considering either buying or renting for now a 19-22 travel traveler. not too concerned with the weight as i know the Defender is very capable

my car did not come with the tow package, just tow hitch.

what would i need to get everything settup? i am new to all this

 

If the trailer is more than 1650 lb (750kg) you need to make sure it has trailer brakes. Then you'll need a trailer brake controller.

As long as you're towing on road you should be ok without the towing pack extras.

 

Depending on where you bought the tow package you may need to add the wiring which includes the round 7 connector port, which includes the power line for electrical brakes and the brake controller line.

if you bought fromJLR and the round connector is live you should be fine to just add the brake controller

 

i don’t have a tow package, just the hitch as the option. the rental place for the trailer says all i need is the 7 pin and the 2 inch ball and that’s pretty much it. trailer will have a brake controller and nothing needed

does the defender come with the 4 pin or is that something i need wired in?

 

Go around back, look at the hitch receiver. Is there a small covered connector just to the right of the receiver? That's the trailer electrical connector. It if isn't there... good luck.

 

i have the 7 pin connection!!!!

when i called LR they said i needed tk purchase a module and install for wiring. are they talking about a brake module ?

 

Yes, I had one installed on mine (got lazy) and it's great! I got a Redarc remote brake contoller. Other threads show it installed. Looks OEM.
https://redarcelectronics.com/collections/tow-pro-range

 

Not sure what they would mean. There are many modules...

​​​​The place you are renting the camper from can certainly figure out if the electrics are live, just plug into the connector and step on the brakes. If, as they told you, the trailer has a brake controller, then you're good to go. (However I doubt it...)

The brake controller lets you set the braking force that the trailer will apply when you apply the Rover brakes. The Redarc will do an automatic balance between the braking forces of the truck and the trailer to keep it under control. I guess that the trailer firm could have a fixed brake bias controller, since they know the weight of the vehicle, but YMMV.

Curt makes a brake controller that is iPhone controlled and just hooks in-line between the truck and the trailer. Some people have had success with that. Maybe there is something like that that your rental firm uses.

 

If the design of the Defender follows previous JLR models, there is a wiring harness which runs from underneath the dashboard to one of the rear quarter panels and stops.

When the tow receiver is installed, the installer must run a wiring harness from the 7 pin (and 4 pin -- most receiver installs have both), connector to the factory installed harness at the rear quarter panel.

If you paid JLR to install the tow receiver, they likely(?) would have also installed this harness. The question is whether they did and whether the module to which they refer is that harness or not?

In addition, you will need to crawl under the dash and install the brake controller and connect into the factory installed wiring harness. There are several threads here which cover this step of the topic.

 

I believe the module the dealer is referring to is the box that goes under the rear floor, plugs into the rear wiring harness which I think controls some of the special tow features. I don't think it's required and is different than a brake controller.