NA Trailer Brake Controller Install

[avidtest]

My dealer sales rep has confirmed, even if you ordered the tow package "You will need to install a 3rd party trailer brake controller".

 

[Mudnut]

Just finished installing and testing a trailer brake controller on our NA Grenadier.

Went with the Redarc EBRH-ACCV3-NA Tow-Pro Elite Electric Brake Controller; as suggested by Mark @ Redarc. This is the same unit we had on our Defender.

I also needed to order a longer remote wire to move the remote head to the front dash area for mounting. The extension hasn’t arrived yet, so for now the remote is strung to sit between the drivers seat and the center console: RHWK-004 13ft Tow-Pro Elite Remote Head Wiring Kit.

On to the wiring…..

1. Under the back seat, on the passenger side, you will find 4 random wires for the brake controller.

View attachment 7848403

Yellow/Red wire = 12v Constant - (REDARC Black Wire)

Black wire = Ground - (REDARC White Wire)

Grey Wire 12AWG = Control (REDARC Blue Wire)

Violet/Orange 14AWG Wire = Signal (REDARC Red Wire)

I simply zip tied the head unit to the bracket under the seat. (Although, now I realize I’ll have to move it when I install the air compressor.

View attachment 7848404

Then we went out for a test cruise around town, and the freeway. The Airsteam is 23’ and right about 6000 lbs, and we have a Pro Pride 3 weight distribution hitch. Everything seems to be working well. My initial impression is the Grenadier feels more planted than our 2020 Defender did, but it was simple flat towing around town. I am looking forward to our 1st official trip with this setup, and see how it does climbing some mountains/hills.

View attachment 7848405

Just curious about the wiring. Are there still wires in that area to power the compressor in that space once you fit it. Have seen wires that are switched in that area on the forum for this. Not a big deal, as the batteries are there, but just wondering.

 

[ScottnAZ]

Just curious about the wiring. Are there still wires in that area to power the compressor in that space once you fit it. Have seen wires that are switched in that area on the forum for this. Not a big deal, as the batteries are there, but just wondering.

I did not see any additional wiring; available for a compressor. I remember reading about possible compressor wires, but am unsure if it is a model year change or ROW vs. NA thing, or what….

 

[AZGrenadier]

The Agile Offroad comes with its own harness. It doesn’t use any of the existing pre wiring in the truck, just the distribution panel and a fuse to operate the relay.

 

[SUBVET735705769]

Any update on the mountain/hill performance?. Will be towing similar spec'd trailer with my Grenadier.
24' Nucamp Avia, <6k#

 

[nuclearbeef]

I've never had a trailer with electric brakes. What does the brake controller do, exactly.

Ive towed a triple axle trailer with a HEAVY boat quite a bit. Approaching 20k lbs. The empty trailer alone weighs 4,000 lbs.
That trailer has surge brakes on all 3 axles.
Except for reversing uphill or across soft ground, the brakes worked marvelously!

 

[[ Adam ]]

I've never had a trailer with electric brakes. What does the brake controller do, exactly.

Ive towed a triple axle trailer with a HEAVY boat quite a bit. Approaching 20k lbs. The empty trailer alone weighs 4,000 lbs.
That trailer has surge brakes on all 3 axles.
Except for reversing uphill or across soft ground, the brakes worked marvelously!

View: https://youtu.be/II3MTMYpfzA?si=igP9e4O3vd80CQMn

View: https://youtu.be/y6SegtYgXs4?si=dibACQDs1lb3QL1w

 

[ScottnAZ]

Any update on the mountain/hill performance?. Will be towing similar spec'd trailer with my Grenadier.
24' Nucamp Avia, <6k#

The brake controller worked flawlessly, but not a lot to report otherwise. We made a quick trip from Phoenix to Palm Springs for a long weekend.

