[Bontro]

I need to have my RAV wired for trailer lights, but don't have the time (and probably not the skill) to do it myself. So I was wondering if anyone who has had a dealership do this for them could tell me how much it's going to cost.

 

[Harold]

The harness itself lists for US$139 but I paid US$111.20. The installation time is listed at 2 hours. I am not familiar with your local labour rates but assuming a shop rate of $75/hr, your total cost should be about $300.

 

[franco90]

it be cheaper to do it your sel if any help is we r here for u

 

[Bontro]

Harold, I know that on some previous posts it seemed like you were going to do the trailer wiring yourself. Did you end up taking on the task yet? If so, how did it go for you? What was the most difficult part? How long did it take?

A lot of questions, I know

 

[tecsol1]

Don't quite understand , Picked up the V6 Sport last night and saw the Tow package listing and it stated"Wire Prep"

I know a harness or aftermarket is needed but what prep for the wires is provided compared to w/o the tow prep package?

 

[Harold]

The only Wire Prep provided in the tow package is a 30A circuit that runs from the fuse box under the hood to the area near the driver's feet. The Toyota trailer wiring harness plugs into this circuit to provide power to the trailer lights.

I finally got all of the electrical wiring diagrams and have confirmed that there is no pre-wiring provided for trailer brakes or trailer battery charging. This means that I will have to do these two circuits the old fashioned way. I hope to tackle the trailer wiring this weekend.

 

[Bontro]

I won't be wiring my RAV for electronic breaks or trailer battery charging. I just need to get a regular 4-pin back to my trailer.

Harold, I (along with the rest of the RAV world) am counting on you to come back and tell is that doing the trailer wiring yourself was easy. Don't let us down. :thumbs_up:

 

[kevvan]

I installed the wiring kit last weekend. It wasn't too terribly hard but it wasn't terribly easy either. In my opinion the instructions were pretty difficult to follow. Not verbose enough and the pictures are too small and complicated to figure out. On the whole the process took me about 2 1/2 hours and some guidance before you start will make things a lot easier to grasp.

I took some pictures during the process for everyone and wrote some notes that should help others who follow. I'll share them when I get a chance to write them up and post them.

I have a limited with the tow package and no matter what trim level you have the information should help you through the process.

 

[Bontro]

Kevvan, that would be a great help to me

 

[tecsol1]

I'll second that!, trying to see if I go with the factory wires or a POWER CONVERTER 3rd party arrangement. Look forward to seeing the info!!!

 

[Harold]

I installed my trailer wiring harness yesterday. I agree with Kevvan's assessment of the job and would certainly not call it easy. It took me about 4 hours but I could easily do another Rav in 2 hours now that I know how to do it. The toughest part physically is crawling under the dash to do the electrical connections. I found a mechanics mirror to be a big help for that part. The toughest part mentally is pulling off the plastic interior pieces hoping that nothing breaks. The only special tools required are a torque wrench for the seatbelt bolts and a clip removal tool to remove the white plastic panel clips from the body when they don't come off with the panels as they should. I had to remove 5 clips with it. The instructions assume the person doing the work is familiar with interior panel removal and especially installation. It takes a bit of mechanical reasoning to figure out how things go back together, for example: When putting the rear side panel back on there are some clips that have to go under the rubber molding by the left rear door. If you pull the rubber partially off before putting the panel on, it goes into position easily. The instructions do not cover reassembly at all. Basically it's the tried and true instruction that shows up in every repair manual that I have ever read: "Assembley is the reverse of disassembly".

If you are trying to figure out whether you should do this yourself or pay someone to do it, get a copy of the wiring harness installation manual from your dealer or from the Toyota Information System website http://www.techinfo.toyota.com and read through it to get an idea of what is involved. If you are inexperienced or have any doubts about your abilities, and if you can find a dealer that you trust who will install the harness for 2 hours labour, I think it is probably the way to go if . I did the job myself because I was also installing a trailer brake and trailer battery charging circuit at the same time. The extra time to do this part was not included in the 4 hours that I quoted.

 

[tecsol1]

Would the canadian version be the same as the US?

 

[Harold]

The Canadadian wiring harness is exactly the same as the US version and even have the same part number. The harness that I installed happened to be from the US and the installation instructions from my dealer in Canada are the same as the ones on the US Toyota Information System website.

 

[kevino25701]

Reese T-Connector

Has anyone tried the new Reese T-Connector? The dealers and websites I've contacted say it's on back order. Part number from Reese is 118412.

Anyone seen a cost of it yet?