Relocating Trailer Wiring Harness

On my first off road trip in my '10 Tacoma, I ripped the trailer wiring harness off. Why Toyota put it there, where it hangs down below the frame and trailer hitch, is beyond me. It's just waiting to be caught up on something...



Thanks to the advice of folks on the group, rather than buying a new receptacle, I relocated it. Here are some shots of that project (I was a bit apprehensive approaching the project, and figured I'd have benefitted from seeing step-by-step instructions, so I'll give back a bit to the community).

First, you'll remove the left license plate light:


Next, you'll want to cut the wires from the old harness. NOTE: make sure you record the wiring order. For me, it was (in rows from the top to the bottom)
<green> <black>
<red> <orange>
<white> <blue>
<yellow> in the middle



It may be obvious, but DON'T FORGET TO PULL THE WIRING HARNESS THROUGH THE HOLE. It would be a shame to have to disconnect it all...



Now, wire everything up. Make sure you get the various boots on over the plastic casing and such, to reduce the impact of weather and dust.



Now position your harness, mark (or eyeball) the holes, and drill them out. I recommend a two-step process: first drill a pilot hole (1/32 or 1/16), followed by the larger hole (I needed 1/4" holes for my harness). Insert all the bolts before you tighten them down - that way, if one of the holes is misaligned, you can still get the bolts in.



You should be good to go!

 

Sorry for the long follow-up delay, but this. worked. perfect. Relocated, no complaints about the single side light for hte license plate, and everything is up and out of danger. It took me maybe an hour to fix the broken harness and wire it up through the bumper as described.