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Hello fellow 'stangers! saluting-us-flag.gif Today I embarked upon a journey...to install a draw-tite trailer hitch on my '05 GT.
Now, before I go any further, please don't trash this thread with comments a la, "why would you do that to a mustang?!". let me remind you that its nothing more than a high volume production car. if you don't think these ponies should be work horses, don't waste your time reading this, cuz you won't like what you see. cool now lets begin.
i went to a couple places were all familiar with and got quotes between 230-250 for a complete hitch installation, including wiring. me, being a diy-er to the max, decided id save some money and get one for 119.99 online. so, a couple days ago, I ordered "Draw-Tite 24747 Class I SportFrame Hitch" from a reputable online website that has free 2 day shipping with membership.
i also bought a 4pole flat trailer plug from my local auto store and wired it in today. i didn't even splice into the tail light wires, all i did was push the stripped trailer plug wires into the appropriate wire channel in the plastic harness thats in the trunk, just before the wires go through the metal into the lights. the car's colors are as follows: red/white: left turn signal, blue/yellow: running lights (only on when headlights are on), and red/white again on the passenger side for the right signal.
the hitch arrived today and i finally got around to install about 9 o'clock this evening. what i thought was going to be a fairly simple bolt in install kept me working until almost 2am. The main problem? well, where do i begin...crap-hitting-the-fan
the hitch kit comes with 4 wires that are coiled at one end in which your carriage bolts thread into, they call them bolt leaders. i call them extremely ghetto. the frame rails directly above the mufflers are closed off (no interior access), save for a couple holes barely big enough for a finger to slip in. to get the bolts through to the inside of the the frame rails and then through the hitch mounting plate to allow the nut to be fastened, you must feed the non coiled end of this wire through a 3/4 inch hole in the bottom of the frame rail directly above the muffler, towards the front side of it, and somehow with luck, beer, and patience, feed it all the way "(over a foot) back through the frame rail and out the tiny little hole on the side near the bumper. trainwreck.gif This is nearly impossible. what i ended up having to do was use a completely different wire and once it was fed through, i taped a string to it and pulled it through. then, i taped this string to the non coiled side of the special wire with the carriage bolt threaded into it and pulled it through. the real problem is that theres only about an inch clearance between the muffler and the frame rail, and boy does it take forever to get those wires pulled through.
then, if you have a gt like mine, you go over to the passenger side and realize that you have to dremel the horizontal muffler bracket bolt hole 1/4" to accommodate for the 1/4" steel plate that is the hitch mounting plate. no big deal compared to all that fishing for bolts. in fact after spending 2 hours trying to get 2 bolts in place, it felt great to do some grinding.
With all 4 (2 on each side) trailer hitch mounting bolts and all 4 (2 on each side) muffler brackets finger tightened, i realized that there was no room for a socket. well, there was. but due to the tight fit of the bumper, muffler, brackets, and spare tire well, i was able to rotate my socket 1 click at a time. not sure how many clicks make one revolution, but its a lot. not hard, just time consuming. drivers side goes pretty smoothly as the muffler bracket is on the outside of the frame rail and the nuts were tightening are on the inside. passenger side is not so easy. ford save probably a penny per car by using the exact same muffler bracket on the passenger side, which means that it bolts to the inside of the frame rail, and that muffler bracket is completely in the way of the trailer hitch bolts. the top bolt was a click at a time, but doable. the bottom one? well, i stared and stared but for the life of me cannot find a way to rotate my socket to tighten the nut. confused013.gif
so, i currently have 3 of 4 hitch mounting bolts torqued down to 50 lb-ft, with no ideas for how I'm gonna tighten that last, lower passenger side carriage bolt. hopefully some sleep will make a solution obvious to me tomorrow.
conclusion: what a nightmare, lucky i enjoy staying up all night! my total cost was a buck short of 130 (excluding all the beer i had to drink to make it through rant.gif), exactly 100 less than the lowest quote. like i said I'm diy and never take my cars to anyone for anything because i truly enjoy working on them and it is rewarding to me, but this job is the first i can honestly say that would have been worth every penny of that 100 to just take it in and pay someone else to do it. but, was it worth it? ill let you know after i get back from pismo dunes
Thanks for the read, i hope it was informative and it helps at least 1 person out amer.gif ill post pics if anyones interested. updates to come
Now, before I go any further, please don't trash this thread with comments a la, "why would you do that to a mustang?!". let me remind you that its nothing more than a high volume production car. if you don't think these ponies should be work horses, don't waste your time reading this, cuz you won't like what you see. cool now lets begin.
