installing trailer brakes/controller on tundra?

[wyzzard]

i'm picking up a utility trailer tomorrow, figure i should get some brakes as i'm hauling over a ton...has anybody installed electric brakes on a trailer and a brake controller on the tundra? i'm wondering how hard this is. i am mechanically-inclined but i don't know jack about trailers and brakes...is it pretty straightforward and about how much time is involved?

dealer wants around $250 for labor - but if i can get this done in under a couple of hours, i'll do it myself...

[bilztrd]

Brake controllers for the truck ... easy under an hour. Plug & play with the correct harness. Search for details

Trailer brakes....Depends on the trailer. I would probably leave that to a trailer shop.
Depends on the axles etc.

[TundraBay]

Many trailers come with electric brakes. It might be cheaper if you're buying to get it with brakes already on than to pay shop time to have them installed. Could be a big job to to that yourself, involving new axles, wheels, etc.

If the trailer you get already has electric brakes, you only need the controller. I got Tekonsha Prodigy. Some people bought the Tekonsha P3 but you only need that if your trailer has electrically actuated hydraulic brakes, and very few do. The install was very simple. I soldered the wires from the Tundra harness to the appropriate wires on the brake controller -- took 15 minutes for that. Then I removed the kick plate on the driver's side - - two minutes. Plugged it together -- 10 seconds. Put the plate back on -- couldn't get the little white plastic slidy things to work (20 minutes of farting around), came into the house, did a search on TS, found the answer (remove the plastic things from truck, slide onto cover, re-insert into truck: 30 more seconds, screwed the brake controller above the gas pedal and above my right knee -- 5 minutes, used tie wraps --4 more minutes, and it all works!

[martino4]

What TundraBay said. If you buy also this RVWholesalers.com , Brake Controllers , Wiring Harnesses , Toyota Brake Control Wiring Harness for Prodigy Brake Control - 3040
you don't have to worry about soldering. Just plug and play.
Here is where i put mine.

[asianflava]

What bil said, controller install is easy in this truck, took me under an hour. The trailer brakes should be left to a trailer shop. Some axles can be retrofitted with brakes some can't.

If you are mechanically inclined, you can probably order a new axle from Dexter and install it yourself. That may be what the shop planned on doing anyway.

[cwit]

I have found the cheapest place for axle parts to be Northern tool.

[mdlab]

Prodigy is the way to go with plug/play wiring harness for Toyota. I have a knack for screwing up the easy jobs, but even I did this in less than 30 minutes on my '06 Tundra. Do not pay a dealer for install, you can do this!