Hopkins Plug-In Simple Vehicle Wiring Harness Installation - 2018 Subaru Forester

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Hopkins Plug-In Simple Vehicle Wiring Harness with 4-Pole Flat Trailer Connector

264 reviews

Code: HM11143865

Retail: $97.21

Price:  $71.87

• Custom Fit Vehicle Wiring
• Trailer Hitch Wiring
• Converter
• Custom Fit

• 4 Flat
• Hopkins

Quickly and easily install a 4-way trailer connector on your vehicle with this custom harness. T-connector plugs directly into existing wiring - no cutting or splicing required.

Do you have a question about part HM11143865?more information >     

How to Install the Hopkins Plug-In Simple Vehicle Wiring Harness on a 2018 Subaru Forester

Speaker 1: Today on our 2018 Subaru Forester we're going to be taking a look at and showing you how to install the Hopkins Plug-In Simple Vehicle Wiring Harness with 4-pole flat trailer connector, part number HM11143865.So here's what our wiring is going look like once we have it fully installed. It is going to provide us the 4-pole flat trailer connector, and it's going to give us all the required lights to get us down the road safely, such as our tail lights, turn signals, and our brake signal. It's going to have an included dust cap cover, which is going to keep all the dirt and debris and grime from getting inside our connector, because our wires are going to stay on the outside of the vehicle at all times.Now one thing Hopkins did do to help prevent any kind of damage to the wires, since it is going to be on the outside, is they put this protective coating on it, which is going to help keep the wires damaged from either sun rays, or any kind of moisture or anything else, that the elements would cause damage to our wires.Now our wiring is going to be a simple plug and play installation. We're going to have one port right behind this panel right here at the back of our vehicle that it's going to plug directly in to. It is going to have a converter box, so it's going to get all the right signals from our vehicle and convert them over to a working signal on our trailer.At the same time, that converter box is also going to protect our vehicle from any issues that may arise in the trailer end. Now since this is a custom wiring kit, we're not going to have cut or splice any of our factory wires.

It's going to be a simple plug-in installation. So now that we've seen the end result, let's show you how to get it installed.To begin the installation, we're going to open up our rear hatch, and we're going to be removing all the floor coverings that are in here, and setting them aside. Now, if we move over to the left hand side, we're going to have this panel right here. We are going to have to remove both of these to get access, so we can take the trays out as well. Take the center tray out.

In order to take out this foam tray, we are going to have to pull up these two push-pin fasteners. So you can take a trim panel tool. You just want to get underneath it, and pop it out. And we remove the foam tray, and set it aside.So now we're going to have to pull up the rear threshold here, and we're just going to want to come underneath, grabbing the plastic, and pull up, and it's going to release the tabs. You're just going to want to work your way from each end and work towards the center.

And then we can set this aside. Now our connectors are going to be back in this area, so we're going to remove our tie-down hooks, so we don't damage it. So we take a trim panel tool, or a flathead screwdriver, and you just pop that little cover out, and it'll expose the nut that's holding it in place.You're going to be using a 10 millimeter socket to pull it out. We can set this aside for right now. Then we can grab our plastic panel down towards the bottom, and we're going to be pulling away to unlock some of the plastic tabs that are holding it in place, so we can gain access to the plug, which is going to be right back here.

It's going to have some blue tape around it. That's the one we're going to be looking for right here. So we can grab our harness, and you'll notice that we have a connector that's going to match the connector on our vehicle. So we can go ahead and plug it in, and make sure it locks into place. We're going to just for now route our wires behind the panel, and loosely put it back in place. We're not going to clip it all the way back in, in case we got to make some adjustments, and then we're going to take the other end with a 4-pole connector, and we're going to move towards our spare tire, and we're going to have to pull it out.So we can take our floor covering with our spare. Tools and the jack out. And then unscrew this knob and pull the spare tire out. We can just lift up our spare tire, and we actually don't need to remove it all the way. Just going to move it forward, so that we have access to these two rubber grommets towards the back of our vehicle. We're going to go ahead and pull the one closest to the drivers side out. And if you look down, you can see that the hitch is going to be right there, which is right where we want our wiring to go.So we're going to take our 4-pole end and we're going to route it through the grommet, through the hole, and we're going to feed it all the way through, and it kind of actually does even come with a new grommet, so we're not going to have to worry about cutting our existing one, and we'll just replace it and give us a nice weather proof seal.So with our wiring ran, I'm going to go and put my spare back. That way I can make sure that I have enough clearance for everything to fit inside. Now one thing you are going to have to do is secure your converter box. They don't give you any kind of tape, silicone, or anything like that to secure it. There are two tabs on either side of the converter box that you can use to put some zip ties through, but back here there really isn't anything to zip tie it to, so we just took some tape and taped it to the back of the trunk pan here, and again you can use tape, double-sided foam tape, to stick it directly to the back of it, or even silicone, if you have any and stick it right to the trunk pan. You just want to make sure that it's not going to be rattling around.So with our wiring in place, we can go and start putting our trunk back together. You just want to make sure your gasket and weather stripping is on the right side of the panel. Put the threshold back in place. Spare tools and the jack. Put this side panel in, making sure we put our clips back in as well. Put our tie-down hook back in place. Finally, put all the floor coverings back.So we can take the included dust cover, and go ahead and slide it over the end of our 4-pole now. And since we do have a little bit of excess wire, I'm going to actually take it, bring it out to the end of my hitch, and I'm going to wrap it around, and then use the dust cover to secure it to the end of my hitch here on the safety chain loose.Now all I have left to do is test our circuits, and make sure everything's working properly. Just want to plug in my tester, and if you need one of these you can pick one up on our website, using part number I26. I'll grab an extra set of hands so they can run the lights, and I can verify that everything is working.Can I get the headlights please. Looks good. Left turn signal. Good. Right turn signal. The brakes. Good. And if you could, both the brakes and each turn signal. Alright, with everything looking good, we're ready to hook up to our trailer, and hit the road.And that'll finish up your look at the Hopkins Plug-In Simple Vehicle Wiring Harness with 4-pole flat trailer connector, part number HM11143865, on our 2018 Subaru Forester.