i went to a couple places were all familiar with and got quotes between 230-250 for a complete hitch installation, including wiring. me, being a diy-er to the max, decided id save some money and get one for 119.99 online. so, a couple days ago, I ordered "Draw-Tite 24747 Class I SportFrame Hitch" from a reputable online website that has free 2 day shipping with membership.
i also bought a 4pole flat trailer plug from my local auto store and wired it in today. i didn't even splice into the tail light wires, all i did was push the stripped trailer plug wires into the appropriate wire channel in the plastic harness thats in the trunk, just before the wires go through the metal into the lights. the car's colors are as follows: red/white: left turn signal, blue/yellow: running lights (only on when headlights are on), and red/white again on the passenger side for the right signal.
the hitch arrived today and i finally got around to install about 9 o'clock this evening. what i thought was going to be a fairly simple bolt in install kept me working until almost 2am. The main problem? well, where do i begin...crap-hitting-the-fan
the hitch kit comes with 4 wires that are coiled at one end in which your carriage bolts thread into, they call them bolt leaders. i call them extremely ghetto. the frame rails directly above the mufflers are closed off (no interior access), save for a couple holes barely big enough for a finger to slip in. to get the bolts through to the inside of the the frame rails and then through the hitch mounting plate to allow the nut to be fastened, you must feed the non coiled end of this wire through a 3/4 inch hole in the bottom of the frame rail directly above the muffler, towards the front side of it, and somehow with luck, beer, and patience, feed it all the way "(over a foot) back through the frame rail and out the tiny little hole on the side near the bumper. trainwreck.gif This is nearly impossible. what i ended up having to do was use a completely different wire and once it was fed through, i taped a string to it and pulled it through. then, i taped this string to the non coiled side of the special wire with the carriage bolt threaded into it and pulled it through. the real problem is that theres only about an inch clearance between the muffler and the frame rail, and boy does it take forever to get those wires pulled through.
then, if you have a gt like mine, you go over to the passenger side and realize that you have to dremel the horizontal muffler bracket bolt hole 1/4" to accommodate for the 1/4" steel plate that is the hitch mounting plate. no big deal compared to all that fishing for bolts. in fact after spending 2 hours trying to get 2 bolts in place, it felt great to do some grinding.
With all 4 (2 on each side) trailer hitch mounting bolts and all 4 (2 on each side) muffler brackets finger tightened, i realized that there was no room for a socket. well, there was. but due to the tight fit of the bumper, muffler, brackets, and spare tire well, i was able to rotate my socket 1 click at a time. not sure how many clicks make one revolution, but its a lot. not hard, just time consuming. drivers side goes pretty smoothly as the muffler bracket is on the outside of the frame rail and the nuts were tightening are on the inside. passenger side is not so easy. ford save probably a penny per car by using the exact same muffler bracket on the passenger side, which means that it bolts to the inside of the frame rail, and that muffler bracket is completely in the way of the trailer hitch bolts. the top bolt was a click at a time, but doable. the bottom one? well, i stared and stared but for the life of me cannot find a way to rotate my socket to tighten the nut. confused013.gif
so, i currently have 3 of 4 hitch mounting bolts torqued down to 50 lb-ft, with no ideas for how I'm gonna tighten that last, lower passenger side carriage bolt. hopefully some sleep will make a solution obvious to me tomorrow.
conclusion: what a nightmare, lucky i enjoy staying up all night! my total cost was a buck short of 130 (excluding all the beer i had to drink to make it through rant.gif), exactly 100 less than the lowest quote. like i said I'm diy and never take my cars to anyone for anything because i truly enjoy working on them and it is rewarding to me, but this job is the first i can honestly say that would have been worth every penny of that 100 to just take it in and pay someone else to do it. but, was it worth it? ill let you know after i get back from pismo dunes
Thanks for the read, i hope it was informative and it helps at least 1 person out amer.gif ill post pics if anyones interested. updates to come
