Photos of Electric Brake Controller fitted into a Tiguan

**Tag** · 23-03-2012, 08:23 AM

Anyone out there have any photos of where they have fitted an electric Brake controller in their Tiguan....
Plus what type have people had fitted?
Cheers
Tag....

**craig_the_german** · 23-03-2012, 01:05 PM

Hi,

It wasn't on a Tig but when I had a Jackaroo 4wd and campervan, I had an electric brake controller from Active Fabrications which actually mounted to the campervan and NOT the car.

It took the signal from the brake lights and all that the car needed was to supply a 12V supply to the trailer plug.

I am not sure how this would work on the VWs as the wiring is more sophisticated but might be worth a look.

Mount the controller on the van/trailer and nothing on the car.

http://www.activefabrications.com.au...jan05%20v2.pdf

It is on page 27 part number 2801

**Phil G** · 25-03-2012, 09:11 PM

We use a Tekonsha P3 - very popular brake controller that you can get at a good price on Ebay.
It has 4 wires coming out of it - pos and neg power wires go straight to the battery through the passenger side firewall grommet and are protected by a 30A self resetting circuit breaker;
Blue brake wire goes back to the trailer plug
The brake sensing wire - I hunted around near the brake pedal and it all looked too hard so I thought the safest option was to run a second wire to the trailer plug and take it off there - after the signal has been though the fancy VW towing harness.

All works fine, but on occasions for no known reason (when the trailer is connected) I get a dashboard light flash and soon after its gone!

Installation is in the cradle in the usual position to the left of the steering wheel:

**Tag** · 26-03-2012, 09:31 AM

Thankyou for that.......
Researching the different controllers today.....
That looks like the most friendly spot to fit the controller in....
Cheers
Tag

**Phil G** · 26-03-2012, 05:35 PM

Gday Tag,
The cradle is easily attached with two selftappers through the plastic.
Its in a good position to use the manual lever if necessary.
The wiring harness is easily tucked away under the centre console trim when the controller is removed and not in use.
"4wdextreme" is the seller on Ebay who I bought mine from - he's based in Adelaide.
The Tekonska P3 is a very good controller. Most people I know who have a brake controller use one of these.

Cheers
phil

**Umai Naa!!** · 26-03-2012, 06:50 PM

Hi Phil, you can get a brake light signal from the hall sensor on the brake master cylinder. This is where the Central Electrics module gets the brake signal to trigger the brake lights. It is ideal, as it's before any control modules. The downside is, it's tricky to get to, and splice into.

**Phil G** · 26-03-2012, 07:42 PM

Thanks for the good info Umal.
I was a bit paranoid about breaking into the master cylinder wiring, so went with the simple option which cost me about 5 metres of wire but it ran parallel with the brake controller output wire, so was easy to install.

**Hillbilly** · 27-03-2012, 06:30 PM

http://www.activefabrications.com.au...jan05%20v2.pdf

I think you will find that it is now illegal to mount these in that way. In NSW and other states they must be able to be worked manually by the driver

Also that unit is extremely old fashioned technology as you can only set it before you take off and then you get the same amount of braking regardless. Is similar to the Redarc unit and the old Voyager.

Eg get a wet road and have it set a bit too hard and wheels will lock up.

Whereas a Primus or a Prodigy is a PROPORTIONAL unit. That means it applies the braking force in relation to how hard the rig is DECELERATING.

EG just lightly apply the brakes in the tug, it will do the same on the van.
Hit them harder and so does it.

In addition you can adjust the initial force so that the van brakes can come on slightly ahead of the tug.
This is good if rig starts snaking as it will pull the van into line without much braking of the tug.
They also have a manual lever that will only apply the van brakes which will do the same as above.

A much better unit as I said and I have just spent two years towing a 3000kg van right around the country so have fairly extensive experience with a Prodigy which is similar to the Primus in its action but is a bit more advanced.

Regarding mounting Tekonsha controllers It is acceptable to have them pointing upward as in the photo but they should be mounted as horizontal as possible crossways as per here

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billav...structions.pdf

**Arfa** · 23-04-2012, 09:19 AM

I have a 2 yr old 147 TSI Tiguan and have just been told that you can't fit an electric brake controller to this car. Can anyone give me details of anyone in Western Sydney that can do the job.
Thanks