Help wiring my Hyundai to pull my LittleGuy Silver Shadow

[lisasweetie]

Alright, I plan to go get my Silver Shadow in a few weeks and need to install my trailer hitch and wiring. I actually have a friend doing the install, but my question is..... They tell me I need a 7 round connection, and I'm not sure where to get that. I've looked online and found an adapter that converts a 4 flat to a 7 round. Is that what I need??? It seems unnecessary, can't you buy a wiring package that gets you to 7 round to start with????
Since I don't know anything about electrical hook ups, please answer in small words and be kind if this is a stupid question.


Thanks so much,
Lisa

[Miriam C.]

Alright, I plan to go get my Silver Shadow in a few weeks and need to install my trailer hitch and wiring. I actually have a friend doing the install, but my question is..... They tell me I need a 7 round connection, and I'm not sure where to get that. I've looked online and found an adapter that converts a 4 flat to a 7 round. Is that what I need??? It seems unnecessary, can't you buy a wiring package that gets you to 7 round to start with????
Since I don't know anything about electrical hook ups, please answer in small words and be kind if this is a stupid question.


Thanks so much,
Lisa

Lisa you should be able to get a 7-round at any auto parts store, any trailer dealer or your auto dealer. Oh yeah and at U-haul!

Good luck.

[Dale M.]

At basic minimum you need flat four connector , for a groud wire, tail lights, and combined stop/turn lights....

Best option may be to be is go to one of several discount trailer parts sites on internet and see if the is a properly designed and manufactured "plug in" wiring harness that will do the job for you....

http://www.trailerpart.com/hitchguide.htm
http://shop.easternmarine.com/index.cfm
http://www.etrailer.com/wiring.aspx

Many more out there just GOOGLE "discount trailer parts"...

The advantage of the 7 pin connector is that it not only has the basic functions (minimum requirements) that you can also have electric brakes wired through connector IF trailer requires them and there is also a supply (or possibly can be -with added wiring in tow vehicle) for charging a battery in trailer as long as it is hooked up to tow vehicle...

The 7 pin is my preferred choice because it covers all options, but my towing style varies and I tow many different trailer for many different purposes. At bare minimum the flat four connector works for many people and many never see a need for more than the basics....

With todays vehicle wiring and so many things controlled by the onboard computes (yes even lighting) I think the "custom wiring harness" for a reputable manufacturer is way to go. Trying to adapt something in back yard with little knowledge of "new" systems in auto may be more costly that buying factory options...

Dale

[bobhenry]

Who is THEY ? The folks at silver shadow ?

Is there an on board battery that needs charged ?

Is it equipted with electric brakes ?

Are the DC fixtures ran off of a seperate feed line rather than off of the tail light circuit ?

Most of the newer models have a plug and play system just pull of a cap open on the vehicle and plug in the proper module unfortunatly most of these are 4 way flat configurations. Beware just cutting into wires and splicing on. This was great on a 65 Chevy but most new models hve seperate turn and brake lights and back feeding thru these circuits can leave you in the dark.

I am certain that the folks at the dealership where you are picking up your unit have done many a hook up and you may wish to ask prior to arrival if they can handle the task.

Auntie M is right about U-Haul as an ex manager we installed a little over 1000 hitches a year in my small center and the larger COMPANY centers will be quite capable of installing what you need.

[Senior Ninja]

Hi,
I got my four pin set up at Walmart. Each wire was labeled for ease of hok up.
I believe they also had seven wire. They had a lot of other stuff as well.
Steve

[iplay10us2]

Lisa:

I have a Silver Shadow that also has the 7 pin round connector. My car is a Subaru Forester that is wired with a 4-way flat. I bought the 4 to 7 adapter at U-Haul and it works fine for me. It just doesn't charge the battery on the teardrop when it is being towed, but all of the lights on the teardrop work just fine. I also had U-Haul mount the adapter on my car, so now I am able to tow with either the 4-way or the 7 pin.

[Nobody]

Lisa, dunno which Hyundai you have but I installed the hitch receiver & wiring on my wife's 2003 Santa Fe by myself. If your friend is at all 'handy' & has a modicum of tools, it's a snap. I used this receiver - http://www.etrailer.com/pc-H~V82241.htm ... d=20037066 - which fits 2001 thru 2006 Santa Fe, & this wiring harness - http://www.etrailer.com/pc-VWH~118310.h ... d=20037066 - which fits the same years Santa Fe. It uses a 4-flat plug but as far as I've been able to find there's no 7-pin wiring harness made for the Santa Fe. If you need a charging wire or other power source, I'm pretty sure additional wires could be run & a 7-pin receptacle could be fitted in place of the 4-flat, otherwise, just use the 4-flat to 7-pin adapter. I'm not a total novice at either auto/trailer wiring or mechanical so it took me a couple of hours to install the hitch receiver & probably another couple of hours to install the wiring harness (mainly because I had to actually 'disassemble' a couple of inner panels to 'plug-in' the wiring). The website listed also has links to downloadable instructions for installing both items that were of great help to me. There's another wiring harness - http://www.etrailer.com/p-118473.htm - that's about$20 more expensive but says it has an 'Upgraded Circuit Protector' & specifically mentions that it can be used with 5-pole, 6-pole, or 7-pole adapters. Dunno if that's worth it or not but if I'd seen it when I ordered I'd probably have gotten it.

