Mopar Tow Harness Install

[jeremylj1972]

Alright, I got my issue all figured out with some help from mergedown! If anyone needs help with their install, let me know so I can pay it forward!

Sponsored

 

[mergedown]

Based on my discussion with @jeremyjl1972, I made a couple minor updates to the end of the instructions that should help those that get hung up in the same spot.

 

[bmbruno]

Just reading stuff and came across this thread. For anyone still needing a harness and only a 4 pin I used e-trailer's harness. Much much simpler to install than the Mopar kit.

p.s. Thanks to the OP for excellent info on the Mopar install.

Do you have the LED Light Upgrade? I was wondering if there are any issues with the harness. I’ll probably go this route because all I need is a 4 pin connection

 

[cabnfvr]

Do you have the LED Light Upgrade? I was wondering if there are any issues with the harness. I’ll probably go this route because all I need is a 4 pin connection

No LEDs but it’s supposed to work with either. It’s simpler as no connector pins are involved. Just run one hot wire and the rest is plug and play.

 

[mergedown]

Added a brake controller this weekend. Without the tow package, the most difficult part is getting to the wire from the brake pedal, but the rest is straight forward.

 

[se7en]

Blue wires seems too short to reach the drivers side. Did you have to put an extension to it?

 

[mergedown]

Blue wires seems too short to reach the drivers side. Did you have to put an extension to it?

Yes, I extended the wire over to the controller. Ran the hot and ground to the battery through a 20amp auto reset circuit breaker.

 

[the_webers_inc]

...
Without the tow package, the most difficult part is getting to the wire from the brake pedal
...

Did you happen to take a picture of the location of the brake pedal wire?

 

[mergedown]

Did you happen to take a picture of the location of the brake pedal wire?

 

[NorCalSahara]

Got around to doing this install today. It took all day, but honestly I’m not very mechanically or electrically competent. The install wasn’t bad but that rubber grommet was really annoying; perhaps it would’ve been easier had I removed the front wheel liner. I decided to leave it on to avoid having to worry about reinstalling rivets. Also, the inserts that you have to remove to insert the two yellow wires on the drivers side harness were very difficult to remove (paper clip my ass) I ended up just using a pair of small needle nose pliers and pulling them out. All my lights were working and the interior isn’t rattling too bad so I guess that’s a win. Now just need to find a buddy with a trailer to test the actual connectors.

 

[mergedown]

Got around to doing this install today. It took all day, but honestly I’m not very mechanically or electrically competent. The install wasn’t bad but that rubber grommet was really annoying; perhaps it would’ve been easier had I removed the front wheel liner. I decided to leave it on to avoid having to worry about reinstalling rivets. Also, the inserts that you have to remove to insert the two yellow wires on the drivers side harness were very difficult to remove (paper clip my ass) I ended up just using a pair of small needle nose pliers and pulling them out. All my lights were working and the interior isn’t rattling too bad so I guess that’s a win. Now just need to find a buddy with a trailer to test the actual connectors.

Haha. Yeah, that grommet is the worst with the front wheel liner pulled back, can’t imagine without. I too used needle nose pliers for those connectors.

It’s not a bad install, just time consuming.

 

[NavyVet1959]

Anyone have the manufacturer and model number on the tail light connectors that are used by Jeep? I would think (hope) that they are some sort of generic connector and not designed by MOPAR to be proprietary to their vehicles.

But, I would not be surprised if they made it a proprietary part so that they would be the only source for it and could charge an unreasonable amount for it.

 

[mortuar]

Just installed my wiring harness last night - this post was super helpful! I ended up taking like 8 hours to do the install as I accidentally got my harness somehow stuck in the grommet. The grommet actually ended up deforming in it's cavity, so I spent about 3 painful hours trying to reseat it properly with a bad lower back. Lots of reaching and overextending and pushing and pulling. My hands look like I was in a street fight last night they are so cut up.

I ended up scratching the paint under the very back kick panel. There is a metal clip on the bottom of the rear piece (mine is the huge piece with the alpine sub in it as I have that package) and I didn't see it until it was too late. The area that is scratched is hidden, but it's still painful given it was just to install the damn wiring harness for towing. There is a white clip that fell off from that back panel as well - but I couldn't figure out for the life of me which clip it fell off of. I'm telling myself it was overlooked or dropped at the factory when they were installing it... yeah... that's what happened.

I also had two of the clips under the front passenger kick panel already broken off when I pulled the kick panel off super carefully, so that sucks too. Oh - and I had three of my 4 rivets in the fender lining break off prematurely without fully seating... but I'm not about to cut them off and do that again, so I'll wait until they fall off and replace them I guess.

I couldn't get the metal clips to hold the connectors in the taillights in the spots that the Ikea instructions show without causing pressure/binding on the taillight when reinstalling... so I zip tied them up as best as I could and left them loose in there.

All in all, I really wish I would have ordered a Jeep with the towing package from the factory versus buying one on the lot. I had installed a hitch and harness on my 2014 Rubicon, but this was such a stressful pain in the ass that I never want to have to do it again. Ever.

If Jeep is reading this - make the damn factory harness on *every* JL compatible with a tow hitch. This process is not straightforward and you could save everyone lots of time and frustration by having some points that you can connect to mid harness somewhere (or even at the rear of the Jeep).

 

[NavyVet1959]

Just installed my wiring harness last night - this post was super helpful! I ended up taking like 8 hours to do the install as I accidentally got my harness somehow stuck in the grommet. The grommet actually ended up deforming in it's cavity, so I spent about 3 painful hours trying to reseat it properly with a bad lower back. Lots of reaching and overextending and pushing and pulling. My hands look like I was in a street fight last night they are so cut up.

I ended up scratching the paint under the very back kick panel. There is a metal clip on the bottom of the rear piece (mine is the huge piece with the alpine sub in it as I have that package) and I didn't see it until it was too late. The area that is scratched is hidden, but it's still painful given it was just to install the damn wiring harness for towing. There is a white clip that fell off from that back panel as well - but I couldn't figure out for the life of me which clip it fell off of. I'm telling myself it was overlooked or dropped at the factory when they were installing it... yeah... that's what happened.

I also had two of the clips under the front passenger kick panel already broken off when I pulled the kick panel off super carefully, so that sucks too. Oh - and I had three of my 4 rivets in the fender lining break off prematurely without fully seating... but I'm not about to cut them off and do that again, so I'll wait until they fall off and replace them I guess.

I couldn't get the metal clips to hold the connectors in the taillights in the spots that the Ikea instructions show without causing pressure/binding on the taillight when reinstalling... so I zip tied them up as best as I could and left them loose in there.

All in all, I really wish I would have ordered a Jeep with the towing package from the factory versus buying one on the lot. I had installed a hitch and harness on my 2014 Rubicon, but this was such a stressful pain in the ass that I never want to have to do it again. Ever.

If Jeep is reading this - make the damn factory harness on *every* JL compatible with a tow hitch. This process is not straightforward and you could save everyone lots of time and frustration by having some points that you can connect to mid harness somewhere (or even at the rear of the Jeep).

It wouldn't be a problem if they would have just left well enough alone and kept the same gauge wires going to the rear tail lights as had always gone there.

At what they are charging for the towing package, there is no way I was going to order it. If it had been another $100 or so, I would have probably done it. But for what they are charging? No way... I can design and build my own for a lot cheaper...

 

[mergedown]

Still haven’t been able to figure out the brake controller. There is an assumption that the brake pedal signal wire is not 12v causing it to not activate the trailer brakes when the brake pedal is pressed.

Sponsored