What I think they mean is theres a wire already behind the left tail light that has power on it that you can run to your wiring converter....I just installed a Curt trailer wiring harness and I used the wire behind the left tail light for power....If someone knows more than I please chime in........

 

Let me explain better,remove left tail light assy and you will see a rubber grommet ,remove grommet and you will see a single wire taped to the harness that should be your power wire that powers your trailer wiring module...Now just maybe you can have all the wiring already there somewhere IDK.....

 

Here ya go man,
I just installed the curt trailer harness on my 2010,

Maybe someone with a newer patriot can chime cause i'm not sure if there are any differences between the years.

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Thanks guys, how'd you connect and run to the trailer?

 

Your welcome! Check out the last 2 pages of my build, it shows how I ran mine. http://www.jeeppatriot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=291098

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Did you have to run a hot wire to the front?

 

No you just need to tap into the hot lead behind the driver side tail light grommet. Its the plug with the arrow pointing to it a couple posts ago. Just cut a small hole in the grommet so you can send the inline fuse wire through. Shave one inch off the hot lead wire cover and send the inline fuse power wire through thexposed wire of the hot lead. Tape up the all exposed wire and put the grommet back on.

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I think that means yours came with the trailer wiring harness in the spare tire area. That's what's on my build sheet and I have the harness not installed, but in the rear spare tire area still in the package. Mines an 09, but I think it's the same deal with the newer ones.

 

Yep, was sitting in my spare. All plug and play which was nice.

 

Bought this one used, I didn't see it when I looked at the spare. I will go look to make sure tomorrow, hopefully I missed it since I wasn't looking for it specifically when I lifted the flooring.

 

With that plug back there behind the driver's side taillight like that, you figure you were be a plug 'n play unit available but that doesn't seem to be the case. Am I wrong?

Installing the hitch turned out to be quite the chore. Getting the hitch hung wasn't too bad but getting the holes in the tow hook drilled out to 5/8" so I could keep that rear tow hook was a tough task.

Thanks for all the info folks, I appreciate it.

 

Mine intercepted the tail lights. I didn't have to do any splicing, just unhook the lights, run the wire and click them all together.

I got the Curt hitch with 2" receiver instead of the goofy little one the dealership tried selling me, no drilling but I did have to shim it with some washers because it was 1/4 inch too narrow to fit.

 

What do you mean intercepted the tail lights? I am a complete moron when it comes to all thing electrical. Installing the wiring harness on my previous Renegade was an adventure and a half for me. When I mentioned the splicing, it as for the hot wire coming from the front.

I ended up getting the Reese 51085 off of Amazon and with prime, it was delivered super quick.

 

This is the wiring harness I am looking at. If there's something out there that would make life easier, let me know! My understanding is yellow to driver, green to passenger, black to hot wire, and ground the white.

 

You are correct sir. The only easier thing would be oem...hopefully its stashed away in the spare tire area. By easier I mean no splicing into the hot lead but not easier by installing. I have the same curt harness in the pic and it took me about 2 hours...but only because I made everything neat and clean, I also used wire harness cover to the passenger side tail light wire and 4 way trailer plug. Mainly because I didn't want them to be exposed to the elements.

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Thanks for the help gentlemen. I appreciate it. I ordered from Amazon and it should be here Tuesday. I will attempt to get it done Tuesday or Wednesday evening depending on work and family. I think I have the OK from the wife to fish Friday so I am hoping to get it done by then. I will be towing a small kayak trailer with a kayak, so the Patriot should do just fine. My previous vehicle, a 2015 FWD Renegade handled the trailer well, and so does my wife's Prius. I just need some lights! I will post up once I am completed.

Thanks again!

 

Got it done and it works. It took me about 2 1/2 hours, mostly in the dark. I had my 3 and 5 year olds hold the shop light for me a few times and you can guess how that went. I am a complete idiot when it comes to working on this kind of stuff but I got it done and feel like I did a good job, but I definitely turned a +/- 1 hour job in to a much longer task. The hardest part was splicing in to the hot wire. There was very very very little slack. I went ahead and spliced in the section of wire with the inline fuse, just to have some working room.

The only part I am not happy with is how I connected the plug connection to the hitch. I used a zip tie to secure the wire about 6" up, then used the included dust cap to hold the plug itself in place.

Thanks for the help and answers, I really appreciate it. Next up will be the light bar. I also have the Vision X mount to install. The light is on the way and should be here Thursday. I have a separate thread for that.

 

OK, two things: That "hot" wire is already fused at the fuse block, so the inline fuse probably is not needed--and being it's more than likely out of the way--will be hard to find to see if THAT fuse blew. 2) If you go to a 4x4 or trailer shop, they will have a bracket that will fit on the side of your hitch--I believe on mine the mounting holes lined up--so no drilling required, and the little 4 pack/flat plug just pops in place and has a dust cover--looks like it actually belongs there! Happy towing!

 

Looks good. Your install looks much cleaner than mine with that covering on the wires. I like that hitch cover. I may look to see if Santa will pick one up for me.

 

Great install!!! Pictures are always a plus!!! Crazy that the black is hot and white is ground. Go to the battery and red is hot and black is ground. Engineers always have to reinvent the wheel! If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!!!!

 

so..... where did you guys put the converter box?

 

I put mine right under where the grommet is.

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I am installing the Curt harness this week in my 2015 Patriot. Can I use the wire behind the rubber grommet or should I run a wire to the front? Jhill15, how did you connect to the wire?
Thanks

 

I didn't run my wire to the front, I tapped into the trailer lead that is behind the grommet on the driver tail light. Here's a pic of the lead

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nice! thsnks

 

Thanks. How many wire are under that black wrap?

 

Just one on the trailer lead. Its the plug that the arrow is pointing to in the picture. Just cut about an inch of the covering and pull it back. Slip the curt power wire through the middle of the trailer lead wire and tape it back up. Don't forget to pull the curt wire through the grommet first.

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Thank you!!

 

Completely installed the Curt Harness in about an hour Saturday. The little red wire was right there behind the rubber grommet and made things much easier. Thanks for the help!!

 

Hi! How did you specifically access that red wire? Exactly where and how? I have the grommet removed and can see the wire but have no idea how and where to access it to connect my power wire from the trailer kit. In the same spot you were (I think) and not mechanically inclined but want to do this to hook up my trailer lighting kit. Thanks much! https://www.jeeppatriot.com/threads/wiring-for-a-trailer.337563/

 

Very cool!

 

Why do I need a hot wire for just the lights?

 

It puts the trailer lights on their own separate 20A fused circuit (fuse 5), that way if there's a short in the trailer wiring it will only take out the 20A fuse and nothing else.

The tipm outputs for the rear lights are current limited so if you overload them (either a short or excessive current draw from trailer lights) they'll (hopefully) shut off before there's damage and probably set an error code until the source of the overload is removed, which is why it's good to use a proper trailer wiring harness and separate power feed that isolates the two circuits from each other.

The Mopar factory trailer wiring harness uses relays to do this:

 

It also protects the TIPM circuits for the rear lights as I don't think they are fused individually if something on the trailer shorts.