Max elevation: 1719 ft / 524 m
Min elevation: -31 ft / -9 m
Elevation change: 1750 ft / 533 m
Max grade: 8.8%
Min grade: -7.1%
Distance: 268.43 mi / 431.99 km

Elevation Profile:

We ran right around 9 mpg during the legs of towing. It went okay….. perfect, no……. will we do it again and again, yes! At some points it felt solid and planted, and some times it felt like I was white-knuckling it as the trailer seemed to make it feel like it was the Wagon swaying around and not the trailer. This mostly seemed to happen on rough/deteriorated sections of the highway much more so than on the sections nicely paved. I wonder how much the slight bit of play in the steering created this feeling. For the trek home, I adjusted the tension on the weight distribution bars to take some of the weight off the Grenadier, and that seemed to be a bit better. But, we were also coming home on a Sunday, so far fewer semi’s to deal with on the road. (I-10 between PHX and LAS is a heavy trucking route)

I have never once, ever, felt any sort of sway while using the Pro Pride with my Rivian R1T or our previous new defender 110, so it was a little strange to feel like the trailer was pushing around the Gren. We’ll keep working to get it dialed in though.

We certainly did enjoy our time out exploring in the “Station Wagon” though!

 

[Driver8]

The brake controller worked flawlessly, but not a lot to report otherwise. We made a quick trip from Phoenix to Palm Springs for a long weekend.

Max elevation: 1719 ft / 524 m
Min elevation: -31 ft / -9 m
Elevation change: 1750 ft / 533 m
Max grade: 8.8%
Min grade: -7.1%
Distance: 268.43 mi / 431.99 km

Elevation Profile:
View attachment 7849860

We ran right around 9 mpg during the legs of towing. It went okay….. perfect, no……. will we do it again and again, yes! At some points it felt solid and planted, and some times it felt like I was white-knuckling it as the trailer seemed to make it feel like it was the Wagon swaying around and not the trailer. This mostly seemed to happen on rough/deteriorated sections of the highway much more so than on the sections nicely paved. I wonder how much the slight bit of play in the steering created this feeling. For the trek home, I adjusted the tension on the weight distribution bars to take some of the weight off the Grenadier, and that seemed to be a bit better. But, we were also coming home on a Sunday, so far fewer semi’s to deal with on the road. (I-10 between PHX and LAS is a heavy trucking route)

I have never once, ever, felt any sort of sway while using the Pro Pride with my Rivian R1T or our previous new defender 110, so it was a little strange to feel like the trailer was pushing around the Gren. We’ll keep working to get it dialed in though.

We certainly did enjoy our time out exploring in the “Station Wagon” though!
View attachment 7849867

Any issue opening the larger rear door with the AS hooked up? Just wondering if there is enough clearance to open the large door without it running into the electric tongue jack. Or, there is no clearance and the smaller door will be the only option for getting into the back of the Gren.

 

[ScottnAZ]

Any issue opening the larger rear door with the AS hooked up? Just wondering if there is enough clearance to open the large door without it running into the electric tongue jack. Or, there is no clearance and the smaller door will be the only option for getting into the back of the Gren.

I’m using a Pro Pride setup, so it pushes the trailer just about 1 additional foot away from the Grenadier. If the setup is parked completely straight; the large back door will just barely clear. Any sort of angle, and it will not. So strategic packing if there’s anything I think I’ll need to access while the trailer is hitched up.

The additional foot of the Pro Pride setup also creates the necessary clearance to clear the spare tire when turning. (Seems like a hitch extender will be needed with a traditional setup vs the PP)

 

[Driver8]

I’m using a Pro Pride setup, so it pushes the trailer just about 1 additional foot away from the Grenadier. If the setup is parked completely straight; the large back door will just barely clear. Any sort of angle, and it will not. So strategic packing if there’s anything I think I’ll need to access while the trailer is hitched up.

The additional foot of the Pro Pride setup also creates the necessary clearance to clear the spare tire when turning. (Seems like a hitch extender will be needed with a traditional setup vs the PP)

Very helpful, thank you!

