WARNING!! U-Haul trailer wiring install nightmare! - Toyota Tundra Forums : Tundra Solutions Forum

keninsb · #1 (**permalink**) 04-23-2005, 02:23 PM

Just wanted to pass this info along as a heads up.

My mom's "boyfriend" (who is in his 70's) recently called me and said that his turn signal indicators were doing strange things. Apparently, whenver he stepped on the brakes, the turn signal indicators on his dash would start flashing (as if the hazard lights were on). He had also been blowing turn signal bulbs recently. He wondered if I knew what the problem could be.
After stewing on it for a while, I remembered that he had a trailer light converter kit and wiring installed to tow a tent trailer. I told him that I bet it was something in that kit that was causing the problem.
He brought his van over (a GM mini van, I know, I know

) and I jacked it up and slid underneath with the creaper. I could not believe my eyes when I saw what U-Haul had done.
The wires were all crimped using those crappy blue crimps (the kind that press over the wire(s) to make contact so there is no slicing involved).
The converter module utself was "hanging" by the wires and wasn't mounted or secured to anything.
None of the wires were wrapped in any protective shielding, and were routed VERY poorly laying across sharp edges in several places. I found at least 3 spots were the insulation had been cut by the edges and the bare wire was grounding.
One of the wires was laying on top of his exhaust. Of course the insulation had melted off and this wire was gronding as well.

We re-routed wiring, re-spliced several connections, wrapped the wire in wire loom, and secured everything up and out of the way. VIOLA! No more problems!

Anyway, after seeing this install, I would NEVER take my vehicle to U-Haul for any electrical work. Just thought I would pass this info along.

Ken

Eddie · #2 (**permalink**) 04-23-2005, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keninsb

Anyway, after seeing this install, I would NEVER take my vehicle to U-Haul for any electrical work. Just thought I would pass this info along.

Ken

After a trailer almost came off my hitch due to an employee giving me an undersized tow ball,I would recommend not going to U-Haul for trailer rental either. Stay away from the large U-Haul on Route 1 North in Edison,NJ.

sequoiasoon · #3 (**permalink**) 04-23-2005, 11:05 PM

I rented one a couple weeks ago and the shop wanted to charge me for the lighting adapter

. The U-Hauls don't have a "standard" 4 pin connector but four separate wires. Conveniently they stock the 4 pin to U-haul connector

. I told the manager he was crazy. I have a 7 pin factory connector and a 7 to 4 adaptor which fits EVERY OTHER trailer out there. He agreed and gave me one to use.

On their contracts it also says it's U-Hauls policy to NOT rent towed equipment behind Ford Explorers. Good thing I sold that and upgraded to Sequoia. There's gotta be a lawyer that will take that up some day. If I want to load my Explorer wrong and not check air pressure and destroy their trailer in the process, I should have that choice. Insurance or out of pocket should take care of U-haul either way.

Picasso · #4 (**permalink**) 04-24-2005, 01:35 AM

My experiences with U-haul have also not been reassuring. Knowing this, I made sure that I had all of the necessary connection wiring and the correct hitch ball when I rented a trailer from them a few months ago. This negated the need for anyone to splice into the wiring of my truck.

I've included photos of the trailer connector port that most if not all Tundras have, that is located under the bed near the license plate and photos of the wiring harness that I purchased from an auto parts store that connects to this port. I keep this wiring harness in one of the storage bins under the back seat of my access cab in case I need to attach a trailer in the future.

sequoiasoon · #5 (**permalink**) 04-24-2005, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Picasso

My experiences with U-haul have also not been reassuring. Knowing this, I made sure that I had all of the necessary connection wiring and the correct hitch ball when I rented a trailer from them a few months ago. This negated the need for anyone to splice into the wiring of my truck.

I've included photos of the trailer connector port that most if not all Tundras have, that is located under the bed near the license plate and photos of the wiring harnes that I purchased from an auto parts store that connects to this port. I keep this wiring harness in one of the storage bins under the back seat of my access cab in case I need to attach a trailer in the future.

The "U-Haul supplied this" wire was the one they wanted to charge me for

NOT. Oh yea, forgot too add, all 4 tires on the trailer were set at different pressures. Max load according to tire was at 50 psi. These had 22, 28, 34, and 45. Loading furniture makes it difficult to totally even the load any way. Definitely not something you want with uneven pressure.

KorovaB2 · #6 (**permalink**) 04-24-2005, 07:52 AM

Damn, that sucks. I used to work at U-haul as one of the field guys for a year a while back, which meant I worked outside hooking up trailers or installing wiring or hitches and stuff. Nothing bad like that ever happened at our U-haul, but we got complaints and torn up vehicles all the time from customers with there vehicles from other U-hauls. I couldn't believe how in some cases we would receive a vehicle or trailer (which was a more dangerous problem) from another U-haul in it's sometimes defective or even dangerous condition.

Oh and the Ford Explorer thing is just some childish little fight between ford and uhaul over flipping that happened a while back. "well I'M not gonna allow fords to PULL our trailers" "well FINE, BE that way." Jeez

Uhaul and Ford are retarded.

I don't recommend U-haul. There are good ones out there, but they are few and far between.

Lalo · #7 (**permalink**) 04-24-2005, 12:48 PM

The U-Haul I rented a car hauler from lied to me about the weight of the trailer and they charged me for that 4 pin connector. Needless to say when I took the race car and the trailer to get weighed before the trip it was waaay over the towing capacity.

keninsb · #8 (**permalink**) 04-24-2005, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Picasso

My experiences with U-haul have also not been reassuring. Knowing this, I made sure that I had all of the necessary connection wiring and the correct hitch ball when I rented a trailer from them a few months ago. This negated the need for anyone to splice into the wiring of my truck.

This is exactly what I did (except that I got the wire harness kit off ebay). That is a good thing about our trucks and Toyotas in general: they think ahead and have the plug there, ready to go instead of having to tap into wires. Unfortunately, not all makers (my mom's boyfriends car is an example) supply a plug and splicing becomes a necessary evil.
I still can't believe the wires exposed to sharp edges and laying on top of the exhaust. After seeing what I did see, the only thing that surprises me is that they didn't tie-wrap the wire TO the exhaust

Ken