The Tacoma Towing Bible

Tacoma Fury · 08-26-2009, 04:07 PM

Hi all,

I am in the market for a boat that comes with brakes on it. However, due to Toyota's short thinking, I don't have a brake controller plug in my truck via the factory harness as it is the 4x4 reg cab 4 cylinder 5 spd. manual tranny. I have installed a Valley-T class III hitch and got the Valley-T 4 pole harness adaptor and then installed the 4 to 7 pole (with 4 pole on it) adaptor as well.

My question is whether or not I can install a brake controller on this truck. I looked in my fuse box under the hood and there is a spot for the 30 Amp relay that is open......

I am an electro/mechanical tech....so my knowledge is good, but the Towing Bible did't cover my needs. I am no pro at towing by any means, so I ask the guru.....please....teach me.....

piercedtiger · 08-26-2009, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tacoma Fury

Hi all,

I am in the market for a boat that comes with brakes on it. However, due to Toyota's short thinking, I don't have a brake controller plug in my truck via the factory harness as it is the 4x4 reg cab 4 cylinder 5 spd. manual tranny. I have installed a Valley-T class III hitch and got the Valley-T 4 pole harness adaptor and then installed the 4 to 7 pole (with 4 pole on it) adaptor as well.

My question is whether or not I can install a brake controller on this truck. I looked in my fuse box under the hood and there is a spot for the 30 Amp relay that is open......

I am an electro/mechanical tech....so my knowledge is good, but the Towing Bible did't cover my needs. I am no pro at towing by any means, so I ask the guru.....please....teach me.....

My offhand response would be no.... You need the 7-pin wiring all the way back to the trailer for brakes, not just a 4-7 adapter on the back. The wiring for 4-pin connectors only runs the brake lights, signals, markers, and reverse lights.

I would even hazard a guess and say you can't/shouldn't tow anything heavy enough to require brakes with the 4 banger. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think a 4 banger, non-tow package can tow enough to worry about brakes.

Tacoma Fury · 08-27-2009, 03:54 AM

Well, it is a boat that is about 17 feet long. The trailers are noted to have brakes on them. The boat is about 2k and the trailer another 300# so I am well under the weight limit...though a full tank of gas on the boat adds another 200#. It was 'suggested' that if the trailer has brakes, to use them.

Also, the wires would have to be run from the cab / controller to the adapter, but the adaptor has the blue, black and other necessary leads.

I have read that the 4 banger has done well with towing as long as you stay under 3k#.

petersharp · 08-27-2009, 05:34 AM

I would be suprised if the 4 banger has the factory wiring setup like the 6 cylinders do.

maverick491 · 08-27-2009, 06:01 AM

For all intents and purposes the install of a brake controller in a 4 cyl will be the same as the write up I did for installing a brake controller in a 6 cyl non-tow package equipped truck. The only difference would be where to tap the brake signal from. There should be a harness and a plug attached to the brake switch attached to your brake pedal. With the brake pedal depressed you should get a 12 volt reading from one of the wires that you don't get when the pedal is not depressed. That is the wire you will want to tap for picking up the brake signal, then you run the other three wires into the cab and connect them to the brake controller as well, positive from the battery, ground, and output to the harness at the bumper. Sorry I can't be more specific there, but I do not have a 4cyl truck at my disposal to photograph or take voltage measurements from. If you complete this please do document it and add it in here as it would benefit other members as well.

Also, before you undertake this, make sure that the trailer you are looking at does in fact have electric brakes and not surge brakes. A lot of boat trailers have suge brakes as they as less prone to failure after repeated submergings at the boat ramp, particularly in salt water. You will also need to look into an adapter becasue if the boat trailer in question does have electric brakes it will likely use a 5-flat plug, and not a 7-round RV stye plug, so you'll need to adapt the 7-round to a 5-flat, which should be about 20 bucks or so.

If I can help further or clarify anything please ask.

Regards,

Pster · 08-27-2009, 06:13 AM

Interesting product. Just bought one of these to stabilize my hitch mounted hand truck dolly carrier: http://www.hitchrider.com/hitch-vise-fit-guide-2.htm

jay8ird · 08-31-2009, 07:13 PM

Don't have directions with my drawtite activator and don't want to mess up anything. Controller has blue, black, white and red wires. I have jumper harness that came with truck but no directions. Which wires go together?

