Maxcattle

I know that a couple of you have trailer brakes and I was wondering how you set them up with a controller?

Specifically did you use the OEM trailer connector to aid in connection? If this was or was not done how did you connect to ensure that the trailer brakes worked?

I have done several searches and there does not seem to be anything other than a hitch install and mentioning of towing with a braked trailer.

allroad'Ed now

First, surge. the trailer has it's own hydraulic brake system which is actuated by a depressable tongue on the trailer.... basically a version of you depressing your brake pedal. This type of trailer brake requires no additional wiring or hardware on the tow vehicle. Most boat trailers are surge brakes.

Electric- these require an electrical connection from the tow vehicle to the trailer. An adjustable controller is installed in the car which is basically a rheostat to adjust the sensitivity of the trailer brakes which are applied by an electronic servo in each trailer brake drum.

Each has it's own pluses and minuses. Depends on what type of system your trailer has. If it's electric, I've never owned a tow vehicle that didn't require an electric brake controller for electric trailer brakes. Surge are much less involved from an installation stand point but are not cockpit adjustable. But both trigger the same basic brake drum shoes for decelleration.

Maxcattle

I have read all your prior messages stating the advantages of surge but I unfortunatly left out the fact that I have electrical brakes on my enclosed motorcycle trailer (pulled thru every state west of the Mississippi by a Jeep Wrangler 1992 6 cyl auto, elec brakes were enormously helpful).

I am requesting any info on how others have wired their AR's to tow an electrcally braked trailer. ie; electrical connections.

I have not felt the need to hook up the brakes as the AR pulls it very nicely but I have them on the trailer and I might as well use them if I can easily connect them.

allroad'Ed now

for the record, I much prefer electric brakes. I've probably pulled over 50,000 miles with 5,000-10,000 lb trailers behind me. I even converted my most recent boat trailer to electric brakes, though had to remember to unplug trailer wiring before dunking the trailer in the water.

Hopefully one of the others here will offer wiring insight that's allroad specific. But I imagine that you could wire a separate power wire from the controller to the trailer, using a simple plug adjacent to the original trailer wiring plug. You only need a power (energizer) and ground for electric brakes. Many rely on the ball connection for the ground but I prefer a separate wire. Could go to a local Pep Boys/ Autozone etc and just get what they call a "4 pin flat" male-female trailer plug and use two of the pins for the brakes. Or just rewire the entire car to go with the traditional 6 pin round plug that's part of most trucks towing electric brake trailers.

Then the challenge will be to find a nice trim controller to mount discretely in the car. Most are solid state and can be mounted at any angle these days. I like to keep it close at hand so I can use the manual override to brake the trailer separately on a long downhill or to stop a trailer from swaying without having to use the car brakes.

Lots to explore here. Hopefully someone will chime in for you.

Maxcattle

The reason I ask this is I want know if anyone has customized their AR trailer elec plug adapter.

Specifically I know the pin allotments they are somewhat different from the Hitch install manual;

Pin 1 Yellow Left turn (same)
Pin 3 White Ground (same)
Pin 4 Green Right turn (same)
Pin 7 Red Power (different)
Pin 9&11 Brown Tail (different)
Pin 10 Red Brake (different)

What I want to know is if anyone has customized the pigtail for a 6 or 7 plug and if so what was in the 4 plug end of the AR adapter (6 wires go in 4 come out). Does this box adapter end have some sort of circuitry in it? I don't want to rip it apart only to find I need to replace it for $175. If this is the case I should be able to utilize a 4 to 6 adapter and just run an additional wire through the harness by running the blue wire from the brake controller to an unused pin on the hideaway plug.

Any ideas might be useful.

scfan

I think they just used a controller passed through an empty pin, just like you described. I was researching it also when I was looking at pulling a trailer requiring an electric controller...but ended up using a surge brake trailer.

I'll see if I can find the URLs I was looking at. I think they also found a controller or two that was VW electronics "friendly" if I remember correctly. A number of them had controllers they recommended and those to avoid while integrating it with the Touareg.

Good luck!

scfan

<ul><li><a href="http://www.erich-jaeger.com/">Erich Jaeger</a></li></ul>

jb3pin

I don't have any experience with trailer brakes; however I did modify the OEM pigtail to charge my tent trailer battery while towing. I first consulted the Audi dealer who thought I could remove the gray rectangular box, aka the power converter. Upon consulting the staff at Jerry's RV in Bend, OR (541) 382-2372 they explained to me that the power converter was very important and intrinsic to the functionality of the electrical connection to the trailer. Sage input...

Prior to towing with the Audi I used a 7-pin Pollack or RV type connector on the vehicle side. The staff at Jerry's advised me to pull the 7-pin connector from the trailer pigtail and splice in a flat four and a two way. The flat four would connect the typical running lights, brakes and signals. And the two way would be used to charge the battery. I then pulled the sleeve off (on the vehicle side) of the Audi OEM pigtail and spliced in the wires for the two way. As these two new wires exited the black sleeve I ran a piece of shrink tubing over the two wires. The result basically appears as a normal OEM pigtail with a sheathed two way coming out through the same hole as the wires for the four way into to power converter.

I'm certainly not the definitive expert, but I did exactly what I was advised to do and my battery appears to be charging. I also don't know how this may apply to your situation; however if you would like me to provide some pics and any additional details I can I'd be happy to..

Cheers

Maxcattle

This is simmilar to what I had in mind thinking that the power converter shouldn't be messed with.

I think I will do a similar pigtail to yours only apply it to a 6 plug connecter.

Thanks for the info.

Maxcattle

Any and all info would be appreciated.