DmanG281

iTrader: (3)

Any news on that next production?

DmanG281

iTrader: (3)

Anything yet?

DriveI65

Roark
I had a hitch made locally and before taking my car in I found a TSB on wiring for trailers. Nissan has specific instructions regarding connection to a trailer wiring harness and stock converters will not perform correctly. Eric got the correct unit from Nissan and had to run a power wire from the battery to the unit. He said that this is to protect the computer modules from shorts.
NTB04-049

Even if you already know about this, no harm mentioning it.

daveh

iTrader: (9)

ok I'm on step 1 of installation and need help

1. Remove rear combination lamp assembly. Refer to lt-199 "removal and installation".

I consider myself mechanically inclined, but I have no idea what this means? I'm sure I'll figure it out but I'm thinking others might have the same question. Maybe you can add to the instructions?

The kit looks great. Can't wait to try it out.

edit: I figured it out. Once you get in there and get your hands dirty, it's all very self explanatory. The rear combination lamp assembly is the rear tail lights. You remove the 3 caps and bolts underneath. Wiring is next..

I also weighed the kit and it comes in at under 20 lbs for those on a diet.

daveh

iTrader: (9)

Ok on to my next problem.. I can't seem to get the wiring right. Everything works as long as I don't use the running lights. Once I turn on the headlights, none of the trailer lights work and the blinkers blink fast indicating that a bulb is out.

I tested the all the circuts including the running lights and everything checks out. my ground is ok too. My neighbor who is an electrician also tried to help me out and was at a loss. Does anyone have any suggestions? I understand that I am the first person to install on an 04.
What a frustrating day. I've been at it for over 8 hours now.

roark

iTrader: (2)

Dave and I talked on the phone. The fast signal will happen until you hook back up the rear turn signal lamps on the bumper cover.

I'm not sure what's up with Dave's running lights, and had him get another Hoppy converter module, thinking that his may be defective. Neither John nor I had this issue on our '03 models. We know that the ECU was changed in '04, but I wouldn't think that the BCM has changed. If this is indead the case, then the Ni$$an towing convertion module may be the only solution.

daveh

iTrader: (9)

I went down to uhaul to have them check out my wiring. The hitch guy went home for the day (glad I called ahead and they told me the guy was there). So I figured I'd test out wiring on one their trailers. The trailer that I tried seemed to work with the exception that the passenger side running light was out. I'm guessing that this was a bad bulb because there is no reason one running light should work and not the other. The guy there suggested that the trailer has to be hooked up to the hitch to complete the ground. Maybe that was my problem at home.
So that leaves us with either the cheapo harbor freight ligthing is defective or I need the Nissan Module. Does anyone know for sure what the difference is with the nissan module?

Roark thanks for your help. I ended up with the wrong hoppy module from pop boys so I never changed it out. I used the tester that came with the kit though and everything checked out ok with mine.

roark

iTrader: (2)

Dave,

How did you ground the wiring on the trailer. I ended up drilling and tapping a 1/4-20 hole to the frame on the tongue and crimping on a lug to the ground wire so I could bolt that thing in right. Perhaps your ground is not strong? Just something else to look at.

Let me know what you find. I've got my guy at Nissan looking up the part # and price on that module just in case. It seems the module is not well documented (kinda like the passenger airbag bypass kit

daveh

iTrader: (9)

The problem ended up being the ground on one of the side lights. The self tapping screw didn't get through the paint to the metal to complete the circut. None of this really makes sense to me but I confirmed this by scraping some paint off and putting in a slightly thicker screw. You really do get what you pay for with the harbor freight trailers. I gorilla glued the side lights as well because the supplied screws barely hold them on. The true test will be on the 9th when she takes her maiden voyage to Infineon. Hopefully the roof of my rickedy trailer doesn't blow off in the wind.
Even though I had all these great plans to make a trailer to impress my friends, it really ended up looking like a 6th grade shop project gone bad. Oh well it should serve its purpose.

roark

iTrader: (2)

Dave,

Glad to hear the wiring finally did work out. I agree that some of the fasteners included in that trailer are not the greatest. I substituted stainless steel screws for the cheap self tapping junk they sent for those side markers. I also got better Xirc (sp?) fittings for the wheel hubs, tapped the hole for my grounding lug, and used waterproof butt splices and shrink tubing for the rear lights. Still, if you do all these things, you can't beat the price of this trailer (when it's on sale.) A comparably equiped trailer at say, Northern Hardware comes in at over $300.

Thanks for the feedback.

I feel confident now that I can send out the wiring kits as before.

