Hey everybody, I just bolted up a U-Haul hitch onto my '97 Aerostar. Installation was fairly smooth, although a bit tricky at times. Now that I'm done it looks sturdy and ready for a 3000 lb trailer (or so).

Now I need to install the wiring harness for the trailer. I have what I assume is a universal trailer wiring harness (provided by U-haul). Before I get into the installation of this wiring harness, are there any tips or hints you guys can offer for installation specific to the Aerostar? Like, what panel do I remove to access what wiring harness? And what's the best way to route the wire to the hitch and to secure it when not in use? That sorta thing. I want to make my install as profesh as possible. Thanks!

 

There is a harness that plugs into the stock tail light connectors, which avoids having to splice, but they don't work for all years.

Basically you come up through the rubber grommets on either side and feed your wires into the compartment. Some vehicles have a stock trailer connector located behind the driver side panel in the rear, and if you have one, thats probably the best place to hook up. On mine, I went with a full 7 pin connector and I have a trailer brake controller. The plug I choose has both 7 pin and 4 pin sockets, so I can hook onto most popular trailers. You should have a fused always hot wire coming from the battery to recharge any batteries in the trailer.

 

You use the left rear tail light. You can open the left panel in the rear cargo area. There you will find the fuses for the rear lights. All aerostars have this connection for the tow hitch ready to install the harness.

 

Thanks for the responses guys. I'll look for the custom wiring adapter, I'd rather not have to cut/splice/solder/shrink wrap if possible. I'll also look in the area suggested by the left rear tail light. Appreciate the help!

 

Just so you know the fuses are behind the access hatch in the left rear cargo net area that holds loose items. your going to see the 4 screws holding the cover on.

 

Ok thanks again muffinman. I'll probably pull the panel this weekend to see what I got. Thanks for the heads up, it's nice to know what to look for ahead of time without having to tear everything apart in a haphazard manner. That's why I love this forum!

 

Update: I received my custom fit Aerostar 4 pin wiring harness in the mail a few days ago. Yesterday I tore into the van to install it. I removed the left (driver's side) panel and for some reason there was no fuse box behind the removable panel located in the the little storage bin area with the elastic webbing. All I could see is wiring going straight back to the tail light. Downstream from the storage bin area access panel (closer to the tail light) there was some kind of module plugged into the harness. Looked like a relay of some sort. I didn't mess with it because my wiring harness was not compatible with it.

The wiring adapter I have is intended to be connected to both tail lights, not just one. This is so it can capture both left and right turn signals. Brakes and running lights would only need to be tapped into one side, but if you want both turn signals, both lights must be interfaced with the cable. So I had to remove the other side panel in addition to the left side to get access to the area behind the right tail light. Both tail lights were also removed from the outside, exposing the connectors. The wiring harness connects to both tail lights using an "interceptor" T-cable setup. This cable is configured so that the part going to the left tail light is initially routed behind the right tail light's metal housing and then down and across the body (hidden under the small plastic trim piece adjoining the two sides on the floor by the hatch opening). From there the wiring for the left side is routed behind the left interior panel, into the metal housing (through a removable grommet) and T'ed into the left tailight connector.

The right side is connected same as the left (with its T connector), except the trailer connector part is routed straight down through a large grommet at the bottom of the body. From there it hangs down outside of the vehicle and can then be routed and zip tied to the hitch area itself.

All in all it was more involved than I thought it would be. The interior panels and plastic trim pieces on the Aerostar are also very brittle and easily cracked. The interior fit and finish on Fords, and probably most American iron from this era and before, was certainly not the best. I drove a new Mustang not too long ago and its interior quality seemed leaps and bounds above what was available in earlier decades.