Will do! Thanks for letting me know. The bumper is so rock solid I just left them out and haven’t had any problems but I’m sure there is a reason they are there and will reach out.
Dissent off-road no cut rear bumper installation instructions
- Thread starter benc
- Start date
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I do not, sorry. 98% sure it's 1/2" hardware, but unsure on length. Jam nut is a standard jam nut, but you'd have to ask Ben for the bolt length.
whirlybirdbrewing
SILVER Star
Anyone ever have a saggy rear tire?
The three bolts that hold the tire mounting arm are torqued to sh*t (I've ever-so-slightly deformed the square tube in the process) but I can't quite maintain the angle I want on the tire.
Just ordered a stainless spacer to put inside the square tube to hopefully give the bolts a little more clamp strength.
Not sure if it's just me or if anyone else has run into a similar situation.
The three bolts that hold the tire mounting arm are torqued to sh*t (I've ever-so-slightly deformed the square tube in the process) but I can't quite maintain the angle I want on the tire.
Just ordered a stainless spacer to put inside the square tube to hopefully give the bolts a little more clamp strength.
Not sure if it's just me or if anyone else has run into a similar situation.
For backup lights and new license plate light, did you all tap into the trailer wire harness or something else?
Any write ups or pictures you can point me towards?
I’ve searched but haven’t had any luck finding a guide or proper approach here.
Thanks in advance
Any write ups or pictures you can point me towards?
I’ve searched but haven’t had any luck finding a guide or proper approach here.
Thanks in advance
whirlybirdbrewing
SILVER Star
Both can be tapped into the trailer wire harness. The harness came with a schematic. You can buy in-line splice kits and hook it up pretty easily.
Let me know if you can't find the paperwork and I'll see if I can dig it up.
Let me know if you can't find the paperwork and I'll see if I can dig it up.
thanks. I haven’t opened the wiring harness yet so will dive into that tonight and report back.
I've thought about this as I installed it. It does seem like a LOT of leverage to hold up with those cross bolts. Grab a torque wrench and see how much torque you're putting on. I have mine as tight as I can do with my 1/2" ratchet. I'm guessing 120+ ft-lbs. A little deformation should be fine. You'll want some good pre-load in that tube, IMO.
I made a harness from the existing OEM connector and the supplied trailer one. There are lots of ways to do it. I prefer to keep it as watertight and "OEM" as possible with zero "T-taps" and instead using butt splices with good electrical tape, loom, heatshrink, etc... It's a little bit of a pain any way you do it, but nothing too bad.
whirlybirdbrewing
SILVER Star
I kept the about 12” of the OEM harness past the connection then cut everything staggered so all the waterproof butt splices didn’t bunch up. Disconnect the stock harness and do all the work on your bench. Butt splice everything to the Pollak kit that you get from Ben.
Yellow was backup. White is ground. I didn’t hook up the license plate lights (yet) but I think it’s green maybe?
I just used a not exactly waterproof T-Tap for the in-line splice misty because I rigged it up to test it and then didn’t feel like unrigging it. If I run into troubles, I’ll swap it out for a waterproof wire connector (like a DryConn). I think the waterproof butt splice heat shrink is more important when connecting the stock and aftermarket wire bundles.
Yellow was backup. White is ground. I didn’t hook up the license plate lights (yet) but I think it’s green maybe?
I just used a not exactly waterproof T-Tap for the in-line splice misty because I rigged it up to test it and then didn’t feel like unrigging it. If I run into troubles, I’ll swap it out for a waterproof wire connector (like a DryConn). I think the waterproof butt splice heat shrink is more important when connecting the stock and aftermarket wire bundles.
whirlybirdbrewing
SILVER Star
@jhollander when you dig out the kit, can you take a photo of the wiring diagram sheet that comes with the kit?
I can't find mine at the moment and it would be a hand thing to reference later.
I can't find mine at the moment and it would be a hand thing to reference later.
Mine is pretty badly deformed as well.
When you say saggy do you mean bottom of the tire getting to close to the truck?
I'm able to adjust mine without too much issue and it's pretty high on the top side (33'' tire on stock rims).
There's the small plate that goes in there. Are you sure you have the bottom bolt going through the right hole? That might keep it high and tight.
Yes, brown and green we're switched for me. Running lights and right turn signal. Good idea to test with a multimeter before buttoning up your harness.
whirlybirdbrewing
SILVER Star
You have been extremely helpful in the past and me not emailing about this specific issue is more a reflection of an attempt to value your time than anything else! Certainly not throwing shade at all.
I have 275/70R18 on the stock rims which resulted in the tire arm being almost fully extended if I wanted the bottom to not touch the accessory tray. My concern was if the bottom of the tire touched the bumper, it would bounce around and wear / potentially puncture because it was essentially resting on the corner of the tray.
