Today, I spent the day doing some stereo upgrades to my truck.

Need 12VDC and don't plan on needing trailer brakes? Toyota provides
a stout, unswitched 12V feed at the trailer brake connector. Details
and pinouts are in the manual and the paper in the trailer brake
connector package that's included with the truck. The connector is
the thing you didn't know what to do with in the glove box. <G>

This feed could be useful for stereo gear, ham radios, and extra
inverter, etc...

"Bonehenge (B A R R Y)" <DwightSchrute (AT) DunderMifflin (DOT) com> wrote

Trailer brake connectors don't have enough current carrying capability, and
are not a good battery(-) and/or frame ground. I couldn't use the trailer
brake harness anyway as I do tow from time to time.
I am also a HAM radio operator and I run a total of 250 watts in transmitter
output power, and looking at adding another 50 watt transciever, and a 1,000
inverter to power my laptop and terminal node controller, and most anything
else I decide to plug into it.
Here is a link to a pic of the current setup.
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/noon_air...69951925/0Yeah, I know its a Tundra, not a Taco. However, I am not worried about ashortage of electrical power with that stock 850 cranking amp battery in it.:-)The power cables(#4 stranded wire) come directly from the battery with a 60amp fuse and fuse holder all of 12 inches from the battery(just in case),the terminal blocks, in-line fuseholder, and wire were obtained from thelocal Circuit City store in the car audio section. The power cables from thefuse holder to where the cables come into the cab are encased in "smurfpipe" (blue flexible electrical conduit)

Noon-Air wrote:
This one is good for at least 20 amps. While it might not power your
rolling version of WOR, it's fine for my Kenwood subwoofer which
includes a 15 amp inline fuse.

I didn't use the brake connector ground. There are many excellent and
easy to find frame grounds on the truck. I used one in the center
console, which is where the factory 120v inverter is grounded. With the
plastic center console and armrest removed, I counted at least three
easily accessible genuine grounding points.

I tow too, but ~3000 pounds, without brakes. I didn't modify the
functionality of the connector, nor did I use the included connector
harness. I figure if I ever want to install trailer brakes, I can shut
off the subwoofer and still power the brakes.

On Mon, 23 Apr 2007 07:32:25 -0400, B A R R Y <beech23pilot (AT) yahoo (DOT) com>
wrote:


You have a Tacoma 4.0 right? Tows 3K fairly easily? Ever go over
that? I'm going to be towing just under 4K with mine on an occasional
basis, wondering how it will do. Rates at 6.5K with gross combined of
11.1K but I'm not sure I trust the ratings.

In my state, anything over 2K required to have brakes, however, nobody
enforces it. Most don't even know it.

Frank

Frank Boettcher wrote:
Like it's not even there. It stops it well, too. 3K is my max, the
"typical" load for me is ~ 2300.

I'd think it would be fine. Be aware that I live in "rolling" terrain,
nothing that could be considered mountains. I occasionally head up into
the White and Green mountains of upper New England, but I haven't been
there with this setup yet.

I don't even know our brake law. <G> I bought my cargo trailer new,
from a large trailer dealer, and would have thought the salesman would
have jumped at the opportunity to sell me more gear, but brakes were
never mentioned.

On Mon, 23 Apr 2007 12:32:51 GMT, B A R R Y <beech23pilot (AT) yahoo (DOT) com>
wrote:



http://www.roadkingtrailers.com/brakelaws.htm

Sir F. A. Rien wrote:
4 Pin, it has no brakes. Brakes are offered as an option for those with
smaller tow vehicles. My trailer is a Haulmark.


It's legal, my state requires brakes @ 3000.

My trailer is registered for 2980. I've weighed in on the local dump
scale @ 3100 with remodeling debris. My usual load is ~2300 when I
leave town.

On Mon, 23 Apr 2007 08:31:54 -0700, Sir F. A. Rien
<jaSPAMc (AT) gbr (DOT) online.com> wrote:



And of course, that's not true.

On Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:43:45 -0700, Sir F. A. Rien
<jaSPAMc (AT) gbr (DOT) online.com> wrote:


Hey thanks, I'm new to this group having just bought my truck
recently. It usually takes much longer to ferret out the resident
trolls and place them in the killfile.

On Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:43:45 -0700, Sir F. A. Rien wrote:
This is most likely true - Some states (Texas and Oklahoma among
them, IIRC) have requirements that all new trucks sold have a rear
bumper, even if the manufacturer didn't put one on at the factory.
And when they order lots of bumpers to put on the trucks, the dealers
order them with the dealership name stamped into the steel for
hard-to-remove advertising...

("Honey, pass me the can of body filler and the catalyst...")

Hmmm... What did they have to add?

--<< Bruce >>--