SC300T

Looking for some guidance on how to get a trailer brake controller installed on an 02 LX470. I see the 4pin plug under the rear bumper. It is my understanding that this is just for brake lights and turn lights on the trailer. I ordered a harness that goes from this plug to the 7 wires needed for the trailer.

Question #1: Is there a brake control wire pre-installed on the vehicle that I can tap into for the 12v power and brake control to the trailer? If so, this wire would go from the rear connector to a location on the kick panel?

Question #2: Is there a junction block on the driver's kick panel with these connections - i.e. can I just buy a connector, plug from the block to the brake controller? Brake controller is a Tekonsha Prodigy. I'm hoping I don't have to run a brake control wire from the front to the back of the vehicle.

Any recommendations?

thbrewst

Below is some stuff that I accumulated from other posts some time ago...I have not tried this myself but may be doing so in the next month or so. Let me know if anything seems incorrect. Sorry for the length, and apologies for not giving credit to the original poster(s) as I do not have that info...

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Here is a brief rundown on how to find and use the connector for a trailer brake controller on the 100 with tow package.


(The following is for an '03, but likely to be the same or similar for later years. It is
likely that the connector may not yet have been put in on earlier years. Check your EWD. My guess is that the connector is present when the tow package includes a 7 pin trailer socket in the back, and probably not when the tow package includes only the 4 pin socket. Having seen what a believed to be an 02 EWD that did not show the brake controller connector, I believe the connector may have been introduced in 03.)

This connector is well hidden under the dash and not readily visible. It is not obvious at
all how to get to it. So thanks to Dickballard who posted some instructions on Edmunds.com that proved most helpful.

The connector is intended to provide you with all the wiring needed for a brake controller. If you use it, there is no need for any splicing, wire cutting and wire laying. It's great!


There are 2 possible ways to get to it. A sure thing but longer, and a possible quick fix that may or may not work for you.

Location: The connector is located on a harness right behind the metal knee brace under the lower plastic panel, about a foot above the accelerator pedal towards the driver. This
white connector (5 wires) is branching off a harness and located between the lower transverse plastic vent conduit and the metal knee brace, or perhaps above the conduit. I
don't believe it is visible from under the dash without removal of parts.


Quick method (without removing the lower plastic panel at the bottom of the dash) [Note I have not actually tried this so I'm guessing here based on what I saw when I took the whole thing apart]: if you go on your back and look up under the dash, you will see a long (about 1 ft) wide (2 - 3") black plastic conduit for air ventilation that connect from the center radio "tower" to the area near the mirror controls. This is close to the bottom of the dash assembly. It is a vent carrying air. This conduit is held by a single golden screw on the bottom left side. This screw is not reachable by a screwdriver unless you remove the lower plastic panel, but can likely be unscrewed with pliers from the side otherwise. After you remove this screw, the entire conduit can be removed by gently twisting and turning it. It is held by the 2 ends simply by being inserted in similar fixed tubes. You may need to twist, bend, pull, and push. Be careful. There is a lot of stuff down there. If you are successful, and remove it this way, look right behind the metal knee brace, in line with the accelerator or so, and you may see a single white squarish connector, empty with about 1" or wiring out of a big black harness. That's it. (It's not the white connector located way up close to the top with a single black wire into it.) The wires going into the correct connector are White, Green, White/black, Green/white, and White/blue. Plug your pigtail connector (see below) in that one, let the wires hang, and put everything back together after checking for voltage etc. If this worked, you are lucky.


What I did instead is take all the panels off. Start by removing the horizontal plastic
bezel above the steering wheel, the one that has the light dimmer in. It comes right out by pulling on it. Then (or first, I forgot, check), remove the circular trim around the
ignition key slot (careful, you must turn it and pull to remove it, there are tabs that have
to be aligned with slots). It should then be possible to remove the entire lower plastic panel (in front of the driver shins and knees). To do this, remove the single black screw
on the very left edge, close to the door. Then remove the 4 screws holding the 2 handles
for the hood and gas door. The lower plastic panel can then be removed by pulling gently,
there are 4 or 5 clips holding it, all around. There will be several switches and harnesses
into it. Watch out for the skinny one on the right, those wires are small. You can disconnect all the harnesses and remove the panel. Next comes the metal knee brace. It's
held by 4 or 5 bolts and comes right off. After that you will clearly see the black plastic
vent I mentioned earlier and maybe even the connector, in front or above it. If you don't
see the connector, remove the vent conduit as described above and the connector should be visible. Again, connect your pigtail (see below) and put it all back together after checking for voltage.

Now, to take advantage of this connector you'd want to plug something in. To my surprise
there is no corresponding male connector sold by Toyota for the Landcruiser. Fortunately,
it appears that the Tundra/Sequoia connector fits just fine. I bought the one p/n
82132-0C010 from Toyota. (I have seen less expensive pigtails for Toyotas available from aftermarket trailer places but don't know if they will work or not.)

This male connector fits in the female one under the dash and has about a foot of loose
wiring dangling from it. Connect this pigtail to the connector under the dash. Before you
put all the dash back together, btw, you may want to check for voltage on the various
terminals of the connector based on the EWD. Test for voltage supply, ground, and a signal from the brake pedal. There is one wire (for tail lights?) that is not used for the brake controller.

So now your dash is back together and you have 5 wires dangling from underneath above the accelerator (note that the colors on the pigtail are NOT the same as the wiring to the dash connector). Buy a good brake controller (I got the Tekonsha Prodigy, a late generation solid state gizmo that is supposed to be top of their line and perhaps the best out there). The prodigy came with a harness, and instructions on how to connect to the Toyota pigtail by colors. I checked with the EWD and the instructions were correct. Note the controller only uses 4 wires. I connected the wires with quick-disconnect spades crimp-ons. I used 2 different sizes and alternated male and female so there can not be any mistakes when connecting it (I am using this controller in 2 trucks and move it around.) Pay attention to the minimum gauge requirements and be sure there is an appropriate fuse in the circuits (there is one already on the 03 wiring system apparently). I mounted the controller on the lower edge of the lower plastic panel, about even with the accelerator (I checked the inclination and orientation of the controller mount and it was within specs).

Check to make sure all the voltages are as should be, both at the controller and trailer socket in the back.