My father in law just purchased a 2012 F150 XLT 5.0. It did not come with the factory towing package, but since we have a small dual axle trailer here, he would like to add a hitch and brake controller to the truck. We need to add a 7-pin plug and a brake controller inside the cab, so I was wondering what is the best way to add this to a truck that never had a towing package?

Is there a harness at the back that we can hook up to a 7-pin plug?

On a few of my older F150s they had a plug under the dash that you could plug an aftermarket brake controller into. Would his truck still have this plug even though it never had the towing package?

 

Your truck is already pre-wired. You can buy the original OEM controller on ebay for around $150 & do it your self. You just need to take it to dealer afterwards so they can flash the computer to recognize it. it's very easy to install. Plug n play

 

Are you sure the factory brake controller can be added to a truck that does NOT have a tow package? This truck did not come with a receiver hitch or a trailer harness from the factory. I will be adding an aftermarket hitch to it along with a 7-pin plug.

I looked at the OEM trailer brake controllers on Ebay and the ad says that it cannot be used on a truck that did not come with the trailer towing package...

 

You are right, the oem brake controller will only work if the truck has the tow package.. If it does then its just plug and play for the oem brake controller. I saw a good video on youtube i will try to look for it

 

 

 

There should already be a harness/plug in out back. My 06 has an aftermarket towing hitch as well. Don't know how adding a trailer brake works with non-tow pack trucks, but don't see why you couldn't add an aftermarket one. Looks like Coy has that part covered

 

I may be wrong, but I've heard that without the tow package, the new trucks may not have the harness. You are going to have to drop the spare tire and look for it, and also look under the dash.

 

Cheap bastards. Of all the things they remove, I feel like the hitch and connections can't be optional . . . it's a truck. Maybe a truck used as a car 99.9% of the time, but still a truck. It needs a damn hitch.

 

I agree. I was stunned when he told me that it didn't have a hitch on it. I thought that would be standard equipment by now. Go figure.

 

Yeah, we've sold a few without a hitch at my dealership and it's weird explaining that to some folks. I assure them that it can be added and tell them that even my own truck didn't come with one. But if Ford is frugal enough to switch from the rectangular fogs on the 04/05s to the round on the 06/08 purely to save on the smaller fog lights (which apparently was maybe the reasoning behind that change), as well as redesign tail lights to exclude an additional bulb, it's not hard to see why they'd exclude a huge piece of metal if they could get away with it.