How can I do this? Does it just have a place to snap in that I can disconnect, or is it going to involve cutting wires? I have a 97 F-150 SuperCab Lariat 4x4 with a towing package, and the wiring inside the harness near the connector has gone bad, and I want to remove the whole thing. Any ideas?

 

if you fallow the wiring from the hitch up there are connectors that will allow you to remove the factory trailer harness so it looks like it was never installed. id dont think there is any cutting invoved may have to tie strap something back up out of the way.

 

I think I'm gonna try this soon. I busted my plug off of the bracket in August and have it wedged between the spare and the hitch. Luckily it hasn't come out yet!

 

I followed it up, took it out of the cover that wraps around the wires, and followed it to the main. If I unplug this, I get nothing at all on the back end. I cut the end off of my plug and zip-tied it to the top of the spare tire bracket, I still can't find any plce where I can just unplug the trailer wires.

 

Guys,

I've been through this with my dad's 2001 F-150 recently, and I think Ford has not changed much over the years.

The wiring harness for the rear of the truck comes down the inside of the driver's side frame rail, and there is a 12 pin connector right at the spare tire. Lower the tire, and you'll see it. From there, the harness splits into two, with one bundle going to the trailer connector, and the other going to a round 8 pin connector that feeds the taillights. For my dad, he had the 4 pin trailer connector and needed the 7 pin. Ford sells (about $43) a harness to replace the harness I just described, and the part number is YL3Z-13A576-GB. I don't know what the number is for the 4 pin version. FYI - the number above has both 4 and 7 pin trailer connectors.

Your dealer should have just what you need. One last thing, there is a ground wire on this harness that you have to remove (one screw). So there should be no cutting, and you need to disconnect just two connectors and a bolt.

Good luck....Glen

 

Just a follow up.

The part number I listed for the wiring harness that has both 4 and 7-pin connector on it has a bracket already attached. The hole in the bracket lines up with a M10 hole in the FACTORY hitch. My dad had a "Hidden Hitch" installed, and so I had to drill a hole in his hitch to mount the connector. Not a big deal, but it wasn't exactly what I expected when I bought the harness from the dealer. Otherwise, the harness works great....Glen