A Tale of Two (or Three, or Four) Hitches

[campism]

I won't keep you in suspense. Didn't finish today. Did get the wiring harness done and it bench tested okay and I got the hitch mounted but I went for the ceremonial Transfer of the Hitch Ball from the minivan receiver to this new one and...wrong size hole. Need a new hitch ball for the 3/4" hole so I did not bother backing out of the garage and over to the trailer for the full operations test and will do that tomorrow.

Wiring was not a huge deal. I'd never done one of these before. The trailer came with the flat-4 wiring which happened to match the van at the time and the vans since were the same, hitches and flat-4 that all worked from the get-go. The instructions were good and only the confined workspace made it a hassle. I slit the plastic sheath about 4" back from the taillight plug on the driver's side and tied it back with zip ties, then isolated the three wires for the left side taps (taillight, brake, left turn) and also ran the green wire to the right side for the right turn signal hookup. Also ran the white ground wire for the converter.

Rather than cut wires short I just looped the excess and tied those bundles and sealed the converter in a plastic bag.

Ran the plug to the license plate door and tucked it inside the opening with enough slack to reach the trailer plug. The van plug has lights built into it so you can see if each function works, which these do so far.

Slack from the trailer will reach this far.

Offset on the backing plate for the hitch bolts goes toward the rear. Leave the first side's bolt very loose when installing. If you snug it up there's not enough clearance below the bumper to get the bolt all the way in on the other side.

Ta da!

I'm really glad this is a simple utility trailer. My dad had a fishing boat and built his own trailer for it. He fished in salt water and every spring was a ritual (his word) for him to get the trailer lights working properly.

More tomorrow.
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'87 Westy in Wolfram Grey Metallic

[campism]

Done. It works. Whew!

Bought a new hitch ball at Lowe's and installed it, then backed out of the garage and across the drive and hooked things up for the trailer test. Lights work okay but the right side trailer light is a little dim so I will add a ground to see if that improves things. The converter I bought is not powered so that might have something to do with the lights, but our use averages about one run a month and only in the daytime, so I'm not going to worry about it. It's legal, and trailers without brakes do not get inspected.

Pulling is okay. The trailer weighs about 600# and unladen is barely noticeable--and is completely invisible--behind the van. I have a couple of 3' long PVC pipes with reflective safety tape on them that the trailer's PO mounted vertically at the rear corners and I'll put those back on, but I'm pretty pleased overall. Hitch height is a couple of inches taller than the minivan but I can live with that.

I can probably resist the temptation to find another pair of CLKs for the trailer. Now I can retire the minivan, remove that hitch in case I get another Gen 4 Mopar, and donate the van to our local Public Radio station.

Thanks for reading along. Now, on to other chores.
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'87 Westy in Wolfram Grey Metallic

[Abscate]

Get a piece of loom to protect those thin 18AWG trailer wires from chafe of the license plate, or wrap in 3 wraps of good electrical tape.

These little trailers are handy indeed, nice work!
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.ssS!

[campism]

[Gnarlodious]

There’s a nifty little diagnostic gadget you can get for $7 called a “5-Pin Flat Trailer Wiring Tester for Light Wire Circuit Continuity Test”, I got one from this seller:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/132735921113
It also works normally but functionally degraded in a 4-pin socket. Really helps for verifying trailer wiring.
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Vanagon ’83 diesel AAZ w/Giles injection, 5spd 4.57R&P+TBD and a '78 diesel Rabbit

[jimf909]

Nice work. My van had a trailer light converter installed in the same place. After 10 years or more my tail/turn/brake lights started misbehaving in the strangest ways. I went after the grounds but crazyvwman immediately suggested the trailer light converter and sure enough, winter rain in that space shorted it out and the lights started behaving once I snipped the wires going to the converter. Mine wasn't in a plastic bag.

Thread...(bonus! fxr's schematic to make a converter using relays)...
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=729232&highlight=
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- Jim

[fxr]

[campism]

And this is why I needed the hitch. The mighty Mopar was donated to the local PBS station yesterday so this is the first official minivanless drayage duty for the Westy. Free oak for firewood from a neighbor!

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'87 Westy in Wolfram Grey Metallic

[Zeitgeist 13]

A. I feel vindicated to see that it didn't work out, like I said. People should listen to my rants more often.

B. I'm sorry I doubted your perseverance. Please accept this small offering of Sweet n' Low packets I collected over the years as a token of my shame.

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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[campism]