Vehicle Wiring Needed to Pull Trailer with 7-Way and Hydraulic Brakes

Question:

I am trailering a bass boat this year with a 7 pole trailer connection and hydraulic breaks. I was told I need an etbc7 kit to go from my 4 pole to a 7 pole on my truck bumper. My question is do I have to have a break controller to have this kit work? I dont want a break controller, I just want to put the kit on and have my lights and the hydraulic breaks function properly without a controller.

asked by: Lenny

Expert Reply:

If your trailer is equipped with standard hydraulic brake assemblies and it has a mechanical surge actuator coupler like # DM72VR, then a trailer brake controller is not needed. The inertia of the trailer moving forward provides the compression to push hydraulic fluid to the brakes.

Then, to convert the tow vehicle's existing 4-Way to the needed 7-Way to connect to the trailer, you actually do not need the fully # ETBC7 Wiring Kit, unless you are needing 12V power at the connector. If you are just needing to activate the trailer's signal lights, then you can simply use an adapter like the Tow Ready # 30717 or the Hopkins # 37185.

The 4-Way on this adapter will plug right into your existing 4-Way and provide the vehicle with a 7-Way to match your trailer. For the additional wires coming from the harness, the white is for ground and will be connected to the vehicle frame, and the yellow wire is typically connected to a reverse light circuit on the vehicle when towing a trailer with hydraulic brakes. If your trailer has an electric reverse lockout, the reverse light circuit will operate that solenoid to allow you to back the trailer up without the brakes engaging. The black wire is for 12V power only if needed and the blue wire is for a brake controller, which you don't need. These wires can just be tied off.

I have attached the installation instructions that you can also take a look at. If your trailer happens to have electric-over-hydraulic brakes, please let me know and I will make some alternative recommendations.