Where Do I Purchase the Trailer Light Towing Plug

[sundevil11]

Background:

OK, so I went to Camping World (Tacoma, WA) today and they did an OK job of installing a Class III towing hitch for a tow bar on my 2016 Dodge Journey.  However, they totally failed when it came to installing the electrical plug for the trailer lights.  They were expecting a plug-n-play for the electrical connector they ordered.  They ordered the wrong electrical part and so then they decided to hardwire my electrical lighting for the trailer into my taillights instead.  They were almost done before I caught them at it, but they had the gall to tell me that they "did it that way all the time" even after I told them them the industry standard was to install a connector at the auxiliary trailer lighting bundle just in front of the rear bumper on the left side.  They actually thought the wiring was supposed to be inside the cargo compartment space because they went to check there when I told them to do it that way instead.  I had to tell them to look under the bumper.  But it gets better the original service ticket used to special order the hitch parts contained the electrical connector part, but the final service ticket was minus the part but included something that was not there before, labor for "hard-wiring' was added.  This meant they didn't intend to do it that way in the first place, but then couldn't figure out what to do so they did it wrong and wanted to pass it off anyway.  Their manager was no better.  He repeated the refrain of "we always hard-wire to tailights" even though the  parts on the special order invoice clearly showed otherwise.  Needless to say, they're going to get a credit card merchant dispute out of this.  Camping World ... what bozos.

 

Of course, this leaves me with the original problem:

Where do I go to get the part that plugs into that auxiliary wiring plug to connect to a 4-wire flat connector for connecting up trailer lights?  What is the part name/numberand who can I order it from? The terminating receptacle I have is a small white 5-pin female receptacle in a trapezoidal arrangement of a row of 3 pins and a row of 2 pins.  The picture preceding journeyman's post, that is the only post that mentions this receptacle, is exactly what I have.

[probak118]

   Would not a local auto parts store ( Auto Zone, Reillys ) sorry from Canada so may have names wrong. Our local Canadian Tire, NAPA, Princess Auto stores here have wide variety of pre made styles of connectors on the shelves . Look on the net at our stores, maybe order online also ?

[sundevil11]

OK so more time spent doing research.  Curt, the trailer hitch people, claim to make a T-connector for the Dodge Journey, P/N:  56109, but it absolutely will not fit.  Their plug receptacle is rectangular.  The Dodge Journey's aux receptacle is trapezoidal.  Apparently, they don't even know their part doesn't fit.  I've seen no one else advertising a trailer plug attachment for the Dodge Journey.

[Armando G]

So having done this job myself from start to finish, here is what I have for you. The wiring harness you are referring to (56109) is for the non-LED model. If you have the non-LED model, which I doubt, that harness plugs in to the light harness itself, not the special connector behind the bumper. If you have the LED lights, you need to buy part #56330, which comes with the converter and has to be wired to the battery. If you are looking for the harness that connects to the special plug behind the bumper, you need to go to the dealer to purchase it and get it flashed (anywhere from $70 - $200 for the part and another $50-$200 to flash...depending on the dealership). 

I chose not to buy the wire for the special plug simply because after speaking with three dealerships, I wasn't confident enough to let them them do it. I got 2 different part numbers from the three dealerships and one was not sure if it could be flashed. I installed the Curt wiring harness #56330 and it has worked amazingly. No issues and the stability function still works.

Hope that helps and good luck.