 

[nodric]

@ScottnAZ I just came to install my REDARC and I ordered the extension cable for the small control knob that I intend to install somewhere convenient up front, but doing some initial poking around suggest the run from under the back seat to the front dash is a bit of a challenge. Wondered if you'd sorted that and how you achieved it? Cheers

 

[ScottnAZ]

@ScottnAZ I just came to install my REDARC and I ordered the extension cable for the small control knob that I intend to install somewhere convenient up front, but doing some initial poking around suggest the run from under the back seat to the front dash is a bit of a challenge. Wondered if you'd sorted that and how you achieved it? Cheers

I have not, but…. we have a towing trip coming up next weekend, so It’s on my list to sort out tomorrow.

I’d like to try for a straight shot from under back seat, to under the console, and continue to the lower dash area somewhere. However, I did poke around that area last weekend and it definitely won’t be straight forward and will require some finesse and patience, and likely more disassembly of the car than my backup option will.

My backup is to run it along the drivers side sill, by removing the sill plastic trim. This is the route I took for the Wolfbox wiring.

 

[nodric]

I have not, but…. we have a towing trip coming up next weekend, so It’s on my list to sort out tomorrow.

I’d like to try for a straight shot from under back seat, to under the console, and continue to the lower dash area somewhere. However, I did poke around that area last weekend and it definitely won’t be straight forward and will require some finesse and patience, and likely more disassembly of the car than my backup option will.

My backup is to run it along the drivers side sill, by removing the sill plastic trim. This is the route I took for the Wolfbox wiring.

Yes, I did some poking around today and shining some lights under the center tunnel, but it looks almost impassable to get under it following stock wiring and the handbrake cable. I think it would involve lifting the cushioned flooring a bit, and finagling some form of fish tape (long bit of stiff wire) to pull it through, and then the clearances look really tight. Maybe your route along the sills is probably the most sensible. I look forward to the photos before I start ripping mine apart

 

[ScottnAZ]

Yes, I did some poking around today and shining some lights under the center tunnel, but it looks almost impassable to get under it following stock wiring and the handbrake cable. I think it would involve lifting the cushioned flooring a bit, and finagling some form of fish tape (long bit of stiff wire) to pull it through, and then the clearances look really tight. Maybe your route along the sills is probably the most sensible. I look forward to the photos before I start ripping my apart

I figured the same when I was poking around. I’ll definitely take pics along the way, unless you beat me to it

 

[ScottnAZ]

Got the control knob done! It required just about every bit of the remote extension cable. Will sort through the pics, and figure out how to post a video s00n.

 

[ScottnAZ]

Oh, where to start….. video is probably easiest. It likely took me about an hour to run the remote wire.

If I were to do it again, I’d take an extra hour or so and remove more trim pieces to bury the remote wire deeper (for safe keeping). There is a wire harness running under the black plastic piece in this picture. This black piece is under the grey plastic sill trim piece; there are the bolts on the exterior side of the black piece, and also some bolts on the interior side of the black piece, however to access these interior bolts you will need to peel up the rubber floor piece. Tough to explain, but I believe you can remove the entire black part and run the remote wire alongside the oem wire harness running along the sill.

Again, this would just be for extra piece of mind that the wire is safely secured. I am not worried about how I ran the wire, but I’d do some extra exploration next time.

View attachment IMG_2180.jpeg

 

[grenadierguy]

There is a great post on Reddit where someone located the Redarc button in the overhead control panel.
Also found out that ethernet cables work for controller to knob. Have not confirmed myself though.

I thought this was a clean install and may be the route I go.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ineosgrenadier/s/Bcj3j75IcR

 

[ScottnAZ]

There is a great post on Reddit where someone located the Redarc button in the overhead control panel.
Also found out that ethernet cables work for controller to knob. Have not confirmed myself though.

I thought this was a clean install and may be the route I go.

View attachment 7852407

https://www.reddit.com/r/ineosgrenadier/s/Bcj3j75IcR

Yes, looks like a clean install for sure! A bit intimidating if you ask me; likely have to remove all the b-pillar trim, drop the headliner, and also drop the upper switch panels for enough access to run the wire.

Please share the process if you end up doing it.

 

[nodric]

OK I am inspired to get mine done now. Will decide which route/option, and then photo/video as I go and it will appear here.