Electric brake controller - don't do it, not even once

[colinnwn]

So the years long project that will never end and that escalates at every turn does it again.

 

I hope the Nissan marketing people who decided not to prewire for a 7 pin plug and electric brake controllers on a vehicle that can tow 3,500-5,000, and the engineers who designed them making it so difficult and time consuming to install and remove components without breaking them - rot in the hottest part of hell for all eternity.  Alternatively I have great sympathy for the factory workers that build them. I can't understand how Nissan's don't cost $200,000 just from labor rates building them.

 

If I was going to install this for someone else, I'd charge several thousand dollars. And if someone did it for a reasonable rate, they would have had to do a horrible hack job.

 

Among other frustrations that had already raised my blood pressure past the explosive point - I've spent 90 minutes trying to reinstall the drivers wheel liner and I can't get it to go in. If I had any idea how hard this would be, I would have bought a used Xterra that had the 7-pin prewiring. Actually I'd rather not buy a Nissan ever again. But they are very affordable used trucks compared to Toyota.

 

Just had to vent. I was getting to the point i needed to go to the hospital for chest pains.

[hawairish]

While I can't attest to brake controllers, I will say this much about a Nissan vs. Toyota.  One of my project vehicles since Dec has been a 91 FJ80 Land Cruiser.  At first, I was stoked...plans to redo the suspension, do the rear main seal, re-install A/C, and just some other items along the way.

 

Fast forward, and I hate the truck.  I hate Toyota for making the truck.  Everything on the truck is in the way of some other item, despite "tons" of working space, things are damn near impossible to remove, and the most trivial items end up taking hours.  I can't stress enough how much working space appears to exist on the truck, yet it's wasted space.  This truck was made specifically to be dealer-only serviced.  I'll take wrenching the Pathfinder over this truck any day, and you'd think an older truck would have been far more basic to wrench.

[PathyDude17]

30 minutes ago, hawairish said:

While I can't attest to brake controllers, I will say this much about a Nissan vs. Toyota.  One of my project vehicles since Dec has been a 91 FJ80 Land Cruiser.  At first, I was stoked...plans to redo the suspension, do the rear main seal, re-install A/C, and just some other items along the way.

 

Fast forward, and I hate the truck.  I hate Toyota for making the truck.  Everything on the truck is in the way of some other item, despite "tons" of working space, things are damn near impossible to remove, and the most trivial items end up taking hours.  I can't stress enough how much working space appears to exist on the truck, yet it's wasted space.  This truck was made specifically to be dealer-only serviced.  I'll take wrenching the Pathfinder over this truck any day, and you'd think an older truck would have been far more basic to wrench.

Is there anywhere we can see this land cruiser? Sounds like a cool project, and I’m always interested in the rides that people are working on. Pathfinder or not it’s the same passion.

[colinnwn]

That's too bad about the Land Cruiser being hard to work on in general. I have other irritations with how Toyota does things too.

I was kinda assuming post 2000 Toyota trucks would be pre-wired. But it was more out of principled frustration I said Toyota over Nissan.

I finally got the wires run and the wheel well liner in. It has plastic speed nuts, that mount around both panels. I tried to pull off the liner and couldn't. When I couldn't get the liner on with them installed after 90 minutes, and after a cooling off period, I yanked the hell out of them, got them off, installed them on the body first, and it went much better.

Now I just have to wire in the actual control box. But for today we just decided to go without them again, and drive conservatively. The camper is 2,600 lbs so they aren't required.

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[RainGoat]

Yeah, working on a Toyota is interesting. I find myself repeatedly surprised at the things that are present in my 2002 LE but NOT in our 2018 T4R Offroad Premium. Some of it is just stupid, petty stuff (like how the QX4 had remote rear window release but the Pathy didn’t until ‘03) but others just leave me scratching my head (why is the T4R’s rear diff without ANY breather extension & located 1/3rd of the way DOWN from the top of the differential). I thought the TLCs were supposed to be the king of durability & field serviceability (at least pre 100 series) so it’s sad to hear it’s not.

 

 

[hawairish]

On 4/20/2019 at 1:05 PM, colinnwn said:

That's too bad about the Land Cruiser being hard to work on in general. I have other irritations with how Toyota does things too.

