2001 Toyota Tacoma Trailer Wiring

Toyota is a 2001 Tacoma 2.7L engine Automatic. Have a Trailer with a flat 4 connector that needs to be wired into the Tacoma. Quite some time ago, the trailer was wired to the Tacoma. However after a couple (2) of years the components (module) broke down and I had to have trailer wiring removed as it caused havoc with the vehicles wiring.

I would like to have the trailer rewired to the Tacoma but would like to know what trailer wiring kits, etc. available that other 2001 Tacoma owners have found to work the best for this application.

Your assistance & suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to assist with this matter. SP

 

Any Hopkins or Curt aftermarket wiring harness is fine. It plugs into your factory headlight housings and requires no splicing. Takes a good 30 minutes to install, the hardest part is making it tidy.

 

What he said so long as you only want to put a 4 flat connection. Just pray that the previous wiring harness being removed didn't mess up these plans to put another one back on.

 

Appreciate the suggestion .... will look into this. Anybody, correct me if I'm mistaken. The harnesses you mentioned plug into the factory headlight housings? If I understood this correctly, U-Haul said that they have a harness that plugs into the rear tail light assembly and requires no splicing, etc. ?? This is somewhat confusing to me, at this point. Would like to be able to do this myself. For starters Is the factory headlight housing you mentioned up in front of the vehicle??? SP USAF 62-66

 

The previous harness had to be removed completely as it did interfere with some of the Tacoma's lighting features. It's been a while now that this happened. Had to take it to a local garage that removed the entire harness. Everything returned to normal when it was removed. Seems, if I recall correctly, perhaps the modules breakdown in the trailer harness due to being exposed to the elements. Back to square 1 as I need the trailer with lighting, signals, etc. Hope this helps? SP USAF 62-66

 

it's tail light housings, I think he just typed the wrong thing

 

$51 Hopkins Towing Solutions 43315 Plug-In Simple Vehicle Wiring Kit

https://www.amazon.com/Hopkins-43315-Simple-Vehicle-Wiring/dp/B0002Q7ZKK

 

^^^This.

I used electrical cleaner in all of the connections, then covered the connections in a bulb grease type to help preserve the connection. As he said, the hardest part is making it look good... I used some extra wire loom I had left over from my boat wiring install and used that. I then used electrical tape and covered the entire harness in electrical tape to keep it more "water tight" than just the wire casing. That part took longer than the actual install. It plugs into the factory wiring harness, and then plug the tail lights into everything- no splicing required.

Literally, unscrew the tail lights, feed wires through the bottom of the bed tail light housing, connect, re-attach tail light and stuff extra wiring into extra space under the bed tail light housing. It CAN be that simple, but I went a few steps further with cleaning, grease, loom, black electrical tape, and black zip ties on custom baja rear bumper.

I can take a pic if you want to see it when I get home later if that would help.

This is honestly one of the easier things you'll do to the truck.

Edit: If you wanted to do it today, I believe I got my harness at AutoZone. Super easy.

 

Yup, it's super easy to install. Just unscrew the taillights (NOT headlights! lol) to access the plugs, and plug in the connectors, and route the wires down near the hitch and secure with some zip ties. As long as your tail lights work and you find a solid ground, you're good to go.

 

Very nicely explained Ryan. I came across a video by etrailer showing the step by step installation of their harness on a 2001 & 2003 tacoma. I think I should be able to handle it. Thanks for the detailed information. Hopefully the instructions in the video will apply to the harnesses covered in the threads.

 

My bad. I meant taillight housings, not the headlight housings.

 

Another vote for Hopkins. Had mine for 5 years now without issue. I also used some loom to clean up the wiring and electrical grease on the connections to prevent corrosion.

 

Thanks for the update & clarification. It happens to all of us. Kindest regards. SP