To @jhollander, I was hoping to have it sit at an angle where the top is closer to the vehicle than the bottom (like the picture @benc posted but without touching the bumper) but I am finding that it slowly droops to a more straight up-and-down mount (perpendicular to the ground) like your picture shows.
I'm going to see if the SS spacer allows for this.
More to follow.
benc
Supporting Vendor
- Thread starter
- #58
No worries,
The carrier is designed for the tire
To touch otherwise it will be tough to keep it from sagging. This will not cause an issue. Most of the installs we do still have the factory spare underneath which has been rubbing on the underside for 10-20 years without issue.
I do understand the concern however imo this is a non issue.
The carrier is designed for the tire
To touch otherwise it will be tough to keep it from sagging. This will not cause an issue. Most of the installs we do still have the factory spare underneath which has been rubbing on the underside for 10-20 years without issue.
I do understand the concern however imo this is a non issue.
Regarding trailer harness wiring...
(I will try to update this post with more pictures)
I decided that I wanted a 7-wire isolated trailer wiring module to protect the truck circuits from any issues that might occur in trailer wiring. These modules source power directly from the battery and don't draw any real power from the lighting circuits so they won't impact them. I found one mine on etrailer.com. There are several, but I went with P/N 22551. This one has a pretty high current capacity to drive trailer lights including backup lights (not all modules have separate current ratings for backup lights). This module also has the wiring for integration of an electronic brake module should I want/need to add one in the future. Price seems to fluctuate, it was $65-70 when I bought it a month ago, looks to be about $115 today.
Install...
As I tore into my 2000 TLC which already had a 4-position harness installed (I believe it was factory or port installed), I found that it already has a module that I presume does the isolation I described above. This module is installed inside the body, above the left rear brake light assembly. I decided I would leave this module installed since it was already tied into the needed circuits (left/right turn & brake, running lights) and has the outputs I needed to feed my new module. Even though the brake module is sealed for weather, I installed inside the cabin anyway, plus the circuits are already there. I mounted the new brake module in about the same area, there is easy access from inside the truck, behind the jack location. I mounted with 3M VHB tape to the outside wall. I'll try to grab a photo.
For the backup light signal, I used a T-Tap / splice to tie into the backup light signal going to the left rear light assembly. I believe it was a red/blue wire. I tapped into the harness on the truck side of the connector so that I could still unplug the light assembly and remove when needed. This is easily accessed from that same location behind the jack.
For the Left/Stop, Right/Stop, and Running Lights, I used the outputs of the factory module that went to the 4-pin trailer connector. I removed the existing harness, it has a Deutsch connector in behind the light assembly. I pulled the harness off the truck completely and cut the connector off to reuse for the new trailer module. To pull that harness out of the truck body grommet, I needed to remove the connector. To remove Deutsch connectors, just pull the orange or green plastic part out of the front of the connector (might need to have a little hook to pull it out) and then you can access the retaining tabs to release the pins.
NOTE: In order for the factory module to function, Pin 4 of the output needs to be grounded. I put a ring terminal on that white wire and used a bolt in that back area to ground it.
For cable routing, I followed the same path as the original harness, which exits the truck towards the bottom, behind the left wing of the bumper. See photo. I punched a new hole in the grommet for the power and ran the power all the way under the truck along the frame to the engine bay and connected directly to battery with the fuse holder included in the trailer module kit. I used some butyl rope to seal around the cables at the grommet. I ran the 7-wire output from the new trailer module out the same grommet and spliced those outputs to the harness that came with the bumper. I connected same colors of wire together.
NOTE: I learned that not all harnesses use the same colors for the same functions. These colors are not standardized. There seems to be 2 different conventions (RV and Traditional). What is standard however, is the function-to-position relationship in the connector. All connectors have the circuit functions in the same position, and they are also marked on the trailer connector cover that comes with the bumper. In my case, (same as @suprarx7nut ) green and brown were backwards. I ended up just pulling those 2 out of the connector and swapping them. Pull the blue part out of the connector and you can then access the tabs to release the pins from the connector.
I also decided that I would drive the bumper's backup lights off the trailer module, so when I spliced the trailer harness to the module, I tied in to the backup light circuit (yellow for me) for the bumper lights. I did this so that they wouldn't put any additional load on the existing truck wiring, although I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue. Just an extra measure of isolation. I put connectors on the bumper's backup lights. Certainly useful if you ever need to remove the bumper. Lots of choices out there for connectors. Toyota uses Deutsch connectors if you want things to look factory.
Additionally, I picked up a 7-pole to 5-pole adapter from etrailer.com for $14. P/N A75TB. The 5-pole connector will also accept 4-pole trailer plugs. There are lots of adapters, this is just the one I went with. There are also adapters that have both 5- and 4-pole plugs. If I towed with a 4-pin trailer a lot, I would get one with only 4 pins so that there isn't an extra pin exposed to the elements.
