Stock Tow Hitch, Anybody use it?

[trayson]

John,
I don't know the whole answer to your question, but here is one thing I did find out during my swap.
I was able to buy a used trailer wire harness that had the proper 7 pin connector. I believe the harness came off of a F-150. I installed my class III and bought a Ford stock 7 pin plug to fit into the hitch.
I cut off the plug from that harness that fit into the back of the hitch plug. I decided to cut off my stock 4 pin plug and then solder my F-150 plug in it's place. When I unwrapped some of the stock 4 pin wiring tape, low and behold, buried inside was nothing other than a blue brake wire, folded over on itself. Seems they have the brake wire, just didn't need it for the 4 wire plug. So...the brake wire is in there. That leads me to think that you should be able to find the under dash wire too?!
I ended up with a nice, stock looking 7 wire plug on my class III. I only soldered up 5 of the wires. There are still 2 that I wrapped up...just like the blue brake one was, and hid back inside the wraps. I guess they are for aux lights, etc for a camper or something?
I am quite pleased with my project now. Lot's of compliments on my work. My cutting and splicing was all done so I didn't have to use any adapters under the bumper...it's now all one piece. Just substituted the 7 pin plug in place of the 4 pin.
All you have to do is find another Ford vehicle with the correct plug.
Good luck and please post your findings.
Ken

Here's the 7-pole wiring diagram: http://www.rverscorner.com/wiring/7pole.html

For me, it was crucial to have the center (auxillary) power wired up. I use the auxillary 12v to power the fridge on 12-volts while I'm driving down the road (or I could charge my trailer battery as well) Personally, I prefer to have it be 12v switched, so I don't kill the battery on my tow vehicle when I'm talked at a restaurant with the tow vehicle powering the fridge of the trailer.

Why didn't you just buy the 7-pole that was actually for the explorer that plugs into the harness under the passenger side rear tail-light? Sounds easier than splicing to me...

 

[FordLover]

I agree with all of that logic, homerexplorer. So I went against the advise of the Ford dealer and bought a class 3 from U-haul, installed it myself and then...

Loaded up my 2300 lb tent trailer with probably another 500 lbs in luggage, etc in the cargo area and inside the trailer. As soon as I hit 65 mph, trailer started whipping on me. So, I thought "Too much tongue wieght" and rearrranged some stuff, no help. Next I Flipped over my 1" drop receiver to make it a 3/4 rise, no help. I then bought a 3 1/2 inch rise, no help. I finally put the ball back on my bumper, tows perfectly no matter how I load it. Only thing I can figure is that the extra extension of the receiver was causing just enough leverage to put me over the edge. Any ideas? Otherwise, I guess my Class 3 hitch is just going to be a support brace to keep my bumper from bending down. Worst thing is the wife saying "You should have listened to the Ford guy!"

My mother has basically the same truck, minus the tow package. her 2000 mountianeer has the 4.0 liter and 3.55's and is rated to tow 5600 lbs. I've towed a car hauler trailer with a Taurus on it and didn't have a single sway issue with the u-haul hitch and draw bar, and that would have been far too much weight to put on the bumper. I believe the bumper is only rated for 300 lbs. of tongue weight, which also counts towards payload capacity, and SUV's are really easy to overload when you add people and stuff to the truck, then add another couple hundred lbs. to the hitch.

 

[Bottomlesspit]

Trayson,
I agree with you about it being easier to buy the correct harness and plug it in. $75.00 more was the main reaon. I could not find the correct harness anywhere except for a new one from Ford. They wanted right at 100.00 for it. I got this harness for $20 and it works great. I could always add the aux power connection later if I need it.
When I bought the used harness I was actually hoping it might just plug in...I really wasn't sure what it had, what it came off of, etc. I just needed to get that proper plug attached to the hitch so I could tow my boat fast!
Ken

 

[Shadow71]

Class limits.

Class 1 (Class I) hitch
Trailer hitch with capacity of up to 2,000 lbs gross trailer weight and 200 lbs tongue weight.

Class 2 (Class II) hitch
Trailer hitch with weight-carrying rating of up to 3,500 lbs gross trailer weight and 300/350 lbs tongue weight.

Class 3 (Class III) hitch
Trailer hitch with weight carrying rating of up to 5,000 lbs gross trailer weight and 500 lbs tongue weight. Also sometimes used to refer to a hitch with any 2" receiver, regardless of rating.

Class 4 (Class IV) hitch
Trailer hitch with weight carrying rating of up to 10,000 lbs gross trailer weight and 1,000 - 1,200 lbs tongue weight. Although many times any hitch with a capacity greater than 5,000 lbs gross weight is referred to as a Class 4.

Fifth wheel hitch
A Class 5 hitch that mounts in the bed of pickup truck which uses a plate in the bed of the truck (similiar to a semi-tractor) and a pin on the trailer.

 

[TinwoodyII]

UHAUL Trailer

Have anyone of you tryed to rent a trailer from uhual, their website says they wont rent to anyone pulling w/ an explorer, but has anyone actually tried. I'm sure some smaller people wouldnt care...

I didn't try to rent a trailer, but the UHAUL in Sacramento was more than willing to sell me a Class III Hitch - I didn't buy I because I didn't think it was a correct replacement for my 2005 Explorere

 

[hckynut]

Hey Trayson and Bottomlesspit,

Thanks for your replies. When i did the swap i also swaped out the 4 pin for the 7 pin wiring harness, so its there, but my question is do I have the provisions there to hook up the electric brake controller, or do i need to run a new wire from under the dash, in order to hook up the brake controller, since the vechile came with only the 4 pin harness from the factory. Do they wire all explores the same and then just either plug in a 4 or 7 pin harness depending on the trailer tow package ordered?

Thanks again
John

 

[trayson]

Hey Trayson and Bottomlesspit,

Thanks for your replies. When i did the swap i also swaped out the 4 pin for the 7 pin wiring harness, so its there, but my question is do I have the provisions there to hook up the electric brake controller, or do i need to run a new wire from under the dash, in order to hook up the brake controller, since the vechile came with only the 4 pin harness from the factory. Do they wire all explores the same and then just either plug in a 4 or 7 pin harness depending on the trailer tow package ordered?

Thanks again
John

I think that they do wire them the same and it's a matter of which harness that you plug in for 4 vs. 7. However, I can't say for sure.

 

[chunter007]

Did you ever figure out if the wiring harness was under the dash for the quick plug? I am also trying to install an electric brake control and when I bough my 04 explorer I negotiated the dealer to install the class III hitch. So basically I am in the same boat as you. I have looked under the dash quickly but didn't see anything standing out.

 

[fromme]

Look behind the glove box. You can open it all the way past the stops until its hanging upside down. Squeeze the stops inward and it will open for easy access to the wiring harness. If it is there, you will know it right away, each wire on the harness is labeled.