Thanks,

Jay

maverick491 · 08-31-2009, 07:26 PM

WHITE on your controller is ground. Connect to BROWN on your jumper harness.

BLACK on your controller is power. Connect to BLACK W/ RED tracer on your jumper harness.

BLUE on your controller is signal output. Connect to RED on jumper harness.

RED on your controller is signal input. Connect to GREEN W/ WHITE tracer on your jumper harness.

SOLID GREEN on your jumper harness is the illumination circuit and is not used on your controller, just tape it up and ignore it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay8ird

Don't have directions with my drawtite activator and don't want to mess up anything. Controller has blue, black, white and red wires. I have jumper harness that came with truck but no directions. Which wires go together?

Thanks,

Jay

jay8ird · 09-01-2009, 02:59 AM

Thanks Maverick!

rock09 · 09-06-2009, 03:17 PM

Question??? Okay, so I've located the factory brake controller harness and noticed a different in the wire colors. The heavy gauge yellow wire is a heavy gauge blue wire. It still haves the light weight green, blue, and black&white. And I put a meter on it to determine that I had connector.

Another question, what's with all those unused connector?

Thanks

Rock

j4x4ar3 · 09-06-2009, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rock09

Question??? Okay, so I've located the factory brake controller harness and noticed a different in the wire colors. The heavy gauge yellow wire is a heavy gauge blue wire. It still haves the light weight green, blue, and black&white. And I put a meter on it to determine that I had connector.

Another question, what's with all those unused connector?

Thanks

Rock

Recomend you "cheat" and do like I did and skip the harness that the factory provided. If you've got the 6cyl and the connector behind the left kick plate then buy a premade harness. My tekonishia Prodigy brake controller came with one pretty cheap. Plug-n-play with no worry about what wire is what.

Greenbush · 09-08-2009, 01:56 PM

Thank you so much for the info, it really helped me out in knowing where to start with towing. Thx again.

TacoMO · 09-09-2009, 07:25 AM

Maverick,thanks for putting this thread together!! Great timing from my perspective, we leave for Colorado pretty soon. will be pulling a 19' Airstream. Unfortunately I will not have time to do the rear spring mod, but packing as light as we can, not traveling with any water in any of the holding tanks, getting food once we get to Lake City, will help. I will adjust the WD hitch to make sure it's level..Let you know how it goes..Just curious, coming down off Monarch Pass, I plan on keeping the Tranny in 2nd gear. all that weight pushing on the transmission, for a long steep descent, ok??? Thanks,Jeff

b168 · 09-11-2009, 11:03 AM

NIce post thanks!

Turb0wned · 09-23-2009, 04:47 PM

How come the book in my 04 double cab 4x4 says 7500lbs towing???

Fire931 · 09-23-2009, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TacoMO

all that weight pushing on the transmission, for a long steep descent, ok??? Thanks,Jeff

i dont see why it would hurt anything... just dont keep the revs to high and you should be fine.. on a long decent like that just remember not to ride the brakes.. use them when you need them to slow down a bit and then let off...

TacoMO · 09-24-2009, 05:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire931

i dont see why it would hurt anything... just dont keep the revs to high and you should be fine.. on a long decent like that just remember not to ride the brakes.. use them when you need them to slow down a bit and then let off...

It seemed pretty weird, I just kept it in 2nd on the way down Monarch Pass. The rpms stayed around 3-4k.. If I remember right, the mph was around 40.. I never had to touch the brake. All I had read about this pass (monarch) was that people had so much trouble with it. Over heating, burning out brakes, etc. I kept it in 2nd going up 30 to 40 mph, pleanty fast.. No over heating. 2nd gear on the way down, didn't have to touch the brakes.. I kept thinking, what is so hard about this? Don't get me wrong, I could feel 4,000lbs pushing a bit, but not bad. Then it looked like snow at the top, and I got a little nervous, but clean sailing.
I likr this truck..
Jeff

Fire931 · 09-24-2009, 05:32 AM

glad to hear... one thing i used to do if i knew i was gonna be going down a steep long grade was to adjust the trailer brakes up a little more. this allowed me to just barely touch the brake pedal when the trailer started pushing real bad and that would engage the trailer brakes and help keep the trailer from going crazy. i always liked to really feel the trailer brakes grab when towing larger trailers anyways....

