Hopkins Plug-In Simple Vehicle Wiring Harness with 4-Pole Flat Trailer Connector

The power wire was 10'short. The trailer running lights come on anytime the van is running. The right brake light and running light works in reverse.1647008

by: Rich10/14/2023

Easy installation. Year later no issue 1681100

by: James07/30/2022

Doesn't work. What is wrong with providing actual wiring harnesses for vehicles. I took the the harness provided out tossed it in a box and there it lays.1342825

Brooke M.

8/9/2022

Would you be able to provide some more detail as to how this isnt working for you?

James

8/16/2022

Yes, Brooke my Savana is factory equipped for a wiring harness at least to the rear just not on out. The harness I purchased from your company is too short without cutting and splicing in additional wires

James

8/16/2022

Yes, Brooke my Savana is factory equipped for a wiring harness at least to the rear just not on out. The harness I purchased from your company is too short without cutting and splicing in additional wires

This wiring harness was awesome to install. it fit my van perfectly and went together without any problems. I watched the install video and it showed how to route the wiring and that you would need to add wire to part of the harness. I didn't like the way they ran the wiring in the video, so I did it my own way. The outcome was clean and I didn't need to add any wire. Everything reached where it needed to go just fine. Tested the harness and all works great. Thank You for the great product!1020880

Thomas B.

4/25/2022

Still using this harness every day. it has held up very well

Trailer light kit was a Perfect fit, and the lights work more brightly than just tapping into existing lines. Safer to my system too! The You Tube install video was a big help819196

John C.

6/24/2021

Still works perfectly, and etrailer has thoughtful customer service

Overall a great kit, but a couple issues that if corrected, would make it near perfect. The first issue is the area of the mounting bracket for the 4-pole connecter. It is open on one side so that the connector slides in easily... which means it also slides out easily. The bracket needs a redesign to hold the 4-pole more securely. The other issue is the hole on the large ring connectors is too small. I have the extended post battery connectors suggested in the install videos, but the large ring connectors do not fit over the post. I used a step drill bit to open them up a bit so that they would fit, but the large ring connectors in the kit should be changed for ones that are slightly larger to fit the battery posts. Aside from those issues, it's a great kit!864691

Real easy to install. Made life so much easier.1631998

Wires are too short. The length of the 4-wire plug to the trailer is at least 14" too short to reach the center of the hitch and you're limited by the plug into the driver's side taillight connection. The main power lead was about 4' short by my routing through the inside of the van, it probably needs about 6' of additional length to make sure it fits everyone. It took me a couple hours to go get longer wires and solder the connections in place to make this work.936282

Vehicle: 2015 Chevy Express 3500 Extended Wheelbase Passenger (15-pass)

Summary:
1 star off for having two wires too short for the extended wheelbase, and the size of the converter that makes placement a little more awkward in the passenger trim than it probably needs to be.

Install:

Harnesses fit perfectly, plenty of wire for the passenger-side connector to the box. I was able to route it around without issue.

There really isn't a good place to mount the box in the passenger van, as the rear HVAC blower is right next to the back corner and the speaker and the wiring for passenger features use most of the factory openings/holes that are shown in the install video. A two-sided sticky pad (3M adhesive pad) would help in this.

Same goes for the gasket to route the 4-pin connector. The install video shows a cargo trim with no wiring into the back driver's side door. In the passenger trim that I have (rear window defogger, interior light switch, etc), the rear door wiring already occupies that hole and is a single piece that is the gasket and tubing to the rear door. The 4-pin can fit along with that, but you have to slit along the tubing portion to allow the 4-pin to exit.

The connectors for the tail lights don't include a second locking tab, which makes that connection not as robust as the factory connection. Use a zip tie in place of the locking connector.

You need more zip-ties than are included. I used about 30, most were for the power wire, but I used two large ones to mount the box. Again, a double-sided adhesive patch like 3M makes would have made this a lot simpler.

The wire for the power is at least six feet too short for the extended wheelbase, at least for how I could run it. I followed the routing in the video that goes with the factory wiring - I ran it out with the 4-pin and then followed the factory wiring for the backup sensor. It ends right in front of the driver's seat. I suppose if you were to remove all inside panels and run it in the wall, you might have enough, but I doubt it. The instructions say to avoid heat and moving parts. The best way I found was to use one of the two gaskets right in front of the driver's seat. One is for the parking brake (rectangular), and the other is round. Don't know what it's for. Then you go under the carpet and end up right next to a gasket in the firewall. Punch through that (sealing it up afterward of course), and you're really close to the fuse box.

Product:

The length from the converter to the 4-pin connector is way too short. It ends up on the side of the vehicle still. Another two to three feet would be ideal to get it to the middle of the underside where the wiring from the trailer would be.

The pigtail with the fuse is also a little short. In my vehicle (I imagine that most late-model GM vans are similar), there are several hoses and tubes for A/C and such right above the fuse box where this is supposed to be connected. If the engine is warm, those hoses and tubes are HOT. I would prefer a longer pigtail wire with the fuse further away so it can be placed away from the hot hoses and tubes for when the fuse needs to be checked/replaced. Ideally, the pigtail would be long enough to put the fuse in the passenger compartment near the pedals. Note to GM: maybe you should make more of the fuses more accessible when the engine is hot.

