Installing brake controller on 02 4x4 Tacoma

I recently bought a popup camper which weighs around 2000 lbs and has electric brakes. I need to install a brake controller. I bought a controller and flat 4 to 7 round adapter as I was going to install myself but had second thoughts. I called Uhaul and they quoted $180 to install and told me that the flat 4 plug would have to be replaced with a 7 round as an adapter would not work. Has anyone installed a brake controller on their Tacoma? If so, I'd appreciate installation details. Also, I am a little concerned about towing with my truck which is a V6 and does not have a lot of power when climbing hills. Should I also install a different fan and a tranny cooler, if I am going to haul 2000 lb? .

 

I have, and your UHaul guy is right.
It is a seven pin configuration. After doing it myself, $180 sounds like a pretty good deal.

Your V6 has plenty of power, but expect the tranny to downshift more. That is normal and a good thing.
I don't think you need any extra cooling. I didn't.

 

extra trans coolers are an easy install if you want the piece of mind. I towed about 1600 lbs down to FL and back in August without a brake controller and never had a problem. Just remember to give yourself extra distance.

as for the wiring, yes you will need the 7-pin. I wired my own up using the plug in 4-pin and ran a +12v power to the battery with fuse and relay 'cause I wired in reverse lights on the trailer.




just make sure the wire locations match on the plug and receptacle ends otherwise you could cause a bad ground and fry something (if you look at both ends facing you they are opposing sides)

 

Thanks guys for the info. I see there are conflicting opinions as to whether I can use my existing truckmounted 4 pin flat by plugging into a round 4-7 adapter and joining a cable from the controller & another for the battery charge directly into that. The 4-7 adapter I have is

$17 Hopkins 47205 Taillight Adapter - 4-Flat to 7-Blade Round

Hopkins 47205 and the wires coming from the back of it are white,brn,yell grn which are wired into the male flat four, alongside a set of blk,blu, & white wires. It looks like if I plug the flat connector into the female flat on the truck and wire the separate wires through other wire that I would supply, to connect up to the brake controller and truck battery, that it should work PROVIDED of course I make the right connections! surely that would be the same as if I were to disconnect the existing flat4 & wire everything into a new 7 pin round??

I would think that the job would probably take me most of the day,but these days I have more time than money. I just want to make sure I can do it right

 

I did that once because I did not want to drill into a leased vehicle to mount a 7-pin socket. I ended up with 2-four pin receptacles, which gave me 8 leads.
Be sure you color code them so's you never get em mixed up when plugging in.
Don't cut off the 7-pin on the trailer, as you will get sick of 2 plugs and want to go to 7-pin again.

 

you are correct. that's what I was going to suggest you use. I bought a separate 7-pin and cut off the 4-pin and hard-wired it in but this has it done already. Just make sure to properly heat-shrink so no water gets in.

 

This is easy stuff if you're used to wiring...not so easy if you're not. If the latter is the case, that $180 will be the best money you'll ever spend! You need to commit to the seven pin connector period...trailer wiring is pretty much all standardized these days in terms of wire colors...makes it very easy to wire in and use. Also, if you use your trailer on somebody else's vehicle, or vicey versy, you can pretty much be assured that the plugs will work.

OP, I'm thinkin' you really oughta take your truck down to the U-Haul place and have them do the deed, you'll end up a LOT less frustrated than I believe you're about to be!!!!

 

i installed my own 7-pin connector and trailer brake controller. it took about 3 hours. wasn't bad.

I used a product very similar to this one: http://www.etrailer.com/Wiring/Tow-Ready/30717.html

Just need some good lengths of 12-14 gauge wire and some auto-resetting fuses and a good wiring diagram.