buffalo tacoma · 10-07-2009, 11:22 AM

great thread very informative. Im gonna be purchasing a TT jayco 22fb within a week, it uvw is 4100lbs, hitch weight of 410lbs im getting a wd hitch and prodigy brake controller. I live in buffalo ny so hills are not a big issue. Will i be good to go with this setup or do i need somethin else. Kinda gettin nervous bout buying it. No real long hauls either maybe 30-100 miles at most. thanks

Bangerman · 11-17-2009, 07:23 PM

I would like to build this small dump trailer for use behind my 2008 Taco 4 cyl with auto. Empty weight is 1311 lbs. and tongue weight (empty) is 220 lbs. I have the Hidden hitch class III installed with wiring. (Thanks to this forum)

Has anyone actually drove a regular cab/2wheel drive, within the 3500 lb limit? How did it handle? Did you require/recommend trailer brakes? I will only use this for once a month trips all under 30 miles fully loaded and no significant hills.

Here are the plans I am building too> 8’x5' Air or Hydraulic Dump Trailer Model AD08 Plans

http://www.trailerplans.com//index.p...emart&Itemid=2

Any recommendations/concerns? Appreciate the advise/help.

08-26-2009, 04:07 PM	#261
Tacoma Fury Junior Member Joined: Mar 2009, #14707 Location: Mass Gender: Male Posts: 5 09 Tacoma Reg Cab 2009 Regular Cab Manual	Brake Controller Install for a 4x4 Reg Cab Hi all, I am in the market for a boat that comes with brakes on it. However, due to Toyota's short thinking, I don't have a brake controller plug in my truck via the factory harness as it is the 4x4 reg cab 4 cylinder 5 spd. manual tranny. I have installed a Valley-T class III hitch and got the Valley-T 4 pole harness adaptor and then installed the 4 to 7 pole (with 4 pole on it) adaptor as well. My question is whether or not I can install a brake controller on this truck. I looked in my fuse box under the hood and there is a spot for the 30 Amp relay that is open...... I am an electro/mechanical tech....so my knowledge is good, but the Towing Bible did't cover my needs. I am no pro at towing by any means, so I ask the guru.....please....teach me.....

08-27-2009, 03:54 AM	#263
Tacoma Fury Junior Member Joined: Mar 2009, #14707 Location: Mass Gender: Male Posts: 5 09 Tacoma Reg Cab 2009 Regular Cab Manual	Towing with the 4-bangah! Well, it is a boat that is about 17 feet long. The trailers are noted to have brakes on them. The boat is about 2k and the trailer another 300# so I am well under the weight limit...though a full tank of gas on the boat adds another 200#. It was 'suggested' that if the trailer has brakes, to use them. Also, the wires would have to be run from the cab / controller to the adapter, but the adaptor has the blue, black and other necessary leads. I have read that the 4 banger has done well with towing as long as you stay under 3k#.

08-27-2009, 05:34 AM	#264
petersharp Senior Member Name: Do you need to ask?! It's up there ^ Joined: Nov 2007, #3566 Location: Phoenix, AZ Gender: Male Posts: 824 DC LB Sport 2008 Double Cab Automatic 4l V6	I would be suprised if the 4 banger has the factory wiring setup like the 6 cylinders do. __________________ On a mission to prove there IS such thing as a stupid question

08-27-2009, 06:01 AM	#265
maverick491 Towing Guru Joined: Apr 2007, #1462 Location: South Jersey Age: 33 Gender: Male Posts: 1,083 07 4x4 Access Cab, TRD off road, 6 cyl, 6 spd 2007 Access Cab Manual 4.0L V6 Activator III brake controller, Extang Fulltilt toneau, Factory bed mat, Extra D-rings in the bed, 2ndary air filter removed, Garmin Ique GPS, Eco-2, AFE Pro Dry-s filter, USASPEC PA12-toy, Pioneer 3-way speakers, SG II on Blendmount, Gulf States Alarm added.	For all intents and purposes the install of a brake controller in a 4 cyl will be the same as the write up I did for installing a brake controller in a 6 cyl non-tow package equipped truck. The only difference would be where to tap the brake signal from. There should be a harness and a plug attached to the brake switch attached to your brake pedal. With the brake pedal depressed you should get a 12 volt reading from one of the wires that you don't get when the pedal is not depressed. That is the wire you will want to tap for picking up the brake signal, then you run the other three wires into the cab and connect them to the brake controller as well, positive from the battery, ground, and output to the harness at the bumper. Sorry I can't be more specific there, but I do not have a 4cyl truck at my disposal to photograph or take voltage measurements from. If you complete this please do document it and add it in here as it would benefit other members as well. Also, before you undertake this, make sure that the trailer you are looking at does in fact have electric brakes and not surge brakes. A lot of boat trailers have suge brakes as they as less prone to failure after repeated submergings at the boat ramp, particularly in salt water. You will also need to look into an adapter becasue if the boat trailer in question does have electric brakes it will likely use a 5-flat plug, and not a 7-round RV stye plug, so you'll need to adapt the 7-round to a 5-flat, which should be about 20 bucks or so. If I can help further or clarify anything please ask. Regards, __________________ Maverick491 (Adam) DIY MODS Activator III brake controller Extra D-rings Aftermarket speakers w/TacoTunes mounting kit Illuminated 4wd switch ECO-2 VPE Scangauge II/Blendmount