Other thoughts:

There should really be a 5-pin version of this that includes the backup lights. The GM wiring harness for the tail lights also includes the backup lights, and the harness in this kit passes that through. It would be so easy to just patch into that feed like for the tail/turn lights and pass it into the converter box to facilitate the wiring of a 5-pin or 7-pin/blade trailer wiring. In fact, I'm kinda surprised that something like this doesn't exist as a 7-pin/blade kit. With the backup lights as part of this box, you only need brake and aux power. The aux power could also be part of the converter as well (use 10 awg from engine compartment electrical), and add a brake wire, and that's it.
638905

If you need this thing then you are already unhappy because your vehicle wasn't pre-wired for the trailer connection. This adapter makes it reasonably easy to do the wiring, and also by bringing a battery feed wire to this, it doesn't put any significant additional load on the existing wiring, which could be problematic on new vehicles.911833

Installed in 2012 Chevy Express 3500 van.

The plugs were an exact fit.

The green wire that runs between the two sides of the vehicle was just long enough, but I would have preferred another foot longer.

The wire on the 4 blade connector was NOT long enough. I was only about half the length required.

The red 10 gauge power wire that comes with the kit will probably work for most trucks, however it was not long enough for my van.

You only get a 4 blade connector. You still need to find and splice into the reverse wire if you are trying to install a more complicated connector. The reverse wire is also needed for a backup camera.

I ended up running a 8 gauge stranded wire from under my hood to the back. I then installed a small power block that I got from Home Depot. From there I ran power to the 4 blade box you see in the picture and also ran power to the hitch connector that I ended up using.

The easiest way to install is to not drill anything and simply run the wires up the inside of the door hinge to the pre-drilled hole covered by the black plastic pop-in cover. I looked for better options and ways I could hide the wires, no easy way to do this even if you drill through the floor pan.728712

Product was exactly as described. I installed this on a 2012 Express 12 passenger van. Although the installation video was for the cargo van, it was extremely helpful. For the passenger van you will need to remove 5 panels, and the rear speaker housing (if you choose to follow the factory wiring). It is easily done and does not require any special tools. The OEM connectors were an exact fit, the wiring bundle to the 4-pole connector could have been about 6" longer and the ground wire could have been about 12" shorter (I cut the ground and crimped a terminal ring), but it did do the job. Total installation time for me was about 90 minutes. overall great product.43420

Made installing trailer wiring very easy on my cargo van which had no factory trailer harness. Plugs-into factory light harness. Connect to the existing ground and run a power wire and it's done.
Note: Plan the run for the 4-wire connector and make sure it will reach. I used a factory hole in the left rear door hinge post with a grommet. Just remove the factory 1.25" plastic caplug and carefully push the 4-wire connector through the hole. It is tight, but will fit without re-drilling the hole. 98236

by: Craig 03/20/2020

GMC

I put this wiring harness into my 2006 GMC Savana (with extended wheel base). Every component was well made. It was simple to install. (The videos are wonderful.) It has performed flawlessly since then.767815

Watching the video of how to install the kit gave me the confidence to buy the kit. I was at a total loss not being able to find the trailer harness in my new van. The video showed that the van does not have any trailer harness and it needed to be installed. I also like that it showed two kits. I needed the kit with added power for sure. We have a camper. Thanks for showing me the way Etrailer.982327

Product was bad out of thr box 1534750

Brooke M.

3/15/2023

I am sorry to hear that. I will have our customer service team reach out to you about getting a replacement.

The installation videos were worth their weight in gold, and the actual installation was nearly as easy as the professionals made it seem. I installed mine on a 2004 Chevy Express, and every part fit exactly as described except the zip ties. They were to small to be of any use, and when I tied two of them together to make a longer tie, they snapped under the slightest tension. Over all, it wasn’t a serious setback, they are cheep, and I just used some I had in hand. The included wire designed to run to the battery was about 10 feet too short for my project, but I was installing it on a 15 passenger vehicle. Anything shorter, and the kit would have been perfect as is. Again though, the wire was fairly inexpensive, and available at any auto parts store. All said, generally a good kit that worked well for me.541231

Great customer service and very sweet. Has a name like Tommy Lee :)1585300

by: Steve H.06/24/2017

This pigtail made my life alot easier. I was dealing with a local installation my uncle had done before I inherited his van. I couldn't get anything to work correctly. So when I came across this part I was totally ready to start over. I love nothing more than a clean installation and this pa rt t made it fool proof. Whoever sat down and made this is a hero.398709

The instructions were easy to follow. I wish I had known about the battery terminal adapter--it would have saved me alot of frustration. My fault for not watching the installation video first. Overall, very happy with how easy it was to connect the connectors to the taillight plugs in the back of the van.26907

Went together well. You could have added 6 more inches to the 4 way pigtail as I was adding a 7 way to the end of it. I had to mount 2 or 3 inches to the left of where I really would have liked it. Also the red wire to the engine compartment was too short because I have an extented van. I had to splice a peice onto the wire supplied.
You should supply enough wire to satisfy both wheelbase lengths. Overall happy...happy that it's done now.....lol399743

Wiring harness works great. Everything went together well. Etrailer's customer service is terrific.198935

Really quick and easy to install. 1585256

Order process and delivery are excellent. The only reason for one star less is, that the cable which is going to the battery was too short even though we had the right make and model of car for this kit. It was no big deal but I would expect it to fit perfectly. Other than that it works perfectly and installation was easy.313213

This kit made installing the wiring much easier. Beware of tying trailer lights into a computer controlled vehicle without this kit.572696