I don't want to beat a dead horse but... A 7-pin harness question

[pixleys]

I have a 2011 Highlander Base coming tomorrow. I have been towing a Roo 19' with a Pilot for years. The Pilot had to be wired direct from the battery back for the brakes as the internal wiring only allowed for a 4-pin connector to the trailer. I have seen many posts about the stock 4-pin connectors that come in the "tow pkg" but haven't seen this question answered yet. Supposedly when you get a 2011 with the factory tow package (not just the tow prep or the dealer installed 4-pin system) there is a little wiring harness loose in the glove compartment. I have been told by the dealer that this harness is to connect under the dash and goes to a brake controller. If there really are provisions for a brake controller than a 7-pin harness must be at the back. I want to buy the factory 7-pin harness for the rear instead of having the camper place make up something like in the Pilot. Soooo.. does anyone have a 2011 with factory towing provisions "from the factory"? Photos anyone?

Any advise is much appreciated, Thanks,
Jim

[JMSinMD]

Originally Posted by pixleys

I have a 2011 Highlander Base coming tomorrow. I have been towing a Roo 19' with a Pilot for years. The Pilot had to be wired direct from the battery back for the brakes as the internal wiring only allowed for a 4-pin connector to the trailer. I have seen many posts about the stock 4-pin connectors that come in the "tow pkg" but haven't seen this question answered yet. Supposedly when you get a 2011 with the factory tow package (not just the tow prep or the dealer installed 4-pin system) there is a little wiring harness loose in the glove compartment. I have been told by the dealer that this harness is to connect under the dash and goes to a brake controller. If there really are provisions for a brake controller than a 7-pin harness must be at the back. I want to buy the factory 7-pin harness for the rear instead of having the camper place make up something like in the Pilot. Soooo.. does anyone have a 2011 with factory towing provisions "from the factory"? Photos anyone?

Any advise is much appreciated, Thanks,
Jim

I had my factory 4 pin converted to a 7 pin for the purpose of my rear back up light system. I went to a place called Cap World which is up and down the East Coast.

http://www.capworld.com/StoreLocatio...Hampshire.html

[dennydp]

There is no wiring harness in the glovebox on the highlander.There was in my sons Tacoma but it is wired differently.The easiest thing to do if your doing it yourself is to buy and install the factory 4 pin harness(easy install) then look under modifications in this forum and install the 7 pin wiring.

[pixleys]

I have spent hours looking into this in addition to your information and Toyota actually does make a vehicle rated to tow 5000# without the provisions to use electric trailer brakes. I will probably go to Camping World in Chichester, NH. They sell a million campers and have a very well outfitted shop. They are getting me a price. Thanks again.

[Dman1]

Originally Posted by pixleys

I have spent hours looking into this in addition to your information and Toyota actually does make a vehicle rated to tow 5000# without the provisions to use electric trailer brakes. I will probably go to Camping World in Chichester, NH. They sell a million campers and have a very well outfitted shop. They are getting me a price. Thanks again.

Yes, there are quite a few headscratchers with this vehicle. Not only is this vehicle rated to tow 5000lbs, but Toyota does not recommend using a weight distribution hitch with this vehicle, mainly because of the unibody construction. So I guess they are recommending that you tow a 5000 lb trailer without a weight distribution hitch. Suicide wish, anybody?

I am also towing a Roo 19. to the forum.

[pixleys]

NO WD hitch!!! are you serious. Is this actually in writing in the manual??? I'm picking this thing up tomorrow specifically for towing and I will be using a WD hitch. Any info appreciated soonest, Thanks.

[pixleys]

I have found several posts on this forum that discuss WD hitch use and I truely believe that the one rep at Toyota that stated the Highlander should not use a WD hitch due to its unibody construction is just plain wrong. Those others at Toyota that responded that it is just fine know what they are saying. I towed 1 19' Rockwood Roo with a 2005 Honda Pilot (unibody) with a WD setup and had absolutely no issues. After trying to tow the same unit without a WD setup I would never run without one again.

