2006 tow package cable question

My dad bought a new 06 2 months ago but only got 1 cable in the glove box. He needs the tow cable that connects to the truck and a trailer. The plug on the truck is round and near the license plate.

My question is this: should this cable have come with the truck? Our salesman says no but the few people that we know that bought 2005's said they got the cable.

Did GM change the "free" cable for the 06 model year?

I can't get a straight answer from anyone at the local dealership.

Thanks!

-Stephen

Reply to
Stephen Beall
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I'm unclear what you're asking. There should have been a 4-wire cable for the brake controller and possibly a 7-pin to 4-pin flat converter (though it's not a cable) to plug into the 7-pin plug on the truck. That converter may not have come with the truck, I thought I saw some trucks with the 4-pin connector next to the 7-pin one. Any other cable that might be needed to plug the trailer into the truck should already be on the trailer.

Reply to
Mike Levy

I basically need to know what cables/accessories my dad shoud have gotten with the new truck, besides the manual and cig lighter. :-p

-Stephen

Reply to
Stephen Beall

Second sentence in Mike's reply tells you, but here it is in a bit more detail...

The 4-wire cable is to connect an electric trailer brake controller to the truck's wiring system. You will have to buy and install the controller if your trailer has electric brakes. Some brake controllers come with a dedicated, brand specific cable that you just plug into the controller on one end and the junction box on the truck on the other. If your controller doesn't have one of these cables, you will have to splice the bare wire ends from the stock GM cable to the controller plug.

If your trailer doesn't have brakes, then you do not need to hook this cable up to have a fully functional 7-pin trailer connector at the rear of the truck.

As Mike said, you should also have found some sort of an adapter, to connect a 4-pin (flat) trailer side connector to the 7-pin truck side. Mine (04) was in the glove box, it's a separate plug-in connector, yours may be built in to the truck side connector.

The trailer side connector will determine what kind of adapter you may need for the truck side. As far as I know, the 7 to 4 adapter is the only one included with the tow pkg. Others are available at most auto parts stores.

DJ

Reply to
DJ

Is the "plug" on the truck about 1 1/2 inches in diameter? Does it have six slots and a center pin? If so, it may be wired to tow a standard travel trailer. In that case, the cable between the trailer and the truck is part of the trailer. To complete the setup, a brake controller must be installed on the driver's side under the dash. There is an industry standard connector under the dash that accepts most electronic brake controllers.

If you are towing a small trailer without brakes which uses a 4 pin connector, it is up to you to provide an adaptor to go from the 7 pin connector to the 4 pin connector.

Lena

Reply to
Lena

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