Trailer Brake Controller Installation - 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser Part 1
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How to Install a Brake Controller for a Trailer on a 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser Part 1
Today we are going to do an install of a brake controller on a 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser. We are going to be using part number ETBC7 and we are also going to install the Prodigy brake controller part number 90185. The first step we are going to do is mount up our bracket. What that is going to involve is we are going to take this panel loose and we are going to take this 4-pole mount off because our parts are going to replace this area. :22
All right next what we are going to do is mount our bracket up. Usually it gets mounted this way, but we need a little more clearance so we are actually going to flip this around and install it this way and tuck it behind this shield a little bit. That way we have plenty of material to drill into. Next thing we need to do is take this bracket off the wire harness because we are not going to be using it anymore, we just need to get down to the bare 4-pole. Now we get to install our 7-pole, which will connect to our 4-pole. 2:27
All right all we have to do now is connect our 4-poles up and we will start running our wires up to the front of the vehicle next. Before we do that, we will put these two together, we have to put some dielectric grease in here, once you put them together they are going to stay together. You can even use a zip tie to secure them in place and keep them together forever. Next we are going to run our cable up to the front of the vehicle. This gray two wire cable is going to carry our brake signal and hot lead coming out the back. What we did also is we took the wire and ran it inside the frame and got it to go almost all the way to the front. We used a device called fish tape, what that is, is we pushed the fish tape through this side and pulled the wire back out toward the other, so this wire is going to pull the big wire, our final wire, back out the front. If you do not have access to that you can go ahead and zip tie to the frame, however we found out there really is not much to zip tie to the frame to do it. So last time we tried this it worked out really good. Once you get your wire pulled out through the other side go ahead and pull all of it down to the end and connect to this. 4:13
Make our connections here. One thing to note, we are going to run it black to black and white to blue. Simply because we do not have any blue wire, so we will have to remember that when we are upfront too. The next thing we will do is install our ground to the frame of the vehicle. We will run our white wire up to here and ground it straight to the frame. This purple wire here is used for reverse light lead, but we will not be using that in the install today so we will just tie it up with the ground and leave it alone. Next route the harness the way you want it and just bundle it up and tie it to the harness itself again and that will be it for the rear end. SEE PART 2
Joe M.
12/28/2013
I have a 2011 Toyota fj cruiser. The factory kit has a flat 4 plug for the trailer. I am in need of a flat 5 for a boat that has surge brakes. Any idea what I can do pr purchase to get this right. I know that it is only to activate when in reverse and allows the trailer brake safety to disengage when backing up. thanks joe
Patrick B.
12/28/2013
We have two different parts that will accomplish this. Check out parts 20036 and 47515. With either, you will connect the adapter to your existing 4-pole plug. Then you will run the single wire up to the vehicle and splice into the wire that carries the reverse light circuit. This will provide the reverse-lockout signal for your surge brake coupler without all the work that would come from adding an ETBC7.
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Dave K.
1/4/2014
Soo, what if we want to power the purple wire in the 7-pin connector for the backup light on the trailer...any input as to where/what wire to splice/connect it to? cant find an obvious spot for it. 2010 FJ Cruiser.