Hope this write-up is useful to someone, I can answer questions or get additional pics if people need.
(I will try to update this post with more pictures)
I decided that I wanted a 7-wire isolated trailer wiring module to protect the truck circuits from any issues that might occur in trailer wiring. These modules source power directly from the battery and don't draw any real power from the lighting circuits so they won't impact them. I found one mine on etrailer.com. There are several, but I went with P/N 22551. This one has a pretty high current capacity to drive trailer lights including backup lights (not all modules have separate current ratings for backup lights). This module also has the wiring for integration of an electronic brake module should I want/need to add one in the future. Price seems to fluctuate, it was $65-70 when I bought it a month ago, looks to be about $115 today.
Install...
As I tore into my 2000 TLC which already had a 4-position harness installed (I believe it was factory or port installed), I found that it already has a module that I presume does the isolation I described above. This module is installed inside the body, above the left rear brake light assembly. I decided I would leave this module installed since it was already tied into the needed circuits (left/right turn & brake, running lights) and has the outputs I needed to feed my new module. Even though the brake module is sealed for weather, I installed inside the cabin anyway, plus the circuits are already there. I mounted the new brake module in about the same area, there is easy access from inside the truck, behind the jack location. I mounted with 3M VHB tape to the outside wall. I'll try to grab a photo.
For the backup light signal, I used a T-Tap / splice to tie into the backup light signal going to the left rear light assembly. I believe it was a red/blue wire. I tapped into the harness on the truck side of the connector so that I could still unplug the light assembly and remove when needed. This is easily accessed from that same location behind the jack.
For the Left/Stop, Right/Stop, and Running Lights, I used the outputs of the factory module that went to the 4-pin trailer connector. I removed the existing harness, it has a Deutsch connector in behind the light assembly. I pulled the harness off the truck completely and cut the connector off to reuse for the new trailer module. To pull that harness out of the truck body grommet, I needed to remove the connector. To remove Deutsch connectors, just pull the orange or green plastic part out of the front of the connector (might need to have a little hook to pull it out) and then you can access the retaining tabs to release the pins.
NOTE: In order for the factory module to function, Pin 4 of the output needs to be grounded. I put a ring terminal on that white wire and used a bolt in that back area to ground it.
For cable routing, I followed the same path as the original harness, which exits the truck towards the bottom, behind the left wing of the bumper. See photo. I punched a new hole in the grommet for the power and ran the power all the way under the truck along the frame to the engine bay and connected directly to battery with the fuse holder included in the trailer module kit. I used some butyl rope to seal around the cables at the grommet. I ran the 7-wire output from the new trailer module out the same grommet and spliced those outputs to the harness that came with the bumper. I connected same colors of wire together.
NOTE: I learned that not all harnesses use the same colors for the same functions. These colors are not standardized. There seems to be 2 different conventions (RV and Traditional). What is standard however, is the function-to-position relationship in the connector. All connectors have the circuit functions in the same position, and they are also marked on the trailer connector cover that comes with the bumper. In my case, (same as @suprarx7nut ) green and brown were backwards. I ended up just pulling those 2 out of the connector and swapping them. Pull the blue part out of the connector and you can then access the tabs to release the pins from the connector.
I also decided that I would drive the bumper's backup lights off the trailer module, so when I spliced the trailer harness to the module, I tied in to the backup light circuit (yellow for me) for the bumper lights. I did this so that they wouldn't put any additional load on the existing truck wiring, although I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue. Just an extra measure of isolation. I put connectors on the bumper's backup lights. Certainly useful if you ever need to remove the bumper. Lots of choices out there for connectors. Toyota uses Deutsch connectors if you want things to look factory.
Additionally, I picked up a 7-pole to 5-pole adapter from etrailer.com for $14. P/N A75TB. The 5-pole connector will also accept 4-pole trailer plugs. There are lots of adapters, this is just the one I went with. There are also adapters that have both 5- and 4-pole plugs. If I towed with a 4-pin trailer a lot, I would get one with only 4 pins so that there isn't an extra pin exposed to the elements.
Hope this write-up is useful to someone, I can answer questions or get additional pics if people need.
cruzerDave
Land Shark Outfitters
Got my bumper yesterday and super stoked to be working on my rig again for the first time in a looooooooooooong time 
Anyone doing any cool two tone powder on theirs? Was hoping to see more pics in here for inspiration!Debating coling the center cap in either body color or an accent red...
Anyone doing any cool two tone powder on theirs? Was hoping to see more pics in here for inspiration!Debating coling the center cap in either body color or an accent red...
