Trailer wiring

[Cara]

Please be aware that I know NOTHING about what I'm asking, but the hub's Tacoma got crunched in the front end so he's adding a trailer hitch to his 2007 Vibe so he can work out of our lightweight Thule trailer, for a while.

Bought the hitch - probably overpaid, but whatever - and then tried to figure out wiring. I, of course, came here, and I think he's going to get one of these:
http://www.tekonsha.com/products/electr ... mn2Ck7JmA=

but I've seen some posts here that say that any wiring connections or taillight converters or whatever he gets have to be POWERED. I don't think this one is, but I've seen it recommended in a few different posts.

So - which is it? Is this item powered, or doesn't he need power, or does he actually need to buy something else?

Thanks

[zbyers]

The one you posted does not appear to require power, nor is power required to install the tow wiring. Both of my have powered ones, while the rest of my family have ones that are not powered. There is no difference between the two. The reason powered tow wiring converters are generally recommended is some cars lighting systems cannot handle the added load of the trailer lights, and may cause funky things to happen (think hyperflash, faint signals, pulsation from other lights, etc). The vibe does not appear to really care one way or the other.

[Cara]

Thanks