08-27-2009, 06:13 AM	#266
Pster That's just like your opinion, man Joined: Jun 2008, #7654 Location: Charlotte, NC Age: 53 Gender: Male Posts: 2,251 2006 Tacoma 4x4 2006 Double Cab Automatic It has one Bak Flip bed cover, shorty antenna, Peripheral iPod interface, Garmin 750 mount, add'l bed tie down rings, Westin nerf bars, hitch safe, tailgate lock, Ideal 1 3/4" turn-key clamp to secure tailgate from removal, Spare tire security cable, spare tire stainless air hose extender, Fumoto oil drain valve.	Interesting product. Just bought one of these to stabilize my hitch mounted hand truck dolly carrier: http://www.hitchrider.com/hitch-vise-fit-guide-2.htm __________________ The Older I Get, The Faster I Was The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it. - George Orwell BakFlip Bed Cover Shorty Antenna Peripheral iPod Interface Garmin Nuvi RAM Dash Mount Add'l OEM Bed Tie Down Rings Westin Access Cab Nerf Bars (I think access cab bars look better on the Double Cab) Pop N' Lock Tailgate Lock Ideal Turn-Key Clamp (to secure tailgate) Spare Tire Security Cable Fumoto Oil Drain Valve WheelMaster Stainless Spare Air Hose Extender Redline Elite Hood Struts ProTecta Bed Mat

08-31-2009, 07:13 PM	#267
jay8ird Junior Member Name: Jay Joined: Aug 2009, #21120 Location: SC Gender: Male Posts: 7 09 D/C 4x4 trd offrd 2009 Double Cab Automatic	brake contoller help Don't have directions with my drawtite activator and don't want to mess up anything. Controller has blue, black, white and red wires. I have jumper harness that came with truck but no directions. Which wires go together? Thanks, Jay

09-01-2009, 02:59 AM	#269
jay8ird Junior Member Name: Jay Joined: Aug 2009, #21120 Location: SC Gender: Male Posts: 7 09 D/C 4x4 trd offrd 2009 Double Cab Automatic	brake help Thanks Maverick!

09-06-2009, 03:17 PM	#270
rock09 Junior Member Name: Tim Joined: Aug 2009, #20650 Location: Kings Mountain, NC Gender: Male Posts: 4 09 PreRunner Long Bed 2009 Double Cab Automatic	Question??? Okay, so I've located the factory brake controller harness and noticed a different in the wire colors. The heavy gauge yellow wire is a heavy gauge blue wire. It still haves the light weight green, blue, and black&white. And I put a meter on it to determine that I had connector. Another question, what's with all those unused connector? Thanks Rock

09-08-2009, 01:56 PM	#272
Greenbush Junior Member Name: Kyle Joined: Sep 2009, #22275 Location: Omaha,NE Gender: Male Posts: 7 09' TRD OffRoad 2009 Double Cab Automatic	Thank you so much for the info, it really helped me out in knowing where to start with towing. Thx again.

