New Brake electrical hookup

[Bobz Hog]

Yesterday I installed new axels under my '68 Overlander. The brakes I ordered are drum brakes and the electrical hookup that came with them are two white wires thru the backing plate. The old brakes had one black wire and one white wire. Does it matter which wire I hook up to the black wire or the white wire? By the way, the new axels raised my coach between 4 to 5 inches. I can't wait to get her on the road and see how she handles. Thanks for your help.
Bob

[markdoane]

It doesn't make any difference to the magnet which is which.

[TomW]

I concur with the man from Minnesota.

Tom

[Excella CM]

Do 'em all one way or the other. If you mix black and white wires you're sure to end up in a gray area!

[TomW]

Originally Posted by Excella CM

Do 'em all one way or the other. If you mix black and white wires you're sure to end up in a gray area!

That's a joke, son.

You can mix & match wires.

Tom

[Bobz Hog]

Thanks for your advice. Trailer wireing is new to me and I keep thinking positive and negative connections like in home wiring. I should have known there wasn't a negative wire since there is a ground. Both white wires are positive as I understand it. Man, I've got a lot to learn about these things. By the way, the PO rewired the whole brake system and when I opened the access door under the front of the trailer, I found a bird's nest of wiring with alot of electrical tape holding the connections together. I really need to straighten this out before I go too much further. I bet this could be one of the reasons my rear left stop/turn light doesn't work.

[letsgo123]

Negative and ground are the same thing in North America that is zero potential between the two points.
Dont assume that black is ground and white is positive, because assume will make an ass of you and me.
The white on my Airstream is negative, why I dont know.

good luck

drive safe

[TomW]

Originally Posted by letsgo123

Negative and ground are the same thing in North America ...

Is South America different?



Just kidding.

Tom

[Bobz Hog]

Well, after going through the wiring one more time, the black is definately the "hot" wire with the white being negative. The two wires coming out of the brake drum are white, so I picked the upper wire on all of the wheels and connected it to the black wire feeding each wheel and the bottom wire to the white. It all seems to be working. Now I have to get to the dreaded rear floor replacement.