I'm still waiting on others to post their install experiences before entertaining a new group buy.

tomzzy

iTrader: (1)

Finally got time to do the hitch install. I'm happy to report it works great. No problem at all with the wiring. I got the version of the kit after roark discovered the problem and changed it.

The hardest part for me was getting the plastic rear bumper facia off. Those clips were a hassle for the mechanically challenged. The only other problem I had was finally discovering that the metal plate called the backing plate does not go on the back of the bumper. (But I may be thinking backwards because in my mind, the back of the bumper is toward the front of the car). Anyway, the backing plate goes on the part of the bumper toward the back of the car & the part the hitch goes into goes on the other side of the bumper between the bumper & the muffler. The instructions didn't say & I couldn't tell from the photo. I put it on wrong & the bumper facia wouldn't fit back on. That was a big clue.

I got my trailer put together too that I got from Harbor Freight. So, it was all ready to take to Mid-Ohio last week, until I went to the Dept of Motor Vehicles to register & get a license plate. They refused to do it because Harbor Freight had not signed the title (certif of origin). Had to send it back to them for signature & awaiting it's re-arrival. Don't know if you heard, but it dropped an unexpected ton of snow on Mid-Ohio Saturday for the NASA event. They closed the track & canceled the day. I drove there on my slick tires & spent 5 hours stuck off-road a few miles from the track. Oh well, looking forward to hauling tires for my next event. Gonna do drifting at Beaverun near Pittsburgh this weekend.

My applause & great appreciation to roark & his fabricator. Thrilled that I can haul race tires now.

tomzzy

C Ray Z

iTrader: (2)

I had my trailer connected to my cars electrical system and it took out the running lights. Turns out one of the side lights had a crack in the insulation. Does anyone know where the fuse is for te running lights. Ti does not seem to be indicated in either fuse box.

HELP

Ray

zman2

iTrader: (12)

Is there going to be another production run?

roark

iTrader: (2)

An Update....

I need to appologize seriously to Juan and DmanG281 for the serious delays getting their hitch kits shipped. I held on to them as I worked resolutions to some of the minor issues uncovered by early installers. I want everyone to be happy with the towing kit. Juan & DmanG281, your kits are now on the way.

Here's what I found.

I was able to replicate DaveH's issue with the turn signals, when I created poor ground conditions to the rear fixtures. The root cause here seems to be the bolt-together nature of the Harbor Freight bolt-together trailer. It does not make for good ground current conduction. On my trailer I ran dedicated ground wires directly to the rear fixtures.

I started to hear the creaking noise that LateApex experienced. That's being caused by an alignment pin used in the assembly of the bumper brackets. After extensive towing, that pin starts to creak against the hole in which it seats. I don't believe that the bracket would break, but it does begin to sound bad. I strongly recommend that you have the brackets seam welded like the picture below.

I've gotten a lot of interest in the kit. I feel that all the 'first run' issues were minor and now resolved, but if I do another group buy, I'd have to charge more, since I lost money on the last round. Also, I need to check with the moderators about rules regarding group buys and vendors. I'm not a company, or looking to make a profit, but want to adhere to the rules of this site.

I'll be out of contact for the next two weeks on business travel, but will check back the first week of May.

Again, thanks to everyone who gave feedback on the kit, and showed the patience of saints with the delays.

Lateapex

iTrader: (9)

FYI, the noise I experienced was not only the alignment pin. When I removed the brackets to check them, I could flex them slightly by hand and replicate the noise... So, yes, adding some seam welding to the brackets is highly recommended.

daveh

iTrader: (9)

doh! I dread having to take the bumper off again. Is there any danger of the bracket falling apart or is it just a noise issue?
Can you post some more details of how you grounded your harbor freight trailer. My ground is still weak.
I'm not much of an electrical guy.

DmanG281

iTrader: (3)

roark, it was no problem waiting. I actually started to feel bad asking you about it so much. I do realize how these things go though so it was no big deal. I'd rather have a product that works well than one that wasn't tested properly and contains some problems. I commend you for properly engineering your product.

juan

iTrader: (3)

roark, thanks for being totally committed to having the best
possible product; I think we all realize that an experimentation phase was inevitable.

roark

iTrader: (2)

Dave,

Without doing some sort of expensive destructive analysis on that bracket, I don't think anyone could say for sure if the brackets would actually break. I can say that after the weld, the bracket is a lot stronger, and does not flex at all.

As far as grounding, I took the grounding wire from the trailer side flat four, and crimped on a spade terminal. I tapped hole in the base of the tongue for a grounding point, and from that point, I ran separate grounding cables to each of the rear fixtures. Here's a pic of the grounding point.

PDX_Racer

iTrader: (2)

Before I start installing mine, I want to make arrangements to get these brackets welded.

What kind of metal are they?