What is this spare harness in my glovebox?

[BillB]

I had a Honda hitch installed at the dealer and I assume that for the $750 they have put in all the pieces including the most efficient harness and all the under dash parts. Well, when I picked up the truck, there was a 4 wire harness (about 6 inches long) loose in the glove box. Any ideas what this is?

[MikeT]

Originally Posted by BillB

I had a Honda hitch installed at the dealer and I assume that for the $750 they have put in all the pieces including the most efficient harness and all the under dash parts. Well, when I picked up the truck, there was a 4 wire harness (about 6 inches long) loose in the glove box. Any ideas what this is?

I think it goes from the 7pin on the hitch to the four pin connector on the trailor....maybe...

[unobstreperous]

I had a hitch/harness installed today. They also gave me a trailer brake sub harness. It plugs into a connector under the dash on the the left hand side of the steering wheel. Some posts have reported it being covered with blue tape/and or taped to yellow wire harness. If the trailer you are towing has electric trailor brakes (that you want to control) you have to purchase a brake controller and connect it to this sub harness.

If you do a search for brake controllers you'll find quite a bit of info.

[BillB]

Here is a picture of the mystery harness. The code number is: 08L91-SJC-1000. I am trying to find out if the install is incomplete or what this is supposed to improve on the installed hitch as it is. Thanks.

[mmurphy50]

That is the trailer brake harness. It is for wiring an electric brake controller to the RL. It plugs in under the dash.

[BillB]

That is the trailer brake harness. It is for wiring an electric brake controller to the RL. It plugs in under the dash.

Would there be any reason this was not installed by the dealer when they did the hitch?

[csimo]

Originally Posted by BillB

Would there be any reason this was not installed by the dealer when they did the hitch?

A trailer brake controller is not part of the towing package. Honda does not offer one. The harness is a "universal" adapter for whatever trailer brake controller, if any, you choose to install. The brand and positioning of the controller is up to you.

[djeaux]

Originally Posted by BillB

Would there be any reason this was not installed by the dealer when they did the hitch?

Yes, there's a reason: the bare pigtails wire into your trailer brake controller & allow it to be plugged into the Ridgeline wiring. Obviously, if your trailer doesn't have brakes you don't need a controller & different trailer brake systems need different controllers, so Honda gives you the hook-up wiring & leaves the acquisition of the controller itself up to you.

[csimo]

You need an electronic trailer brake controller if the trailer weight is 1000 lbs. or greater (and the trailer must have its own brakes of course).

[BillB]

A trailer brake controller is not part of the towing package. Honda does not offer one. The harness is a "universal" adapter for whatever trailer brake controller, if any, you choose to install. The brand and positioning of the controller is up to you.

Thanks. What was ultimately confusing to me was that the RTX I owned for about 2 days did not have this spare harness included with the truck and when I saw it in the RTS glovebox, it looked like it was a forgotten part from the dealer installed RTS hitch.