I was kinda assuming post 2000 Toyota trucks would be pre-wired. But it was more out of principled frustration I said Toyota over Nissan.

I finally got the wires run and the wheel well liner in. It has plastic speed nuts, that mount around both panels. I tried to pull off the liner and couldn't. When I couldn't get the liner on with them installed after 90 minutes, and after a cooling off period, I yanked the hell out of them, got them off, installed them on the body first, and it went much better.

Now I just have to wire in the actual control box. But for today we just decided to go without them again, and drive conservatively. The camper is 2,600 lbs so they aren't required.

 

One thing for sure that is annoying is the difficulty routing anything from the front of the truck to the rear.  Having done both electrical and air lines on mine, I've had to settle mainly to everything on the passenger side.  But even getting a 4-pin trailer harness in required drilling through the body in my setup.

 

But yeah, not to make it a Toyota vs Nissan thing, but there's been nothing on my Pathfinder that's proven too difficult to address in some form or another.  Still, I think every make has some bonehead design(s).  I still think Volkswagens are the worst.  It should be criminal the designs they use.

 

On 4/20/2019 at 11:43 AM, PathyDude17 said:

Is there anywhere we can see this land cruiser? Sounds like a cool project, and I’m always interested in the rides that people are working on. Pathfinder or not it’s the same passion.

 

These are the latest I have from the other week after getting most of the lift done.  OME 3" + shocks, IronMan 4x4 front and rear panhard/trackbars, poly bushings.  31"x10.5 Cooper Discoverer AT3.  It's my brother's truck that he bought off a buddy for a great price, but since he lives in WA and his buddy lives down in Tucson, I've been the middle man transporting it up here, storing it, repairing it, etc., until we can figure out how to get it up to WA.  I still need to swap out the bushings on the radius arms, do the RMS and oil pan gaskets (leaks!), and get the A/C plumbed and charged.  I rebuilt the compressor for it months ago, but it basically has to be the last thing done because Toyota sucks.  I'll put it this way: if you had to replace the passenger motor mount or the TWO lower radiator hoses, you would have to disconnect the A/C system and pull the compressor because they're in the way.  It's crap like that that thoroughly pisses me off, and just about everything on the truck is like that.  Front shocks took me 2.5 hrs to replace, rear sway bar about the same JUST to replace the bushings.  BS all around.

 

 

 

 

19 hours ago, RainGoat said:

Yeah, working on a Toyota is interesting. I find myself repeatedly surprised at the things that are present in my 2002 LE but NOT in our 2018 T4R Offroad Premium. Some of it is just stupid, petty stuff (like how the QX4 had remote rear window release but the Pathy didn’t until ‘03) but others just leave me scratching my head (why is the T4R’s rear diff without ANY breather extension & located 1/3rd of the way DOWN from the top of the differential). I thought the TLCs were supposed to be the king of durability & field serviceability (at least pre 100 series) so it’s sad to hear it’s not.

 

I honestly think all those LC guys are too chicken-sht to go against the grain and complain about this "iconic" vehicle.  I suspect it is durable, but the only way it gains field-serviceability is due to parts simply being available.  I'd argue there's quality, but serviceability gets a failing grade.  It's been an absolute pain to work on.  My mom had an FJ40 when I was born, and my dad always reminds me how much he hated that thing.  Everything inaccessible, exhaust manifold kept cracking.  I share his disgust from my own woes.  At this point, I think the only thing I like are the looks.  Once this truck leaves my garage, I'm probably adding Toyota to my banned list, joining Volkswagen.

[RainGoat]

Is this the brother we met when you visited? You are an AWESOME brother to tackle that big of a project for him. Kind of looks like a Pines to Spines Delivery Vehicle to me (eh[mention=37543]TowndawgR50[/mention]?)

 

Honestly, that would be a fun roadtrip!

[hawairish]

Yep, @RainGoat, that brother. He sold the GTR a few months ago, but recently won an Japanese auction for a 91 Nissan Figaro that should arrive there in a couple months. But yes, we’re still working on the details to get the truck up there. I might drive it up, or we might meet halfway in Sacramento.