D4 Electric Trailer Brake Wiring

Hi there,

I have to echo the sentiments of everyone who has already thanked you Pete for your post and sharing your knowledge.
I bought a D4SE from Melbourne a month ago to tow my horses! Hilux was suffering from "HHS" (Heavy horse syndrome) :-)
Hubby is an accomplished mechanic and Auto electrician and will happily fit anything I like to the car...within reason...he did draw the line at the disco ball!!
With your help he's fitted my ELB happily to the car, we have some fine tuning to do because he got caught by the blue/brown wire! Anyway after one blown fuse on the trailer light wire we are in business.
LOL he was cursing last night at the differences in the wiring...he's wired up racing cars, high performance cars etc and good old Ruby had him getting into a right state :-)

I have dreamt of owning a Disco since I was a young girl and always wanted to have my car and float match. I know it may sound silly to you guys.

After test driving the D4 2.7 and then the D4 3.0 it was clear that I "needed" the 600nm of torque! Love that powa!

So thanks again and will read more on here I am sure. It's a wealth of information!

So long for now.

Julia

Sniegy, is there a preferred view by LR on whether the power and earth for the controller unit is taken directly from the battery and just the other 2 control wires run to the rear or do they like to run all 4 wires from the rear? Looks like both work but is there a benefit of one over the other?

Hi Ashes,
LR originally with the D3 said to run all 4 cables to the rear.
With the D4 they said run the +ve (black) & -ve (white) to the battery direct.

Personally I would run the pos & neg cables to the battery. (Earth to the earth post in front of the battery box)
Then run the other 2 cables to the rear & follow the connection process.

Cheers.

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner

And hearty thanks from me too Pete.

Your instructions and photos were flawless!

Only one question, I disconnected my battery during install. I am sure I had auto close on my windows before... But not now... Did I dream this, or have I lost some configuration?

Thks John

Quote:

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Originally Posted by john_paul_128

Only one question, I disconnected my battery during install. I am sure I had auto close on my windows before... But not now... Did I dream this, or have I lost some configuration?

Thks John

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Thanks John,
Just lost the configuration of the one touch on all of your windows.
You can reset this yourself by (have all the windows up to start with) holding the window switch al the way down when it stops its travel, hold for 2 seconds, release & hold for 2 seconds again. Then hold the button up until the window hits it fil travel & again hold for. 2 seconds, release & holds for 2 more seconds & all should be ok.
I normally do the front 2 & then the rear 2 windows.

Cheers

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sniegy

Thanks John,
Just lost the configuration of the one touch on all of your windows.
You can reset this yourself by (have all the windows up to start with) holding the window switch al the way down when it stops its travel, hold for 2 seconds, release & hold for 2 seconds again. Then hold the button up until the window hits it fil travel & again hold for. 2 seconds, release & holds for 2 more seconds & all should be ok.
I normally do the front 2 & then the rear 2 windows.

Cheers

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner

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Great! thanks again Pete

I have recently had a Tekonsha P3 fitted to my D4 and so far all is good.

A couple of things about this fitting that might be of interest to forum members. First we discarded the standard plastic cradle and used a custom metal bracket that holds the controller very neatly. Having looked at the range of mounts shown in the forum, I decided I could live with two small holes for the security of a strong mounting. Having towed across the Tanamai before I appreciate solid fittings. See photo 1.

Secondly, my auto electrician has a great way of removing the white UK plug and fitting a new robust AU version, leaving the original AU fitting totally untouched. This means I have both a braked and un-braked AU plug at the back. The white one is tucked back up in the side panel where the wiring is. Still connected. See photo 2.

So I have all original wiring in place, the trailer is recognised by the car (green trailer light flashes with the indicator) and all seems good. I am very happy with the two plug options too :)

Sneigy,
thanks for the info. Have mostly wired up the D3 with the exception of splicing into the tail light and hooking up the trailer plug. Car is booked in for a service this week so will get you guys to do the diode and the final bit of wiring if you dont mind. Overall not a difficult job to route the wiring following your great instructions, just time consuming. I'm sure your service guys are sick of running wiring...

cheers
Ashes

Thanks Sniegy - had the car in at your 'office' today and had the Tekonsha P3 fitted along with an Andersen plug for the caravan.

Appreciate your patience with my 1001 questions!

Cheers,
Scott

Being a masochist I not only installed my Tekonsha P3, but also pulled a whacking great 13 sq mm twin power cable. Things got a bit tight in places, especially along the door sills, but in the end, all of the plastic went back where it was supposed to. Pete's guide was invaluable.

I now have an Anderson plug in the rear cargo bay as well as another on the rear bumper. The Tekonsha works perfectly and none of the exisiting car electrics are complaining, so I haven't caused any faults doing the job.

I used to install two-way radios in vehicles for a living. Now I remember why I gave it up.

Thanks Pete

Edit: Forgot to mention that in my D4 (MY12), the brown wire is not joined in the loom, but is intact along its length. Still does the same job though.