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I went to a junk yard earlier today, and ripped a hitch and a wiring harness off a junked '02 Disco. The OEM hitch is in good shape, no rust. The wiring harness on one end has the round "Land Rover" receiver (what's it called, I am not sure) and on the other end a rectangular box that was glued to the inside of the body with a double-sided tape and a jack/plug. The harness is about 2-3 feet long. Are these the only things that I need to be able to tow a trailer? Or am I missing something? I paid $125 for the hitch and $35 for the harness. Not the cheapest junk yard, but what are you gonna do....
The factory trailer plug adapter can come with a Flat-4 (pin) or Round-7 (pin) version. Looks like you got the latter. Should look like this if it is the factory version:
That set plugs into the harness on the truck, which the OP claims not to have.
Any connection to the trailer will illuminate the light on the dash if regular bulbs are used.
So as I mentioned, I went to a junk yard and removed the hitch (V-shaped contraption that is held in place by 4 bolts) and I also took of the wiring harness, unplugging it from a plug behind the left rear light. So once again, I removed BOTH tail lights, and this plug is nowhere to be found! How is it possible that I don't have it? I do get the green trailer light on the dash when I turn the ignition on... And how much of a problem is this? I have to tow a trailer very soon.
If the OEM grey plug isn't directly under the passenger main tail lamp it "could" be inside the body vs mounted outside. I've seen a few like that. The #1 thing you want from any D2 is the OEM trailer light controller box. I personally chop the funky OEM round plug off and install the standard/basic 4wire flat plug harness (all the trailers I pull use that plug).
Where else do I look? I mean, it's certainly not under the body, and if it's "inside the body", where could it be? Do I need to remove parts of cargo area trim? I am pretty desperate to find the damn thing.
P.S. The original round trailer connector (OEM Land Rover( that I got - is it even used, or do all people end up getting the round to flat adapters for it? Like I mentioned, the harness that I've harvested from the yard also has a square box and an OEM connector plug on the other side...
Remove the vent cover by the cargo box and rummage around in there for the plug and if you need an easy plug-n-play adapter I would go with the one from Atlantic British.
The green trailer light on the dash is illuminating as part of the system self-test. It is not a problem, and it is not an indication that you have (or are missing) any components.
It sounds like you've checked pretty thoroughly for that plug though.
If the trailer you are towing has the standard US 4-pin flat fitting, I would skip the Land Rover harnesses and get an aftermarket adapter box. My '99 had a U-Haul one on it when I got it. It will mount under the back of the body and tap into the wiring in the tail lights.
The green trailer light on the dash is illuminating as part of the system self-test. It is not a problem, and it is not an indication that you have (or are missing) any components.
It sounds like you've checked pretty thoroughly for that plug though.
If the trailer you are towing has the standard US 4-pin flat fitting, I would skip the Land Rover harnesses and get an aftermarket adapter box. My '99 had a U-Haul one on it when I got it. It will mount under the back of the body and tap into the wiring in the tail lights.
I know that the green trailer light is part of the self test, I just though that it should also mean that the truck is pre-wired. I'll try to attach pics of the spaces behind the vents. On the left side, there are some connectors, but they certainly do not look like the towing wiring connection at all. I don't know what they are.
Last edited by m1943; 07-31-2022 at 10:41 AM.
Reason: comments for the pics attached
Those are the interior spaces. On both of mine, the trailer harness plug has been behind the tail light assembly.
I would not assume that the light on the dashboard means that there is any wiring present.
Those are the interior spaces. On both of mine, the trailer harness plug has been behind the tail light assembly.
I would not assume that the light on the dashboard means that there is any wiring present.
I understand, that the trailer wiring should be behind/under one of the tail lights. I seem to not have it there. So I tried looking in these spaces. There is one connection which I don't know what they are for. Question is, didn't ALL of these came from the factory pre-wired for trailer towing?
07-29-2022, 10:21 PM