[lisasweetie]

Lisa, dunno which Hyundai you have but I installed the hitch receiver & wiring on my wife's 2003 Santa Fe by myself. If your friend is at all 'handy' & has a modicum of tools, it's a snap. I used this receiver - http://www.etrailer.com/pc-H~V82241.htm ... d=20037066 - which fits 2001 thru 2006 Santa Fe, & this wiring harness - http://www.etrailer.com/pc-VWH~118310.h ... d=20037066 - which fits the same years Santa Fe. It uses a 4-flat plug but as far as I've been able to find there's no 7-pin wiring harness made for the Santa Fe. If you need a charging wire or other power source, I'm pretty sure additional wires could be run & a 7-pin receptacle could be fitted in place of the 4-flat, otherwise, just use the 4-flat to 7-pin adapter. I'm not a total novice at either auto/trailer wiring or mechanical so it took me a couple of hours to install the hitch receiver & probably another couple of hours to install the wiring harness (mainly because I had to actually 'disassemble' a couple of inner panels to 'plug-in' the wiring). The website listed also has links to downloadable instructions for installing both items that were of great help to me. There's another wiring harness - http://www.etrailer.com/p-118473.htm - that's about$20 more expensive but says it has an 'Upgraded Circuit Protector' & specifically mentions that it can be used with 5-pole, 6-pole, or 7-pole adapters. Dunno if that's worth it or not but if I'd seen it when I ordered I'd probably have gotten it.

Harvey,
Thanks, that looks like the ticket. I'll let you know how it goes. FYI, I have an Elantra (06) and the LittleGuy wiring requires a 7 pin to recharge the battery when hooked to the tow vehicle.

[Nobody]

Lisa, for an '06 Elantra you'll need this hitch receiver - http://www.etrailer.com/pc-H~24703.htm? ... d=20062393 - from etrailer.com or one similar from another source. Installation instructions are here - http://www.etrailer.com/instructions.aspx?pn=24703 - & it looks like a pretty straight forward job. It appears there are no 'plug in' wiring harnesses for your vehicle so the elect will have to be 'hardwired' to existing vehicle wiring. There are several kits available here - http://www.etrailer.com/c-ELEB.htm - I'd use #118175KIT or #119130 as it will work with either incandescent or LED lights. Your friend will hafta 'splice' off of the 4-flat wires to add a 7-pin receptacle, & also run a wire from the battery or alternator for TD battery charging. If you need/have electric brakes he'll also need to run a wire from the brake controller to the 7-pin receptacle as well as a power wire from the battery to the controller. I'd say the wiring installation will be more complicated than the hitch receiver but it ain't beyond the capability of a good 'handy-man'. Only thing is your vehicle is limited to 2000lbs towing & 200lbs tongue weight, & the hitch recommended, a Class I, uses a 1 1/4" ball mount instead of 2" but I've seen a lot of TD's being towed by that hitch combo. Good luck!

[wlooper89]

Hi Lisa,

I have a 2006 Little Guy that came with a four-pin trailer light connector. My Jeep had the 7-pin one so I had to change one or the other, or use an adapter. My choice was to get a new cable and connector for the trailer with seven pins. It took a bit of wiring connections to make the change but I am glad I did that. Since then I have added a trailer battery and there was a wire in the Jeep 7-pin connector to charge it from the tow vehicle alternator.

My new tow car came prewired with just the four wire hookup, but my hitch installer knew how to add the battery charge wire and seven pin connector. If you think you may want to charge a trailer battery from the tow vehicle then a seven-pin connector is the way to go. Another option for short trips is to leave home with the trailer battery fully charged and wait until returning home to recharge it. Or a converter will power DC things in the trailer and charge the battery if the campground has electric hookup.

Bill

[tearhead]

Chiming in later, here, but found this helpful video that shows it to be very simple to plug the wiring into a Subaru Forester

http://www.pdfboom.com/video_collection ... om/36.html

I think both the video and the wiring are also accessible through etrailer.com

[rvsixer]

I found this video while looking for info on wiring up my '08 Sonata (thank you google):
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 6433371734