Adding Trailer hitch wiring

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ceejones

Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2011
Messages
15
Location
Canton, GA
I have one of the Quick Release 2" Receiver hitches (available in this forum) on my 2011 SV and wanted a standard four pin flat trailer connector for additional lighting on my cargo carrier. I found the Hopkins Converter #48895 to be LED compatible and just about a perfect fit. You'll need just 4 3M scotch locks and some double sticker tape. No holes need be drilled. Each tail lamp assembly is removed with three 10mm bolts and three horizontal push pins. Unscrew the 3 bolts and pull straight back. There is a large hole below each tail lamp. Mount the converter below the left tail lamp with the double sided tape on the vertical sheet metal in the large hole. Mount it at the top because the wires for the left side will be just the right length without any slack. Straighten out the kinks in the long green wire and run it over to the right lamp. This green wire can be hidden just below the hatch back weather strip and behind the top edge of the rear bumper. (Two 10mm blots at the top of the bumper can to loosened to allow the wire to drop out of sight.) Locate the right turn signal socket and use a 3M scotch lock to connect the green to the green. The converter can be grounded to one of the bolts that holds the hatch prop on the left side. (I split the wire eyelet to allow it to fit over the bolt.) This is a good time to test that the trailer plug functions in right turn mode. Splice the converter yellow wire to the green lead on the left turn signal socket. The brown wire attaches to the wire with the tiny red stripe for running lights and the red wire slices into the other wire that goes to the LED module. (The black wire on the socket is ground.) Test that everything works and then drop the 4 pin plug and its long wire straight down past the converter to the belly pan. Best to remove the belly pan to finish the wiring. How you route it from here depends on your hitch installation. With a fixed hitch I'd tie wrap the wires along the hitch. Since I had Bill Davis' neat Quick Release hitch, I dropped the wires through the hole above the license plate and hid the plug behind the plate. A little white tape hides the wire above the plate. The wire from the converter was exactly the right length for this. Then button it all back up. This setup is comfortable with low amp LED trailer lights. For greater loads a powered converter (with a separate fused lead off the battery) might be easier on your LEAF.
 
I like your train cars those are unique. I also bought the hitch from Bill online here. He really has it worked down to a science. I think I looked at all the parts for probably a week before I attempted to install it. I watched the videos, looked at the instructions over and over and it did install easily after taking your time and not rushing it.

I tow around a little trailer to get Home Depot stuff with. It's a very light trailer, I can pick it up and just push it wherever I want. It fits plywood so that is important. I did use the powered converter Hopkins 46255. Very happy with it.
 
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