|
Having this wiring exposed, as shown in the factory instructions, is kind of cheesy. I was not able to alternately fish the wiring up through the body through the rear of the removable grommet sealing the tail light wiring in place. There may not be enough wire length for this wire routing anyway…. However, a different wiring harness routing would provide a more professional finish.
10. Plug the wiring harness into each polarized tail light socket instructions. Stick down the wiring harness converter box with the supplied sticky tape just under the left tail light grommet as recommended. Reinstall the tail light assemblies now or later. Pull the excess harness wiring down through the bumper fascia until snug.
11. Cable tie/secure the wiring harness on to 2 holes available under the bumper. You won't be able to do this after mounting the hitch. Let the center trailer connector hang loose for now.
12. Use 4 long leftover bolts [mounted vertically] and 4 short bolts [mounted horizontally] supplied by Draw Tite with washers to mount the hitch. Hold the 4 loose nuts stationary with an open end wrench while tightening the long bolts.
Torque specs: Long bolts = 68 ft. lbs.
Short M10 bolts into existing welded frame nuts = 38 ft. lbs.
First, I had to hammer hard on the hitch end plate a few times and bend it in to ensure clearance up inside the Montero frame. I had good luck supporting the hitch with my knee while getting one bolt in on one side of the hitch. However, using a 2nd person or wood blocks or a jack to support the hitch would have been more convenient. Push the hitch backwards as much as possible before tightening any bolts to provide maximum spare tire clearance later.
13. Reinstall all bumper and fascia hardware in reverse order. Remount spare tire. As reported by other Writers, the spare tire fit is DAMNED tight. My spare almost didn't mount back up completely. I will eventually mount a spare tire with worn tread of a slightly-smaller diameter to ensure that it better clears the center of the hitch receiver [the tire sticking point].
14. Snap the square electrical harness connector onto the hitch receiver safety chain loop. This can be the permanent connector to the trailer if you like.
If you want to wire on a polarized round trailer connector, there is not a prefab connector mounting place provided on the hitch. One has to get creative in finishing out this electrical and mechanical detail.
Hitch cost was not a big issue. I bought a Draw Tite hitch for these very subjective reasons:
a. It completely hides VERY NICELY up under the bumper fascia, exposing only the 2" receiver. Appearance matters…
b. I did not want a hitch protruding back in the way of our old dog jumping out of the hatch door. It's a challenge for him as it is…
c. I bashed my shins on my '90 Montero hitch enough times to want a hidden hitch mount.
d. Taking tips from other Writers, I did not want a low hitch mount dragging during 4 wheeling.
e. I did not want or need the foot step reportedly included on the factory hitch.
f. Having been rear-ended years ago, I didn't much care about the additional rear crash protection that some Writers say is provided by some other trailer hitch designs. ;-0
No animals, knuckles or eardrums were harmed in the mounting of this trailer hitch.
|
|
