Trailer Hitch -- anyone done it?

[cyphergirl]

Anyone installed a trailer hitch on their Baja?  How difficult is it?<br><br>I've read the PDF instructions, and it looks fairly straight forward, but I want to make sure before my husband and I undertake this.  I really don't feel like shelling out $175 to the dealer if we can do it ourselves.<br><br>--patti

[jaxed]

Everything I have heard (and read) indicates that the Suby trailer hitch is a breeze to install.  I will be getting one for myself one of these days....

[mbaksic]

Hey Patti, did you see what I wrote up for you under your accessory question?? Hitch wasn't hard to do but the wiring will give you a workout. It wasn't hard to do, but you need to get through the rear bulkhead. Since my bedliner was out, I went right through the rubber plug for the rear wiring harness, its above and ahead of the right rear strut. That gets it into the truck. Then had to remove some of the trim to bring it under the rear seat. Went under rear seat to drivers side, and tucked it under the sill plate all the way to the front. Got up under the dash, and pushed wire through another plug and brought it up to the battery. Then put a 20 amp fuse on the wire at the battery. Like I said, it was some work, and if you have had car interiors apart before, its not too bad. Just have to take your time so you (hopefully) don't break anything.   Mike

[cyphergirl]

Yeah, I did see it.<br><br>Of course, my husband changed his mind and decided to put the hitch on his truck instead cuz it will only cost him $50.  

[mbaksic]

Yes, thats a lot cheaper than the Baja hitch. May be able to tow alot more too. I think that the Baja is rated for 2200 lbs max. And if it gets that heavy, you would probably need trailer brakes. I don't plan on towing that much, just my ATV, and that with trailer should be about 1100 lbs.  Mike

[cyphergirl]

We're only plannning on towing two motorcycles.  Mine is fairly light, his is average, so we should be well under 2200 lbs.  But since the truck will be cheaper, looks like he gets the hitch.  

[canuck37]

Yes, thats a lot cheaper than the Baja hitch. May be able to tow alot more too. I think that the Baja is rated for 2200 lbs max. And if it gets that heavy, you would probably need trailer brakes. I don't plan on towing that much, just my ATV, and that with trailer should be about 1100 lbs. Mike

Hey, Mike!
How goes it?? Quick question - when you wired your trailer up (I'm doing that now) did you have a reason not to either tap into the pre-installed plug under the RH fender wall? I'm thinking that either buying the OE Subie harness that will plug right into that or just using it to tap into a WalMart harness wire by wire is the way to go. Just curious.....I'm wondering if the whole "switched ground" issue is going to crop up here as a complication as it did for my driving light install.... Take care, Fraser

[Kev M]

Yes, thats a lot cheaper than the Baja hitch. May be able to tow alot more too. I think that the Baja is rated for 2200 lbs max. And if it gets that heavy, you would probably need trailer brakes. I don't plan on towing that much, just my ATV, and that with trailer should be about 1100 lbs. Mike

Hey, Mike!
How goes it?? Quick question - when you wired your trailer up (I'm doing that now) did you have a reason not to either tap into the pre-installed plug under the RH fender wall? I'm thinking that either buying the OE Subie harness that will plug right into that or just using it to tap into a WalMart harness wire by wire is the way to go. Just curious.....I'm wondering if the whole "switched ground" issue is going to crop up here as a complication as it did for my driving light install.... Take care, Fraser

I wimped out and just had the dealer install a hitch and wiring (I made a deal that all parts or accessories would be dealer cost for one year so it was cheap).

But if I were to do it myself, I'd always go OE for the wiring.

I've seen too many problems with aftermarket harnesses and wire taps. NEVER pierce a good wire!!!!

I haven't looked at the turn signal circuits, so I don't know if they are switched grounds or not, but I'm sure the OE harness would address the issue either way.

Kev

[mbaksic]

Yes, thats a lot cheaper than the Baja hitch. May be able to tow alot more too. I think that the Baja is rated for 2200 lbs max. And if it gets that heavy, you would probably need trailer brakes. I don't plan on towing that much, just my ATV, and that with trailer should be about 1100 lbs. Mike

Hey, Mike!
How goes it?? Quick question - when you wired your trailer up (I'm doing that now) did you have a reason not to either tap into the pre-installed plug under the RH fender wall? I'm thinking that either buying the OE Subie harness that will plug right into that or just using it to tap into a WalMart harness wire by wire is the way to go. Just curious.....I'm wondering if the whole "switched ground" issue is going to crop up here as a complication as it did for my driving light install.... Take care, Fraser

HI Fraser, I just went with the aftermarket one because I wanted to keep the wiring plug out of the weather. With the factory plug being located behind the wheel, i figured that corrosion would be an issue in awhile. I live here in the land of lotsasalt here in Wisconsin, so it was an ssue for me. The way I have it right now, i tapped into the factory wiring behind the right side of the bedliner. Any connections I made I soldered and shrink wrapped. So they should be salt proof, I hope. The only bad part of the deal was runnin the power wire all the way to the battery. That was a pita! The splitter box is mounted behind the bedliner on the right side so its out of the way, and the pigtail runs out from under the bedliner at the bottom. So its all hidden. Works nice. Its just a matter of how much work you want to do. The factory one is alot easier, thats for sure. I wanted all of my wiring heavy duty, so I did what I did. The splitter box with the power source at the battery takes all of the load, the factory wiring is only used as in input to the box to tell it what light to turn on. Mike

[Kev M]

If you think corrosion is an issue, coat all terminals generously with dielectric grease before connecting.

K

[mbaksic]

If you think corrosion is an issue, coat all terminals generously with dielectric grease before connecting.

K

Did that already, but grease isn't always foolproof, especially in the land of salt!!
Another nice thing about having the plug in the box, I have it plugged into a lite that I can use as a cargo lite with the tonneau cover on. Works great. And since it only works with the headlites on, I never have to worry about leaving it on and killing the battery if I forget to shut it off. Mike

[Kev M]

If you think corrosion is an issue, coat all terminals generously with dielectric grease before connecting.

K

Did that already, but grease isn't always foolproof, especially in the land of salt!!

Dude, you're talking to a tech in the marine industry. Trust me, you can deal with salt

[mbaksic]

If you think corrosion is an issue, coat all terminals generously with dielectric grease before connecting.

K

Did that already, but grease isn't always foolproof, especially in the land of salt!!

Dude, you're talking to a tech in the marine industry. Trust me, you can deal with salt

What is the marine industry??? Do you have any salt there?? Maybe only in the winter time. HAHAHAHA

[Kev M]

Did that already, but grease isn't always foolproof, especially in the land of salt!!

Dude, you're talking to a tech in the marine industry. Trust me, you can deal with salt

What is the marine industry??? Do you have any salt there?? Maybe only in the winter time. HAHAHAHA

Guess you've never been to FL and the carribean, talk about SALT...

[mbaksic]

Dude, you're talking to a tech in the marine industry. Trust me, you can deal with salt

What is the marine industry??? Do you have any salt there?? Maybe only in the winter time. HAHAHAHA

Guess you've never been to FL and the carribean, talk about SALT...

.

Guess you have never been to Wisconsin in the winter, either. It's the favorite pastime, everytime you get a flake of snow, salt the hell out of everything, because nobody knows how to drive in the stuff. And if you don't salt the heck out of everything, you get about 400 accidents in the county that morning!!
Sand, we don't use no stinkin sand around here in the winter!! Mike