[beatle]

Installing an OEM hitch and harness today. Went to pull down on the connector in the rear and got a little movement, then went to pull the rest of the slack out and found these wires. Screwed already? I was pulling on the black cable sheath, not the connector, however this does not seem right at all.

 

[Elkhunter]

I know the blue wire is used for the electric brake controller. I don't remember a pigtail on mine but I'll look

 

[beatle]

So yeah....

I didn't anticipate this job requiring soldering, but that's what I did. I'm not sure what I could have done differently here. There is no access to whatever tape is holding the wires in place. Maybe I could have done this in the dead of summer so as to weaken the adhesive? Here's the completed job:

The rest of the install was not terrible. I used a recycling bin to hold up one end of the hitch while I started a bolt on the exhaust side. Finding the place to bolt the harness bracket under the dash was the next biggest issue, even with 1up5dwn's incredible pictorial thread on the subject: http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65345

 

[chiph]

Did you have a rodent get up in there? Or a tire blow-out?

Chip H.

 

[beatle]

Not sure on either. I've only had the truck since early October. I'm guessing I broke it since the tape didn't give.

 

[speedlever]

One of our enterprising members came up with a solo install technique of using those large (2 ft or 3 ft ) zip ties to hold the receiver hitch in place while you install the mounting bolts. Such a clever idea!

On the rear harness, there should have been two tape points to pull out, iirc. I tried to pull it past the 2nd tape point and was unable to do so, using reasonable force. (I didn't think I had enough out). Turns out I had out what I needed (~ 6 inches, iirc).

I have a hard time believing you broke those wires trying to pull the harness past both tape points. Interesting.

 

[beatle]

There wasn't much slack after the first pull (first pic.) I didn't measure, but the harness it mates to would not have enough reach to its mount. This is my first rodeo on installing and wiring a hitch, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm just glad there was enough slack to access the wires to make the repair!

Any way to test the functionality of the hitch wiring before I pick up the trailer on Feb 6th?

 

[speedlever]

http://www.harborfreight.com/four-way-trailer-light-tester-66526.html

Amazon has a cheap one too.

 

[beatle]

Perfect. Maybe I'll pick one up on my next trip to HF. Or I can probably just perform those tests with a multimeter, assuming that fourth connector is a common ground.

 

[speedlever]

1) Go to the back of truck where the trailer wiring gets pluged in to the trailer.

2) Conect the test light clip to a known good ground. Be certain of this, or you will be chasing non-existent problems.

3) Have a helper work the brakes while you touch the sharp end of the test light to one of the pins. Test light will work in conjunction with the operation of the brakes. You will need to touch all pins in order to find out which is the brakes.

4) Do the exact same thing for all other functions, ie turn signals, running lights etc.