[newsrv]

Originally Posted by pixleys

NO WD hitch!!! are you serious. Is this actually in writing in the manual??? I'm picking this thing up tomorrow specifically for towing and I will be using a WD hitch. Any info appreciated soonest, Thanks.

I tow a 19' Escape travel trailer with a WDH and have NO problems at all. As with the Pilot, the Highlander handles the WDH with ease.

[pixleys]

Thanks for everyone's input. I am heading out the door in 10 minutes to go get our HL. Now that I think of it back when I first got the Pilot the camper dealer said I would be nuts not to use WD system. Honda corp. (and dealer) gave me several vague answers about the situation without answering me. I went through the boards and found similar yes/no feedback from all over the place. In the end this type of SUV is softly sprung and towing anything of any size dictates using the WD setup...period. Anything else just isn't safe.

Happy Camping All...

[Dman1]

Originally Posted by pixleys

Thanks for everyone's input. I am heading out the door in 10 minutes to go get our HL. Now that I think of it back when I first got the Pilot the camper dealer said I would be nuts not to use WD system. Honda corp. (and dealer) gave me several vague answers about the situation without answering me. I went through the boards and found similar yes/no feedback from all over the place. In the end this type of SUV is softly sprung and towing anything of any size dictates using the WD setup...period. Anything else just isn't safe.

Happy Camping All...

Totally agree with everything you are saying. I would never even thinking of towing my Roo without my WDH. This info is coming from Toyota corporate, when we contacted them for clarification (I emailed Toyota Canada and another member contacted Toyota USA...I was told that it is not recommended because of the unibody construction, where the Toyota USA response said using a WDH would be fine. When the Toyota USA rep was forwarded the response I got from Toyota Canada, he changed his answer to "no"). They are just covering their ass.

[pixleys]

I may be wrong but sway control is not something that can be achieved on its own. Sway control is a built in feature of some WDH systems and can be added to others.

In the online US Highlander manual it states on page #237 under driving information...

"If the gross trailer weight is over 2000# (900 kg) it is necessary to use a sway control device with sufficient capacity"

And that's all she wrote...a WDH is good to go.

and as a bonus on page #242...

"The vehicle must remain level when a loaded or unloaded trailer is hitched. Do not drive if the vehicle is not level"

Since the manual never refers to how to accomplish this gravity defying trick and you can't have #500 on the ball and have anything even close to a level Highlander then a WDH IS THEREFORE REQUIRED...period.

Thoughts?????

[Dman1]

Originally Posted by pixleys

I may be wrong but sway control is not something that can be achieved on its own. Sway control is a built in feature of some WDH systems and can be added to others.

In the online US Highlander manual it states on page #237 under driving information...

"If the gross trailer weight is over 2000# (900 kg) it is necessary to use a sway control device with sufficient capacity"

And that's all she wrote...a WDH is good to go.

and as a bonus on page #242...

"The vehicle must remain level when a loaded or unloaded trailer is hitched. Do not drive if the vehicle is not level"

Since the manual never refers to how to accomplish this gravity defying trick and you can't have #500 on the ball and have anything even close to a level Highlander then a WDH IS THEREFORE REQUIRED...period.

Thoughts?????

I am not disagreeing with most of your statements, but in reference to sway control without a WDH, this little rig will achieve that, I believe:

http://www.rvadenver.com/sway_control_bars.htm

I don't know much about them, and don't know anyone who has used one before.

Good point on the HL being level with the trailer attached. My 2000lb tent trailer, with a roughly 200lb tongue weight, only dropped my back end by an inch or so with no WDH...essentially level. In order to keep a tongue weight of around 200lbs on a 5000lb trailer, the tongue weight would need to be around 4%...yet another suicide mission, if it were even possible. Yikes.

[pixleys]

All good points on the sway control. I also wouldn't use a WDH for a 2000# trailer and haven't when towing a TT with a Honda CRV. But this thing is rated to 500# on the hitch which should produce 4"-5" of sag...way off level...and dangerous.

Safe towing all...