I have a 2022 Defender HSE P400 with the advanced towing package. I am thinking of getting a 5000 lb trailer camper. Do I need to get an electric brake controller or does the advanced towing package include that? I have the harness by the tow hitch but my instruction manual is saying that I need to get a separate brake controller. It’s a bit confusing.
any help and insight would be much appreciated!

 

The harness just is the wiring. It's got no brains. You need something to control the brakes in the trailer when you use the brakes in the tow vehicle, This can be wired into the cab or you can get an app and an inline adapter. The latter has no drilling or modding or wiring of the vehicle. Plug and play with a smartphone.

If I had a trailer and planned on keeping the Defender for a few years I'd go the former route.

As I plan on just towing infrequently I went the latter route and got this.



It's less than ideal given the position of the wiring harness in the defender but will do the job. Not used it yet. The advanced tow assist does not have any brake control features. It gives you the fun steering feature in addition to the standard towing camera stuff. You can see that here

http://www.facebook.com/groups/68627...3851579426060/

 

Absolutely get a brake controller. The vehicle tow rating is with a controller. It does not come with the advanced tow package. It is pre wired for a brake controller under the dash. You just purchase one that you like and get the ford/LR harness. Then just find a place to mount it. Here is where i put mine.

 

You will need these two items, available on Amazon, and a bit of dexterity to mount it under the dash .....




Enjoy!

 

@GavinC - You are my "Hero of the Day"! Wireless....Who'd have thunk?! Brilliant.

 

No worries. I'll tow so rarely I figured it didn't make sense to hard wire one. Although seeing how much cheaper the parts perhaps it may not have been all that clever.

 

I'd be suspicious of the Curt wireless unit. The trailer brakes need a lot of current, which is not necessarily supplied to the 7-pin trailer socket. When you connect a controller to the harness (above the driver's feet), you feed the "brake" wire (which is heavy duty) from an appropriate supply and this goes all the way to your brakes. See also https://landroverforums.com/forum/20...roller-101917/. I copied this and it works really well.

 

i have used the Curt on a 3.5k pd trailer and it was perfect. No issues and did its job. Just a heads up, you lose access to your phone because the emergency button covers the screen. Best to put the phone in Do Not Distrub. You still can run everything through the Privi Pro

 

Redarc make a plug and play brake controller that works great. You can easily mount the **** on the left hand side where it looks completely factory