Adding Tow Receiver Hitch - 2022 Sahara

[markandrewpowell]

Hi all, have a 2022 Sahara and want to add a tow hitch receiver. I understand its a pretty simple bolt on job and there are lots out there that do the job.
My questions are; What are peoples favorites to fit and do they all come with a wiring harness or is that already present? If you need to purchase seperately then recommendations would be great too!

Use would be small boat or teardrop camper.

Many thanks in advance!

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[gsbrockman]

The install is somewhat easy, the harder part being dropping the exhaust system to gain access to place the bolts and then tighten the attaching bolts.

Will your trailer(s) be of the brake axle variety or non-brake axle variety? That will determine which wiring harness you’ll need to purchase.

If your trailer has an electric brake axle, in addition to the seven way wiring harness, you’ll also need an electric brake controller which will activate your electric trailer brakes.

 

[NeilP]

I installed the Curt hitch and I also added a 4 & 7 prong plug. I did not have to remove anything to install the hitch. The bolts slid in just fine.

The wiring harness was plug & play. Adapters plugged in between the OEM harness and the taillights. The kit included a long wire & fuse to connect to the battery to provide power to the trailer light module to power the trailer lights instead of drawing juice through the tiny OEM Jeep wires.

Here's the bonus: I replaced the 10 amp fuse with a 30 amp fuse and added a jumper wire to the 12v post in the 7 prong plug & then connected the 4 prong plug to the mating plug on the 7 prong. I then added a new 10 amp fuse between the 7 prong plug and the trailer wiring module. (so now I have 30 amp protection to the 12v pin to power trailer brakes on the 7 prong and the recommended 10 amp protection to the trailer module.)

Then for a trailer brakes, I purchased the Curt bluetooth trailer brake controller. Plug it in to the 7 prong plug, pair it to your bluetooth on your phone, adjust the settings and away you go. The phone controls the brakes on the trailer, and it has a manual button you can you on your phone screen if you need it. If for some reason you lose the bluetooth connection, the Curt unit continues to function with your last settings. it works like a charm! I also use the Curt bluetooth controller with my 22 Ford Ranger.

 

[Valpo Jeep]

I believe it’s Curt and Drawtite that are popular. Or if you can source the Mopar hitch. It might be overkill for your needs but my personal opinion is to opt for a 2 inch receiver over the smaller 1.25 inch.

Trailer brakes are going to depend on trailer weight and your state laws. 3,000 lbs and heavier are typically the cutoff for needing a trailer brake system. Some states will drop it down to 1,500 lbs. Honestly not sure on what the Jeep tow limit is and since you were not factory equipped it might be a bit less than published numbers but I do not positively know that. I know many years ago we had a Grand Cherokee that I added a hitch on and the factory equipped gave it 3.73 gears while the non factory equipped was 3.55 gears. Not much difference but I can only assume the difference will impact towing capabilities.

 

[markandrewpowell]

Thanks for the replies and info. Much appreciated.

 

[Old Jeeper]

I installed the Curt hitch and I also added a 4 & 7 prong plug. I did not have to remove anything to install the hitch. The bolts slid in just fine.

The wiring harness was plug & play. Adapters plugged in between the OEM harness and the taillights. The kit included a long wire & fuse to connect to the battery to provide power to the trailer light module to power the trailer lights instead of drawing juice through the tiny OEM Jeep wires.

Here's the bonus: I replaced the 10 amp fuse with a 30 amp fuse and added a jumper wire to the 12v post in the 7 prong plug & then connected the 4 prong plug to the mating plug on the 7 prong. I then added a new 10 amp fuse between the 7 prong plug and the trailer wiring module. (so now I have 30 amp protection to the 12v pin to power trailer brakes on the 7 prong and the recommended 10 amp protection to the trailer module.)

Then for a trailer brakes, I purchased the Curt bluetooth trailer brake controller. Plug it in to the 7 prong plug, pair it to your bluetooth on your phone, adjust the settings and away you go. The phone controls the brakes on the trailer, and it has a manual button you can you on your phone screen if you need it. If for some reason you lose the bluetooth connection, the Curt unit continues to function with your last settings. it works like a charm! I also use the Curt bluetooth controller with my 22 Ford Ranger.

X 2 all of the above.

I would also redo your front brakes:

For the $ spent to replace brakes and rotors it is CHEAP insurance. You could do them all but the front only where 70% of all braking takes place.

I recommend these: https://ebcbrakes.com/products/ebc-greenstuff-elite-brake-pads/

Not sure if EBC has your rotors or not but worth a look, many other sell rotors:

https://ebcbrakes.com/products/ebc-usr-slotted-brake-rotors/


Doing a front brake job on a Jeep ANY YEAR is QUICK and EASY, common hand tool, take more time to remove the wheel that to do the brake job. I did mine in about 30 min per wheel.

