Plug-N-Tow (TM) Vehicle Wiring Harness

Video Transcript for Trailer Wiring Harness Installation - 2010 Chevy Express Van

Today on this 2010 Chevy Express Van we are going to install wiring kit part number 31345 from Hopkins. First we need to access the rear of the vehicle and locate the manufacturer plugs for the rear tail lights. We are going to disconnect the two, there is a push tab to press and pull the connection out of the bottom. We are going to plug our new connector in line with these two. :26

We are going to use the short plug off of the module, which is also the red and yellow plug. You can see the red and yellow wires. We are going to connect those in line wit the manufacturers harness. Press them firmly together, making sure the locking tab snaps in place. We are going to go ahead and install our ground wire now using the ground bolt that is already set up by the manufacturer. We are going to take that ground bolt out. We will put our bolt through our terminal and install it. 1:01

Now that we have installed it, we are going to go ahead and bundle our wires up here and put them in the sub channel of the vehicle. Before I stick it in, I want to put my 4-pole plug that we are adding and route it down the sub-channel and pull it out the lower access hole. Now you will see I have two wires left. The green wire is going to route over to the passenger side. What we are going to do there is follow the manufacturers harness here and use zip ties and black tape. As you can see here, we have some extra wire left over. What we are going to do is zip tie it up and out of the way. This is our passenger side connection. Again, we press on the locking tab and pull the bottom out. Then install our new connector in line with the manufacturers, firmly pressing them into place so they lock together. 2:10

Now all we need to do is make a connection with our power wire. Take the spool of wire that came with the kit and route it to the battery. Bring it up and out, make a connection. We are going to crimp that down. Then I want to go back with a little black electrical tape and tuck that back down into the channel. Pull my wire out here with my 4-pole plug. Now I am going to use 1/2 inch loom clamps. This is part number A0500. Use them to attach my wires and secure them to the vehicle. I am going to run the wires down here to the corner, and use another loom clamp to attach them. Now what I am going to do is pull back the weather stripping here and take a small corner out of the body lip so we can route our wires past it and underneath the vehicle. Im using tin snips to cut off the corner to allow us access to route our wires outside the vehicle. Then I will put the weather stripping back to help hold and secure the wires. You can see here where our wires have come down through the channel that we just fed them in. When routing your hot lead, you want to make sure you stay clear of any hazards that could damage the wire. This includes pinch points, exhaust locations, and heat. I choose to run mine through the frame of the vehicle. You can see here where we have come out of the frame to go up to the battery of the vehicle. Ive got about 4 feet of wire left that I know is not going to be long enough to get all the way to the battery, this is because of the route I chose and the make and model of this particular vehicle. So I am going to add some wire to it. First, I am going to strip back some of the outer coating and add a butt connector. Crimp it down securely to make your connection. The color of the wire does not matter, but the gauge does. I have some 10 gauge black wire I am going to use to finish routing to my battery. So I am going to strip that back, and crimp it down in my butt connector, making a connection. Then I am going to take some black tap and wrap the connection up. Now we can finish routing our wire up to the battery. 5:09

I am going to go head up the frame channel, following the fire wall to get into the engine compartment. Now I am going to pull my wire up through the engine compartment here. Now we are going to follow the manufacturers harness and route over to our battery. You can see here we have made it to our battery. Before I cut off my wire, I want to secure the routing all the way from the frame to the battery to make sure were good. What I am going to be using to secure it is some zip ties. Up here on the top side of the engine I am going to zip tie off the manufacturers harness. Clip off the excess. Now we are ready to connect to our battery. First, disconnect the battery, then we need to remove this bolt for the battery hold down. Now that we have the battery hold down bolt out, we can install our new battery terminal, which you can see has an additional post, so we can add our terminal to it. Now we have our positive battery cable reinstalled, now you can see we have a terminal we can access, so we can add our power wire. Im going to strip back my new power wire I am installing, make a good connection with our fuse lead. We are going to crimp that down. I like to go ahead and wrap it in electrical tape. Now we can install the terminal on our new battery post. Tighten down the supplied nut on our new post, and install our fuse and fuse cap. This completes the installation of our new 4-pole connector on our 2010 Chevy Express Van.