Trailer Brake Questions

RodsTitan · 08-14-2004, 05:06 PM

Ok I have the Nissan Hitch that I installed this weekend, which was a quick 20 minutes. When going through the installation instructions it said not to connect the trailer brake jumper under the dash if you do not have the brake harness. Why is that and where does the trailer brake harness connect? I have never towed a trailer that had a trailer brake, but if I ever do I would like to be educated about it. I though the 7 pin connect controlled the trailer brake. Could someone please explain this to me? Thanks

Zardoz · 08-16-2004, 12:57 PM

You need a brake controller which hooks up to a Nissan supplied cable which connects
to the Dash. Most trailer brakes are electric. Putting it simply the brake controller supplies electricity to a wire in the seven pin which engages the trailers brakes. The
trailer brakes have nothing to do with your tow vehicle brakes other than using the
brake light engaging to trigger the brake controller. If you are going to tow do not get
the cheapest brake controller or you will spend all your time adjusting it. You get what
you pay for in a brake controller.

Zardoz

adjmcloon · 08-16-2004, 01:13 PM

I've got the Tekonsha (sp?) Prodigy. Really nice..better than any others I've owned. It uses centrifugal force to constantly adjust the braking for my trailer. It's kinda pricey, but it was a snap to put in and was worth every penny.

Zardoz · 08-16-2004, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adjmcloon

I've got the Tekonsha (sp?) Prodigy. Really nice..better than any others I've owned. It uses centrifugal force to constantly adjust the braking for my trailer. It's kinda pricey, but it was a snap to put in and was worth every penny.

I agree I bought a cheap Reese and hated it. I set my new Prodigy once and
I have not touched it since.

Zardoz

RodsTitan · 08-16-2004, 01:44 PM

Thanks for the info

Tom-ADC · 08-17-2004, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardoz

I agree I bought a cheap Reese and hated it. I set my new Prodigy once and
I have not touched it since.

Zardoz

When I bought my trailer part of the package was to install a tow package, I up graded the trailer brake to a Prodigy 90185, I've never owned one before and this one is very easy to adjust and use, plus if the trailer starts to sway bad a touch of the manual lever applies the brakes and stops the sway. Not cheap but worth the piece of mind.

TuffTitan · 08-18-2004, 01:52 AM

RodsTitan-

Although most trailers do use electrical controlers for their brakes, there are a lot that use "surge brake" technology. You will find these typically on cargo trailers and also equipment trailers. They do not require an electronic control device. Instead of getting an electronic signal to activate, they work using the forces applied by the truck. If you don't already have a trailer, you may want to inquire which type of brakes it has. This could prevent you from buying a controller if your trailer comes with a surge system.

LynchTR · 08-18-2004, 07:06 AM

Have you heard of anyone else putting a gooseneck trailer hitch in their Titan. I have an appointment for Sept 3 to have one installed. They needed extra time to study the framework on the truck since they have never installed one in a Titan. I was wondering if anyone else has had one installed and if everything worked out OK?

Zardoz · 08-18-2004, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TuffTitan

RodsTitan-

Although most trailers do use electrical controlers for their brakes, there are a lot that use "surge brake" technology. You will find these typically on cargo trailers and also equipment trailers. They do not require an electronic control device. Instead of getting an electronic signal to activate, they work using the forces applied by the truck. If you don't already have a trailer, you may want to inquire which type of brakes it has. This could prevent you from buying a controller if your trailer comes with a surge system.

Surge brakes have there place but if you are going down a steep mountain
road and the trailer starts to sway you need to manually activate the trailer
brakes to stop the sway. Surge brakes as far as I know can't do this. Using
your tow vehicle brakes in this situation might make it worse as surge brakes
have a little bit of delay and this delay could increase the sway in certain
situations. Probably this is not a problem in the flat lands but I have seen
more than one trailer tip over going down long mountain passes. A little
tap on the manual brake funtion on the controller will settle the trailer down.
I know it is rare but it does happen. By the way if you don't have brakes
on your trailer and it starts to sway going down a long hill the correct procedure is to accelerate slightly which is not a good option if you are
trying to keep your speed down.

Zardoz

dwtitanxe · 08-20-2004, 05:08 PM

Any idea where the dash connector for the electric brake controller harness is located. I have searched under/behind the dash and can't find it. I plan on getting the Prodigy controller.

dwtitanxe

IMADOGMAN · 08-20-2004, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LynchTR

Have you heard of anyone else putting a gooseneck trailer hitch in their Titan. I have an appointment for Sept 3 to have one installed. They needed extra time to study the framework on the truck since they have never installed one in a Titan. I was wondering if anyone else has had one installed and if everything worked out OK?

Lynch, Type "5th Wheel" into the search box...you will find lots of posts...

NDJollyMon · 08-20-2004, 07:12 PM

DW...
Push in the emergency brake, lay on your back and look WAY UP into the dash. The wires are taped up there. It's a plastic fitting (mines white) and it was taped to some other wires. The pigtail should be in the glovebox.

Campfamily · 08-20-2004, 10:10 PM

The pigtail will only be in the glovebox if you ordered your truck with the Big Tow package. SInce you had to install the trailer hitch, I imagine you will have to get the pigtail from the dealer.

BTW, typically surge brakes are typically found on flat beds, car hauling trailers, utility trailers, and boat trailers. Electric brakes are usually installed on camping trailers.

Keith

Tom-ADC · 08-21-2004, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwtitanxe

Any idea where the dash connector for the electric brake controller harness is located. I have searched under/behind the dash and can't find it. I plan on getting the Prodigy controller.

dwtitanxe

Mine was pretty easy to find just above the E brake, towards the dash, it even had a white tag on it saying what it was for.

dwtitanxe · 08-21-2004, 01:47 PM

Thanks for the help. I have an XE Titan, so the big tow package was not an option (boy do I want to talk to Nissan about that...). I bought the brake controller pig-tail and the 7 pin trailer connector from Nissan (plugs right in to connector laying in the bumper...that I like...). Back to crawling under the dash...still can't find a connector that matches the pigtail connector. I'm starting to wonder if it exists on the XE model. The 7 pin trailer connector has the E'brake wire, and the truck is rated for 6500 lbs, so that seems far-fetched but...hmmm

dwTitanXE