Great Youtube on how to on a Jeep, so simple even I can do it!.


IIRC It cost me $275 total for pads and rotors.

EBC is the best pad going, Got a good friend who owns an Automotive Testing company. He tested brake pads for Jeep and the EBC Green pad out performed them all. I put them on my JKR Recon and stopping was so much improved that it changed the way I drove, it would stop on a dime...

 

[joekeastdr]

I installed the Curt hitch and I also added a 4 & 7 prong plug. I did not have to remove anything to install the hitch. The bolts slid in just fine.

The wiring harness was plug & play. Adapters plugged in between the OEM harness and the taillights. The kit included a long wire & fuse to connect to the battery to provide power to the trailer light module to power the trailer lights instead of drawing juice through the tiny OEM Jeep wires.

Here's the bonus: I replaced the 10 amp fuse with a 30 amp fuse and added a jumper wire to the 12v post in the 7 prong plug & then connected the 4 prong plug to the mating plug on the 7 prong. I then added a new 10 amp fuse between the 7 prong plug and the trailer wiring module. (so now I have 30 amp protection to the 12v pin to power trailer brakes on the 7 prong and the recommended 10 amp protection to the trailer module.)

Then for a trailer brakes, I purchased the Curt bluetooth trailer brake controller. Plug it in to the 7 prong plug, pair it to your bluetooth on your phone, adjust the settings and away you go. The phone controls the brakes on the trailer, and it has a manual button you can you on your phone screen if you need it. If for some reason you lose the bluetooth connection, the Curt unit continues to function with your last settings. it works like a charm! I also use the Curt bluetooth controller with my 22 Ford Ranger.

I traded in my 2019 Wrangler JL. Took off the quadratec hitch, and intended to put it on my 2024 Wrangler Sahara JL. and of the 4 holes to attach the hitch, the 2 outbound holes have bolts in them for the bumper support. Did you have that issue?
Thanks,
Joe K.

 

[NeilP]

I traded in my 2019 Wrangler JL. Took off the quadratec hitch, and intended to put it on my 2024 Wrangler Sahara JL. and of the 4 holes to attach the hitch, the 2 outbound holes have bolts in them for the bumper support. Did you have that issue?
Thanks,
Joe K.

If I recall correctly (this was on my 2020 which I no longer have), there was two bolts already installed. I removed them and installed the hitch with no problem. I know the hitch was secured with 4 bolts once it was installed.

I just added a MOPAR hitch to my 2024. It also had 2 long bolts holding the bumper support bracket in place. I removed those two and the two small lower bumper support bolts, slid the support bracket away from the cross-member and slipped the hitch into place. I secured it with the 4 new large bolts and then reinstalled the two lower bolts to the bumper support.

 

[joekeastdr]

The 2024 Sahara has an assembly on the cross member that the hitch attaches to.
I will take a photo later. but its bolted to the cross member and the nuts do not come off.
Thanks,
Joe K.

 

[NeilP]

The photos above are from my 2024.

 

[joekeastdr]

The photos above are from my 2024.

I think I know what my issue is.
I will try something in the morning and report back.
Thanks for assist.
Joe K.

 

[wibornz]

The install is somewhat easy, the harder part being dropping the exhaust system to gain access to place the bolts and then tighten the attaching bolts.

Will your trailer(s) be of the brake axle variety or non-brake axle variety? That will determine which wiring harness you’ll need to purchase.

If your trailer has an electric brake axle, in addition to the seven way wiring harness, you’ll also need an electric brake controller which will activate your electric trailer brakes.

Just a Note here. I have removed and reinstalled a stock hitch with out dropping the muffler.

 

[wibornz]

I have a spare hitch, I will give it to you, you would just have to pay for the shipping. I will be in North Carolina in a few weeks,... or should be if I get my Jeep back together. I will be in the Fayevillie area.

In all reality, it may be cheaper to just buy one. Or if you are part of the Jeep community in your area, ask if anyone has one laying around that they are willing to give away. I asked my local Jeep Facebook community and ended up with two free ones. Then turned down a third one.

Depending on your wiring experience, it may be way easier to have the wiring and brake controller installed by a local trailer place. If you had the tow package, it would just be a plug and play senecio.

 

[NeilP]

Just a Note here. I have removed and reinstalled a stock hitch with out dropping the muffler.

Same here, I did not see any good reason to drop the muffler. All 4 bolts slipped right in the holes.

 

[joekeastdr]

The photos above are from my 2024.

So what I did was take the spot welded nuts off the hitch receiver.
Once they were off, the receiver slid up and I was able to attach it
with the bolts from jeep and two bolts and nuts previously used.

Thanks for all the help.

Joe K.

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