7 pin harness location

[DustyTrail]

Anybody have any good solutions for mounting a 7 pin wiring harness to the OEM trailer hitch? I had to upgrade my 4 pin so I could pull my new popup camper. I currently have this setup using an etrailer.com universal bracket. I don't like how far it extends.

If I mount it underneath the hitch bar then it is really low and will surely get ripped off on the trails. If I tuck it underneath then the trailer's wires won't reach at full turn articulation because of the spare tire underneath means I have to put it off to the side.

 

[DustyTrail]

To show how much it sticks out

 

[SmoothLC]

Ok - I'm in the same boat.

Sub'd.

 

[cap80]

What about through the bumper and fasten it with the 4 bolts that go through the face plate?

 

[DustyTrail]

I haven't done that because I am afraid it would compromise the structural integrity. Is that a valid concern?

 

[shevy77]

This is how mine is setup. This was installed when I purchased last year.

 

[Sam Lin]

What about through the bumper and fasten it with the 4 bolts that go through the face plate?

I'm doing that and flush mounting it to the rear bumper. I dropped the spare tire so I could line up with existing large holes on the bumper crossmember from behind (see this photo, copied from Slee rear bumper instructions and added lines pointing to the holes):

Alternate view from under the car looking up between the bumper and support beam. You can see you don't have clearance to put your connector unless you line up with the holes:


I then drilled a small 1/8" pilot hole where I thought the center of one of the clearance holes was, and drilled more holes until I had one dead center:

I then used that hole to center a hole saw and cut a hole in the bumper the correct size for my trailer plug (47mm diameter, so I wasn't real concerned about using multiple small holes to find the center):

My plug had 2 molded bosses that act as "keys" to prevent it rotating after installation. After holding the connector in the correct orientation and marking the bosses, I filed the bumper so it had matching slots for a snug fit. Alternatively you can just hole saw to the full diameter of the bosses and ignore the bosses completely; the 4 bolts will prevent rotation. See the 2 large "key" bosses:

Stuck the plug in the hole and used it to drill 4 holes for the mounting bolts.

More to come next post, 5 photo limit.

Sam

 

[Sam Lin]

Take your existing mounting bracket and cut off the "L" portion:

Use it behind the plastic bumper as a backing plate. Then use the same 4 bolts, washers, lock nuts to attach your connector.

Enjoy,
Sam

 

[DustyTrail]

Thanks for the write up @Sam Lin. That should work perfectly.

 

[plirky]

I'm doing that and flush mounting it to the rear bumper. I dropped the spare tire so I could line up with existing large holes on the bumper crossmember from behind (see this photo, copied from Slee rear bumper instructions and added lines pointing to the holes):

snip...
Sam

This is exactly how I did mine. I do catch my leg on it occasionally, mostly trained my self not too... would be nice to find one that could be more inset/flush.