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Bill Winney 04-01-2009 05:18 PM

Towing Hitch
 
Just installed a tow hitch on my FEH. It was a:

Valley Class III Round Tube Receiver Hitch with Integrated Wiring
Part Number: V88030

Came with a wiring harness that dropped right in.

Piece of cake to put in. Everything lined up and the special wire thingy to thread the bolts into the frame channels worked like a champ.

Got mine from eTrailer.com.

gpcpilot 04-01-2009 06:45 PM

Re: Towing Hitch
 
Did it require a special wiring device... I forget what they're called, but I've heard our FEH's electrical systems can't handle direct wiring, there's some device that hooks in and manages the trailer lights. That's what I'm wondering if you have one of those or not. :)

-Tony

Bill Winney 04-01-2009 08:05 PM

Re: Towing Hitch
 
It came with a harness for lights. Part of that harness was a box that appears to do what you ask. Have not hooked it up to a trailer yet. Will let you know if there are any problems with it when I do. So far the checks are good.

The harness was set up to hook into the lights with plug in connectors. Nicely set up. I selected that one partly because it came with a wiring harness and also because it had the trailer connector cut into the tubes that form the receiver frame itself (so I don't have a dangling plug).

It did require one 3/32" hole to be drilled to attach the ground wire from the trailer to the frame.

gpcpilot 04-01-2009 08:53 PM

Re: Towing Hitch
 
cool, thanks!

-Tony

TeeSter 04-03-2009 09:32 AM

Re: Towing Hitch
 

Originally Posted by Bill Winney (Post 200504)
It came with a harness for lights. Part of that harness was a box that appears to do what you ask. Have not hooked it up to a trailer yet. Will let you know if there are any problems with it when I do. So far the checks are good.

The harness was set up to hook into the lights with plug in connectors. Nicely set up. I selected that one partly because it came with a wiring harness and also because it had the trailer connector cut into the tubes that form the receiver frame itself (so I don't have a dangling plug).

It did require one 3/32" hole to be drilled to attach the ground wire from the trailer to the frame.

The box that was required for the earlier FEH's (Mines an '06) will have a wire that leads all the way back to the 12V Battery! The harness that just hooks in will have a box as well. That box handles issues like combined turn signals/brake lights, etc.

The box with the 12V connection is sort of a power supply for the trailer lamps. It reads the condition of the lamps without pulling power and then powers the trailer lights with the 12V connection. The problem without it is that the FEH has a detection system that looks for the current being pulled by the lamps and if it pulls too much it signals that their is a problem and your lights will not work.

I'm guessing you have the first box that converts the separate brake/tail lights into a combined trailer signal... but, you don't have the second one. You'll know if your tail lights stop working (or turn signals) when you finally plug in a trailer.

If the trailer has LED's you might get away with it.

Wh4tig0t 04-03-2009 05:25 PM

Re: Towing Hitch
 
I have the box without the 12v supply, It works lights on or off on a small 4x8 uHaul trailer (which is about all the FEH should be towing, actually over the 1000lb limit when loaded) I think it has like a 5 watt limit or something, but it works for smaller trailers.

Wh4tig0t 04-10-2009 01:34 PM

Re: Towing Hitch
 

Originally Posted by Wh4tig0t (Post 200615)
I have the box without the 12v supply, It works lights on or off on a small 4x8 uHaul trailer (which is about all the FEH should be towing, actually over the 1000lb limit when loaded) I think it has like a 5 watt limit or something, but it works for smaller trailers.


OK update, the lights worked for about 5 minutes. My right turn signal went out a short way into my drive last weekend. Even with disconnecting the trailer, and switching the bulb it still doesn't work. I'm gonna go try and unplug the trailer harness from the right side now and see if that works.

Is there a way to reset the blinkers once they've shut themselves off?

Edit:
I disconnected the trailer wiring harness on the right side reconnected the lights and the blinkers worked. Reconnected the harness and they worked again, so i guess this was the way to reset the blinkers. The next time i plan on towing with the FEH wold be to tow my bike on a very small trailer, I will make sure it has all LED's. This problem didn't come about until i plugged the U Haul trailer in, which did not have LED's, so I think that may be the difference.

Bill Winney 06-11-2009 12:31 PM

Re: Towing Hitch
 
Picked up a trailer and sure enough the turn signals, starting with the right turn, went out with a warning display on the panel.

They reset by turning the car off.

Any leads on where to find the box with the separate 12v supply wire?

Many thanks...

Bill Winney 06-12-2009 05:11 AM

Re: Towing Hitch
 
Called E-trailer yesterday about this. They hooked me up with Valley. Valley indicated they have seen this problem and may develop a new module. They agreed to send me a new module with a separate power supply. I'll let you know how that one works.

Bill Winney 06-13-2009 04:04 PM

Re: Towing Hitch
 
It didn't come today.
Guess they wouldn't split for Saturday delivery even though they said they would.


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