Towing Brake Controller

lilsean95

New member
Okay, Gang I have a small problem where is the Towing Brake Controller on a 2003 Toyota 4 Runner. The manual has a bad picture......I have looked under the console but I cant find it. Any help would be appreciated. I just bought a new boat and would like to hook the controller while towing on the highway.
 
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the wiring hookup

is behind the glovebox on the 05. My 4runner came with a wiring harness and instructions to hook up the controller which u buy independently.
I assume you must have electric brakes on your boat trailer as surge brakes don't require a controller.
I just bought a new trailer for my boat which hooked up easily to the 7 pin connector that came with my 05. It has disk surge brakes and requires 1 wire from the connector attached to reverse to work a brake release solenoid for backing up.
 
I have the 2005 runner, and my wiring was under the dash on the farthest left (drivers) side, right next to the inside wall. I just crawled around looking under the dash until I found what looked like it had to be the controller wiring since it wasn't connected to anything else. As Rossmon says, you will have to buy your own brake controller and can have someone hook it up for you for a hefty fee, or hook it up yourself--you may have even gotten a wiring harness in the glovebox as I did.
 
Re: the wiring hookup

rossmon1 said:
is behind the glovebox on the 05. My 4runner came with a wiring harness and instructions to hook up the controller which u buy independently.
I assume you must have electric brakes on your boat trailer as surge brakes don't require a controller.
I just bought a new trailer for my boat which hooked up easily to the 7 pin connector that came with my 05. It has disk surge brakes and requires 1 wire from the connector attached to reverse to work a brake release solenoid for backing up.

You indicated that you connected one of the wires with your soleniod on your trailer for reversing. I have been trying to do this also, can you provide me with the color wire on the 4Runner hitch connector or brake connector that you attached to. Or did you have to run a separate wire from the reverse lights circuit.
 
Re: Re: the wiring hookup

Spider5 said:
You indicated that you connected one of the wires with your soleniod on your trailer for reversing. I have been trying to do this also, can you provide me with the color wire on the 4Runner hitch connector or brake connector that you attached to. Or did you have to run a separate wire from the reverse lights circuit.

I didn't have to do anything more than go to a kragens auto parts store and buy the correct adapter. (much cheaper than at toyota) My trailer takes a flat 5 pin adapter and thats exactly how the part is labeled. (7pin to flat 5) It's a no brainer, just plug it in.
If you have a poorly documented rig here is what I would do.
Turn the ignition on and put the 4 runner in reverse, you don't need the motor tobe running. Get a test/idiot light and test all the outputs from the toyota trailer wiring jack until the tester lights up. Thats the wire that you want to hook to the solenoid on your trailer. If you shift out of reverse the light should go out.

Chances are good you should just call your trailer manufacturer / dealer and ask what adapter you need for a 7pin 4runner trailer wiring.
 
cmj685 said:
I have the 2005 runner, and my wiring was under the dash on the farthest left (drivers) side, right next to the inside wall. I just crawled around looking under the dash until I found what looked like it had to be the controller wiring since it wasn't connected to anything else. As Rossmon says, you will have to buy your own brake controller and can have someone hook it up for you for a hefty fee, or hook it up yourself--you may have even gotten a wiring harness in the glovebox as I did.
Ditto everything!
 
Re: Re: Re: the wiring hookup

rossmon1 said:
I didn't have to do anything more than go to a kragens auto parts store and buy the correct adapter. (much cheaper than at toyota) My trailer takes a flat 5 pin adapter and thats exactly how the part is labeled. (7pin to flat 5) It's a no brainer, just plug it in.
If you have a poorly documented rig here is what I would do.
Turn the ignition on and put the 4 runner in reverse, you don't need the motor tobe running. Get a test/idiot light and test all the outputs from the toyota trailer wiring jack until the tester lights up. Thats the wire that you want to hook to the solenoid on your trailer. If you shift out of reverse the light should go out.

Chances are good you should just call your trailer manufacturer / dealer and ask what adapter you need for a 7pin 4runner trailer wiring.

Thanks for the feedback. I tried the same thing with a seven to five pin converter (Pepboys) but did not get any power on the soledoid and the brake remained engaged. Now that I know there should be a signal, as you suggested, I will check for the signal from the Runner and see where the problem is.

PS: The trailer company (Zeiman) is the worst to deal with. I much rather have dealt with Pacific Trailers from my previous boat but now I'm stuck finding the anwers elsewhere like this forum.
 
Last edited:
Re: Re: Re: Re: the wiring hookup

Spider5 said:
Thanks for the feedback. I tried the same thing with a seven to five pin converter (Pepboys) but did not get any power on the soledoid and the brake remained engaged. Now that I know there should be a signal, as you suggested, I will check for the signal from the Runner and see where the problem is.

PS: The trailer company (Zeiman) is the worst to deal with. I much rather have dealt with Pacific Trailers from my previous boat but now I'm stuck finding the anwers elsewhere like this forum.

My brand new trailer is a Pacific!
 
wiring?

My brake controller has only 4 wires but my 2004 4Runner has 5 wires from the dash. I have a seven pin connector. Any ideas which wires go where?
 

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