09-09-2009, 07:25 AM	#273
TacoMO Member Name: Jeff Joined: Sep 2009, #22139 Location: fly over zone Age: 55 Gender: Male Posts: 39 09 dbl cab 4x4 TRD Off Road 2009 Double Cab Automatic 6 Shell	Maverick,thanks for putting this thread together!! Great timing from my perspective, we leave for Colorado pretty soon. will be pulling a 19' Airstream. Unfortunately I will not have time to do the rear spring mod, but packing as light as we can, not traveling with any water in any of the holding tanks, getting food once we get to Lake City, will help. I will adjust the WD hitch to make sure it's level..Let you know how it goes..Just curious, coming down off Monarch Pass, I plan on keeping the Tranny in 2nd gear. all that weight pushing on the transmission, for a long steep descent, ok??? Thanks,Jeff

09-11-2009, 11:03 AM	#274
b168 Member Joined: Aug 2009, #20532 Location: South Bay, CA Gender: Male Posts: 74 09 Tacoma DC TRD Off Road 2009 Double Cab Automatic 6" Pro Comp Lift 35" Xtreme A/T Pro Comp Tires 4.56 Gears	NIce post thanks!

09-23-2009, 04:47 PM	#275
Turb0wned Senior Member Name: Joel Joined: Aug 2009, #21527 Gender: Male Posts: 119 04 Tacoma Double Cab 4x4 2004 Double Cab Automatic V6	How come the book in my 04 double cab 4x4 says 7500lbs towing??? __________________ I'll keep my gun my freedom and my money. You can keep the CHANGE.

09-24-2009, 05:32 AM	#278
Fire931 Armor Tech Offroad Name: Kevin Joined: Jan 2009, #12687 Location: Virginia Gender: Male Posts: 1,207 07 Doublecab Sport 2007 Double Cab Manual 4.0 allpro front plate bumper with piaa's, xrc10 winch w/synthetic line, 4xinnovation sliders, ATO rear bumper, backup camera, full set of rock lights, arb rear locker, viair onboard air, sockmonkey decals, black billet grill, BHLM, fox 2.0 coilovers, tc uca's, no swaybar, alcan aal in rear, ATO rear shackle flip bilstein 5100's, inchworm cralwer and lefty tcase with twinsticks, mickey thompson mtz's w/ classic lock wheels, lots of stereo stuff, blue gauges with white needles	glad to hear... one thing i used to do if i knew i was gonna be going down a steep long grade was to adjust the trailer brakes up a little more. this allowed me to just barely touch the brake pedal when the trailer started pushing real bad and that would engage the trailer brakes and help keep the trailer from going crazy. i always liked to really feel the trailer brakes grab when towing larger trailers anyways.... __________________ My Build ARMOR TECH OFFROAD 540-784-0197 kevin@armortechoffroad.com Product Pictures / Info

10-07-2009, 11:22 AM	#279
buffalo tacoma Member Joined: Nov 2008, #10891 Location: lancaster ny Posts: 84 07 trd dc 4x4 offroad 2007 Double Cab Automatic 4.0 v6 flowmaster 40 delta,billy 5100's front .85, rear tsb, courser at2 tires, jl audio 10'' sub and amp, tint, tonneau cover	great thread very informative. Im gonna be purchasing a TT jayco 22fb within a week, it uvw is 4100lbs, hitch weight of 410lbs im getting a wd hitch and prodigy brake controller. I live in buffalo ny so hills are not a big issue. Will i be good to go with this setup or do i need somethin else. Kinda gettin nervous bout buying it. No real long hauls either maybe 30-100 miles at most. thanks __________________ 07 dc trd offroad 4x4, flowmaster 40 delta flow, billys 5100's .85, courser at2 tires 265 75 16, custom sub box jl audio, tonneau cover my toy... 07 yamaha r6 w race header and muffler

11-17-2009, 07:23 PM	#280
Bangerman Junior Member Joined: Jan 2009, #12167 Location: Alabama Gender: Male Posts: 6 08 Regular Cab 4 Cyl 2008 Regular Cab Automatic	2008 4 cyl auto towing small dump trailer I would like to build this small dump trailer for use behind my 2008 Taco 4 cyl with auto. Empty weight is 1311 lbs. and tongue weight (empty) is 220 lbs. I have the Hidden hitch class III installed with wiring. (Thanks to this forum) Has anyone actually drove a regular cab/2wheel drive, within the 3500 lb limit? How did it handle? Did you require/recommend trailer brakes? I will only use this for once a month trips all under 30 miles fully loaded and no significant hills. Here are the plans I am building too> 8’x5' Air or Hydraulic Dump Trailer Model AD08 Plans http://www.trailerplans.com//index.p...emart&Itemid=2 Any recommendations/concerns? Appreciate the advise/help.

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