Some of you have seen this already, but I thought I'd post it here to help build our DIY archive a little bit. Hopefully it will be of use to someone who didn't see it on CX or TNX.
Hey guys and girls. Some of you may know that I nearly ripped the factory towing harness plug off my hitch a few days ago. Well, today, I repaired it by reusing the factory wiring and a $15 Hopkins plug that I picked up at Wal-Mart.
First, I removed the receiver hitch, rear bumper, and unplugged the wiring harness from the truck.
I used the bracket that came with the plug to make a template.
Then I used a 2⅛" hole saw to cut a hole in the bumper and a ³⁄₁₆" drill bit to drill the holes for the mounting screws.
I painted the bare metal after drilling with some Rustoleum to keep it from rusting.
Then I cut the old broken plug off the end of the Nissan factory harness and stripped the ends of wires.
Then I connected them to the new plug.
FYI, the color coding on the wires is as follows (as per FSM wiring diagram and double checked by me with multimeter; I'm 100% certain of these):
RED: Electric brake
BLUE: Auxiliary battery power
GREEN: Right turn/stop lamp
YELLOW: Left turn/stop lamp
BROWN: Tail lamps
WHITE: Ground
Black: Reverse lights
Fish the wiring harness through the hole in the bumper, and then using the provided hardware, mount the plug to hole in the bumper. Here is a view from the inside of the bumper.
That takes care of the wiring. Then I removed the old mounting tab from the receiver hitch. I just locked the tab in a vise and twisted the hitch by hand. It came off remarkably easily.
Then I ground the old welds down and repainted with black Rustoleum.
After the paint dried I just bolted everything back up and reconnected the plugs for the hitch wiring and license tag lights. Here's the finished product:
I'm a big believer in "if it ain't broke don't fix it." But I also believe that if it does break, replace it with something better. This, I think, is better.
Hope this helps someone!!
Hey guys and girls. Some of you may know that I nearly ripped the factory towing harness plug off my hitch a few days ago. Well, today, I repaired it by reusing the factory wiring and a $15 Hopkins plug that I picked up at Wal-Mart.
First, I removed the receiver hitch, rear bumper, and unplugged the wiring harness from the truck.
I used the bracket that came with the plug to make a template.
Then I used a 2⅛" hole saw to cut a hole in the bumper and a ³⁄₁₆" drill bit to drill the holes for the mounting screws.
I painted the bare metal after drilling with some Rustoleum to keep it from rusting.
Then I cut the old broken plug off the end of the Nissan factory harness and stripped the ends of wires.
Then I connected them to the new plug.
FYI, the color coding on the wires is as follows (as per FSM wiring diagram and double checked by me with multimeter; I'm 100% certain of these):
RED: Electric brake
BLUE: Auxiliary battery power
GREEN: Right turn/stop lamp
YELLOW: Left turn/stop lamp
BROWN: Tail lamps
WHITE: Ground
Black: Reverse lights
Fish the wiring harness through the hole in the bumper, and then using the provided hardware, mount the plug to hole in the bumper. Here is a view from the inside of the bumper.
That takes care of the wiring. Then I removed the old mounting tab from the receiver hitch. I just locked the tab in a vise and twisted the hitch by hand. It came off remarkably easily.
Then I ground the old welds down and repainted with black Rustoleum.
After the paint dried I just bolted everything back up and reconnected the plugs for the hitch wiring and license tag lights. Here's the finished product:
I'm a big believer in "if it ain't broke don't fix it." But I also believe that if it does break, replace it with something better. This, I think, is better.
Hope this helps someone!!
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