hitch and wiring installer in Mpls?

Hello,
I am looking for a recommendation for a good shop to install a hitch and full wire including brake controller. Looking for a shop in the twin cities.

Thanks,

 

In most parts of the country I suspect most people would recommend U-Haul because they do a ton of installs. They tend to be fast and generally cheaper than their competitors, probably because they get a lot better price on the hitches, based upon their significantly higher volume of installs. And their higher volume means less overhead per unit sold.

But a word of warning about wiring installations in general. Most four cylinder cars have only a four wire harness provided by the factory (left, right, running lights and ground). So the installer will need to run a power line from the battery & isolator and a brake line from the controller, bringing you up to six of the seven possible wires on the seven pin connector. The seventh wire is for backup lights, and on most newer SUVs (and some other cars), the backup lights are on the rear hatch (or trunk lid), where routing that additional wire will add considerably to the install cost, due to the time involved. Most installers will only quote for the 4-pin conversion and running the battery and brake wires, as adding in the cost of wiring for the backup lights will scare most of their customers away.

My impression from Craig (which may be mistaken) is that, for Camp Inn trailers, the most basic battery isolator and brake controller are adequate. We bought the more expensive proportional controller for ours (since we live in a mountainous state), as it seems to be harder to accidently lock up the trailer brakes. I've never run across anything about one brand of controller being better or worse than another, so I suspect they are pretty much a commodity. But then others may have put far more thought into the subject and have some specific preferences...

 

Thanks for the great info.
I know very little about the wiring needed for a trailer like this but I am discovering that the local shops are not interested in this install. I have called about a dozen shops and have only found 1 that will install hitch and wire a brake controller. Most tell me they don't want to mess with it. They give me a quote for a 4 pin connector and as soon as I mention a brake controller they just tune out and say they don't do that.

 

Hi Fish,

Check out www.etrailer.com - they have some great videos and depending on your car might show you exactly how to do it....or your favorite mechanic how to do it.

Dave K

 

"They give me a quote for a 4 pin connector and as soon as I mention a brake controller they just tune out and say they don't do that."

Yeah, it could be that Uhaul might do mostly four pin connections, since that is all that is needed for the trailers that they rent. Check your local yellow pages for someone that does hitch installations. Here in Boise there are a ton of small RV dealers, so Major Tire and Hitch has carved out a niche catering to their needs, and they do excellent work. You'd think there would probably be a few such outfits in the Twin Cities. Otherwise, go for a local RV dealer that you know has been in town for many years, and it never hurts to check their reputation through the Better Business Bureau.

 

I got the Tekonsha RF Brake Controller for our 560, and it works well. It installs in the trailer (Cary put it in for me); it needs to be screwed to the bottom of the trailer and the wiring simply plugs in. There is a simple user control unit that plugs into the lighter socket in your car. It also has the advantage of being able to easily move it from one tow vehicle to another. It means the wiring in the tow is much simplified; you still need the power wire added but the brake controller install in the car is not needed.

We also got the battery isolator installed in the trailer which also simplifies the requirements for the tow vehicle wiring.

 

How is this brake controller working? The guy who installed my hitch and 7-pin didn't think it would work but the reviews on Amazon seem positive.

 

The RF brake controller is working well for me. I repositioned the box under the trailer from where Cary installed it to get a bit more length on the cable. The controller stops the trailer just like it should, with adjustability of the stopping power on the small hand controller in the cabin. Installation is easy and can be used on any tow vehicle (I have two). Almost 10,000 miles on the trailer and no problem.

 

Thanks for the update. I guess I'll spend the extra money and buy it.

 

Greetings from Va. First, Diane and I want to give a shout out to those on this wonderful forum. So much information..... Amazing how much time one can spend reading all the posts with comments and recommendation for such a SMALL Trailer.

As noted in a recent post, We bought Dave and Dixie's 550 Ultra AKA the "Cats Meow" last week but have not taken possession of this teardrop as it is located in Salem Oregon and we live in Manassas,Va.. Call us crazy, call us impulsive....... I don't think we have had a sleepless night since we sent that check. Since we have to drive out to get the "Emptynester" (not sure if that name has been taken and assigned to a CI) we also purchased a 2014 Ford Transit Connect as the TV. I recognize that Steve ( INN 42) also purchased one so that he and Alea could do their tag team bike trip across the Country which is just cool. My wife and I are bike enthusiast too.

My question is, due to the limited wiring harness in the transit connect (four pin stock capability) I am thinking that I might use a wireless proportional brake controller for simplicity and for the reasons noted above. Are those on this thread still happy with the wireless unit. Since we will have to mount it on the trailer once we get to Salem Oregon, are there any recommendation as to the exact location to mount the controller.
Spring will be in the air in Virginia next week. Snow is in the forecast tonight.

Thanks

Will and Diane

 

Will and Diane we were where you are now last year when deciding our brake controller options, below is the response I got back from Cary when I posed the same question:

"We have had terrible luck with the RF controller. I just explained that recently on one thread. They don't always want to pair up with certain vehicles making this a tough thing to do. Also, they lose their pairing if they sit a few weeks and you have to redo this pretty much every time you use them.

We typically would only recommend using one of these on a European vehicle with certain wiring challenges to wiring in a brake controller. In those cases, yes we can install the unit on the trailer. For vehicles like the Envoy or Outback I would recommend going standard controllers. You can purchase two controllers for the price of one RF."

Our TV is a 2013 Outback. we opted for the traditional brake controller and like you had a 4 pin factory setup. After some research we opted to convert our 4 pin to a 7 pin utilizing a conversion kit I purchased from e-trailer. Their instructions and video were great and the instillation went smoothly, which I did myself, it took about 4 hours from start to finish. We have had zero problems. I am sure there are those who have the wireless system which works fine but I took Cary's advised based on his experience. Good luck hope this helps...R

 

Thanks Ron. Happy camping .....

 

I have the RF controller on our Nissan X-Terra and it has been working without any problems. Hooked it up in the factory in Necedah, it paired instantly and has worked ever since. However, it doesn't remove the requirement for a 7-pin. The trailer battery is charged through the 7-pin and you won't get that with the 4. I think the brake controller also needs the charging voltage to provide the power to run the brakes.

 

I have a 2015 Subaru Forester with the 2.5i engine. A local stereo shop installed my Prodigy P3 brake controller and 7 way wiring to a class III 2" Hidden Hitch. I purchased the Hidden Hitch from etrailer.com and installed it myself. I now have both 7-way and 4-way couplers on the trailer hitch. The stereo shop workmen ran all the wiring inside the Forester by removing and reinstalling trim pieces as needed so the wiring is well protected from the elements. Etrailer's (helpful) videos showed the wiring installed underneath the floor on the outside.