someone already knows that I am either correct, or incorrect, Please tell me!  Thanks in advance.  (Various on-line videos and such mention that the wires are in the wrong places, but most just mention switching two wires, not three.  I build computers, and I've had to switch wires around on motherboard header cables as well, usually stuff that was manufactured in Ch1na, but what isn't made there now-a-days?)

[Eneto-55]

I don't know if anyone is interested in this, but here are photos of the Tekonsha (male) connector and the Ram OEM (female) connector.  The male plug is labeled for colors the way it came from Tekonsha.  The female receptacle is labeled for colors as it is in the Ram Classic. If I could find the pin-out functions for the vehicle side, I'd be home free.  But I haven't been able to find that information anywhere, including on the MoPar site.

 

It seems to me that Tekonsha has the wire gauges mixed up, in that:

they have their Black 12 gauge wire (+ 12V power) connecting to 16 gauge wire (Red) on the OEM side, and

their White 16 gauge wire (12V - GND) connecting to the OEM Black 12 gauge wire.

 

The 2nd one, trying a 16 AWG wire into what may be a 12 AWG ground wire (vehicle side) is maybe not so strange, but tying what appears to be what supplies 12V power from the battery into a 16 AWG wire on the vehicle side seems really strange to me.  When I was trying to understand how to do this on a vehicle that had no connector, the instructions all said to run a 12 AWG wire directly from the battery to the controller.  (Well, they do also highly suggest installing an in-line auto-reset breaker in that circuit, and I wonder if there is anything like that in the Ram's circuitry.)

(It is the Red wire in the Tekonsha cable that has the in-line diode, to protect the vehicle computer's brake circuit from being fried by a voltage back-surge from the controller.  That is, the current is only allowed to flow from the vehicle to the controller.)  [I hope that I have everything straight here in what I've described.  I can easily get confused.]

 

I realize that they (Tekonsha, etc.) came up with their own color codes, and there might be some miss-match with one vehicle manufacturer or another, or even all of them.  But gauge miss-matches are not logical at all. No one in their right mind would do that, certainly not the vehicle manufacturer.

If you flip the adapter harness connector over to plug it into the vehicle connector, the Blue wire is the only one that matches color.  But most importantly, it is the only one that matches wire gauge.  Some people say that you have to reverse two wires on the Tekonsha harness to align properly w/ the Ram pin-outs.  But it appears to me that three may need to be changed. Or maybe just the Black and the White.

Am I getting ridiculous here?  (I suspect that my wife thinks so.)  I just don't want to toast the Ram computer, and I don't really trust an auto shop to not just say "Put the terminals back the way they were, and plug it in and see what happens."

 

EDIT: CORRECTION OF AN ERROR I MADE - The Red wire on the Ram module is NOT 16 gauge as I had thought, and as I noted on the photo below.  I didn't pull the wrapping back far enough to even see if it was labeled according to AWG at all - I just assumed that the vehicle would have only two 12 AWG wires, because that's how the Takonsha wire harness is.  The RAM Red wire is the hot wire - hot even when everything is off.  The 12 AGA Black wire is the GND.  I still need to test the Green w/ white tracer wire to be sure that it will light up a test bulb when the vehicle is running and the brake pedal is depressed, but I'm pretty sure that's how it is, because the isn't any dispute about the Blue wire - it's always the one that goes back to the 7-pin trailer connector, for the electric brakes.

EDIT 02:  On the last thing in my previous edit, connecting those two terminals, even with the vehicle running and depressing the brake, does NOT light up the test light.  Perhaps it needs a signal from the controller?  (If not, then something is burned out on the PU.  It DID, by the way, previously have a brake controller installed - by the previous owner.)

Edited July 4, 2023 by Eneto-55
Correction, Additional Comments

[Eneto-55]

The forum program keeps prompting me to mark one response as a solution.  Mainly, the solution was to go where I could get the cable in my hands, and do the testing to see if it has the diode in it.  So, can I mark one of my own posts as the 'solution'?  All responses were appreciated, and the trip went well this last weekend.  Now I just need to get myself organized, so that each tool and piece of equipment for the camper has a designated place, so I can find it w/o digging through every little cubby hole every time.... 

 

One comment about the brake controller installation: I ran the cable up through the dash and out a hole where the silly little tray sits on top of the dash.  So the controller is in easy reach and can be observed w/o looking away from the road.  (My younger brother, however, said that he wouldn't install it there.  He has his under the edge of the dash, to the right of the steering column.  He also has a Ram.  But that's where my knee goes, and I didn't want to be able to accidentally engage the manual brake with my knee.)

[Young Ed]

6 hours ago, Eneto-55 said:

The forum program keeps prompting me to mark one response as a solution.  Mainly, the solution was to go where I could get the cable in my hands, and do the testing to see if it has the diode in it.  So, can I mark one of my own posts as the 'solution'?  All responses were appreciated, and the trip went well this last weekend.  

Don't worry about it. It's been prompting me on my wagon thread and I didn't even ask a question!