Adding a 7-Way Trailer Connector and Brake Controller to a 2008 Land Rover LR2

Question:

Im curious about what mods to make to my 08 Land Rover LR2 to get an electric brake hookup to work. Our LR2 came with a 4 prong wiring harness and we have been told that to hook up a 7 prong requires splicing and that the splicing will set off codes on the vehicle computer and freeze the vehicle. Our dealership says its impossible to install an adapter to change the 4 prong to a 7 prong. If you found an adapter that works, what brand is it? What kind of electric brake controller do you recommend? We are looking for advice to pull an r pod 171 with our 2008 LR2. Any you can offer would be great :

asked by: Gigi

Expert Reply:

Since you already have a 4-Way trailer connector on your 2008 Land Rover LR2, you will need installation kit # ETBC7 and a brake controller. You may not have to do any splicing. On the ETBC7, the 4-Way you have plugs into the mating 4-Way on the ETBC7 adapter.

The white wire grounds to the vehicle frame. The purple wire is for reverse lights and would be the only rear wire that would potentially have to be spliced into the vehicle wiring. But if the trailer does not have reverse lights (most don't nor are they required on trailers) you do not have to hook it up.

The black wire connects to the vehicle battery positive terminal via an included 40 amp circuit breaker so it is not spliced into any other wire on the vehicle. And at the rear that leaves the blue wire which attaches to a brake controller and not the vehicle.

The only other connection to the vehicle would be from the brake controller red wire. The red wire is supposed to get connected to a brake switch wire that only has power when the brake pedal is pressed. It is possible on a vehicle that is sensitive enough that it could throw an error code on the dash. But I have not heard of one that completely shut down the vehicle.

So if you cannot or don't want to tap into the brake switch for fear of something going wrong with the vehicle there is another option. You would still use ETBC7 to add a 7-Way but you would only hook up the 4-Way, black and white wires. The purple and blue wires will not be used with the brake controller I have in mind.

Then for a brake controller you can use the Prodigy RF # TK94FR. This is a trailer mounted brake controller that communicates with a handheld unit that you will have in the cab of the vehicle. This is the sure way to avoid any problems with the vehicle wiring. I have linked a video showing an example installation for you.