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Trailer hitch, electrical stuff.

3K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  cassleshinn 
#1 ·
Hello guys,

I have a two door rav4, and I want to get a trailer hitch from a junk yard. I have two questions:

1) The trailer hitch should be mounted where the hook for towing another vehicle are, right? These hooks ( or more like a hoops where the hook is hooked ) are bolted onto the frame. Is the frame threaded or there are a nuts inside the frame? Would I be able to mount the hoops again, or I will be using the hitch itself for towing?

2) What about electricity to the hitch? Is it hard to connect, with a lot of soldering work and things, or there is a socket, where I should connect the electricity for the trailer?

Regards.
 
#2 ·
A trailer hitch is super easy to install! Mine was anyway. All I had to do was undo the where the tow-hooks (hoops/eyes) are mounted, and stick the towbar on there instead! I believe either the frame is threaded, yes, or it's a bolt welded onto it. It's one nut to undo with a socket 14mm IIRC and the eye drops right off.

The electrics were a bit more tricky, and had to be done 100% manually for me with a fair bit of trial and error and testing with a multimeter to find which wire was which for the lights/indicator setups etc, but I got there in the end.

My hitch came with the audio relay needed for hooking it all up, and some connection clips and some instructions, but you'll still need to find the correct wires and maybe run some extensions under the boot-carpet to get them all to the right place.

This was all with my 1998 2dr Rav4 freesport. Maybe with the newer models it's slightly different.
 
#3 ·
Hello Megatonks,

Thank you for you replay. You sad "run some extensions under the boot-carpet to get them all to the right place." Where is the right place? Somewhere the dash board, or i have to connect the wires directly to the tail lights by soldering?

Regards.
 
#4 ·
On the electrical do you just need trailer lights or also electric brakes and live 12V power in the trailer?
 
#6 ·
Small utility trailers only need lights which are powered via a 4-flat connector thru a converter. Plug-in T-connector/converters are readily available for the purpose. One I found on eBay is a Curt 55486. Trailer Hitch T Connector Wiring Fits Toyota RAV4 Curt 55486 | eBay

For larger camper trailers (which your 2DR RAV4 wouldn't tow) electric brakes are needed. They also need 12V power from the tow vehicle for their interior lights and appliances. That requires a larger 7-round connector, additional wiring and a brake controller.

My RAV4 has the lights-only 4-flat. The F-250s have both 4-flat and 7-round so they can tow any type trailer.
 
#8 ·
Help me get wired...

I've a 96 four-door that I've installed a Curt Manufacturing hitch and wiring harness on, but I've had problems making the lights work on the trailer.

I think the problem is with my flasher relay, does anyone know if there is a heavy duty flasher that fits the RAV4? The one in my RAV says that it's for four lights, which makes it kinda wimpy to use with a trailer.

Figuring out the problem was a real pain... I can hook the trailer to the RAV and the running lights work fine, but I can't get the flashers to work unless I use my little test light then they function fine... at least until I turn the key off. I scratched my head until a buddy suggested I look at the flasher.

Originally I thought the problem was with the 'T' wire harness Curt sent, I called them and they sent me a new unit, telling me to send back the old one when I figured-out the problem. Nice folks!

Is there a truck flasher that works in a 96 RAV?
 
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