Hybrids, Ford fusion/Lincoln MKZ

Thanks Dennis. I'll keep them in mind. Kerry

Malinda at Southwest Drivelines in Yuma, AZ is the BEST for all of your towing & driveline needs---- http://www.swdriveline.com/contact_us.html . They are great!! Dennis

Will: Thanks a lot! This will go into my favorites. As soon as DW approves of the color (must match MH?) I intend on doing this the second week of June.

Now to find that "infamous" $250.00 base plate install. Well, one can dream.

Sincerely, Kerry

two-niner wrote:
Will: did you use the 7 pin to 4 pin plug shown on the highlighted E-Trailer and how did you run the power line, from the #7 pin on the base plate? I assume it would remain "hot".? The more I see this the better it sounds. The brand shown is what I used to fabricate the umbilical, except I went one size better ie; instead of 14ga went with 12ga, as opposed to what Roadmaster used.

Kerry,
No, I didn't use a 7 pin to 4 pin adapter. I bought a wire similar to THIS but longer, connected it to the 4 flat connector for the magnetic lights. Then, ran the wires for such under the car to the front, and connected the wires directly to the appropriate pins on the back of the 6 round connector at front of the Fusion.

I used a 6 round connector and 6 pin umbilical cord, not the 7 pin one that you used. I only needed 6 'pins':

Ground
12V power/charge line (yes, always 'hot' which is why its fused)
Right Turn & Stop (magnetic lights)
Left Turn & Stop (magnetic lights)
Tail lights (magnetic lights)
Brake light LED indicator on MH dash (goes to brake sensor I installed in the Fusion)

Will

Will: did you use the 7 pin to 4 pin plug shown on the highlighted E-Trailer and how did you run the power line, from the #7 pin on the base plate? I assume it would remain "hot".? The more I see this the better it sounds. The brand shown is what I used to fabricate the umbilical, except I went one size better ie; instead of 14ga went with 12ga, as opposed to what Roadmaster used.

Thanks, Kerry

two-niner wrote:
Were the lights individual or on a bar. I am aware of the blue ox electrical connector on the base plate. Do the lights have markings for the different functions? Brand and where purchased?

Lights are individual. Don't remember exactly where I bought them and the brand, but the magnetic light set I have is something very similar to THIS set from e-trailer.

The beauty of this arrangement is, it cost very little, and can easily be removed and put on the next toad when/if we ever trade vehicles. I've never liked the idea of spending $70 or more on a wiring kit, that you have to turn around and buy all over again whenever you trade vehicles.

I made the electrical umbilical cord (between coach & towed) and used #7 for a charge line to the battery. Do you have a charge line or can't be done on hybrid?

Ah, you bring up a very, very good point here, that I didn't mention before: YES, you absolutely need a charge line with these Ford Hybrids! With these new Ford hybrids, when you tow them with key in ACC position as it has to be, there is a significant drain on the battery. If you don't run a charge line, you will drain the battery down quickly, and after just a few hours of towing, will need a jump start (learned that the hard way, haha).

I don't recall the specific wire gauge I used, but yes, I have a charge line. Fortunately, even though the battery is in the back with the Fusion, there is a + battery terminal connector up front, under the hood (used for jump starting), that you can easily wire to. Thats what I did. Also, make sure you put a fuse on that charge line (I believe mine is a 15 amp fuse), close to where you connect to the + terminal on the Fusion.

The local Ford dealer must be your brother...$250.00, dirt cheap.

Hehe, yeah, we do have a good relationship with the Ford dealer here. Other thing was that we had just bought, brought home the new Fusion just a day before I brought it to them and asked them to install the base plate. The sale was so new, recent, they were still in 'sales' mode, and willing to do anything to make us happy. I think thats why they were so reasonable with it.

I too, was surprised at what the bill was for installing the base plate. I paid quite a bit more than that when I had a base plate installed a few years before on another vehicle, by an RV dealer.

Will

Will: Thanks for the great response. What an easy solution to the lights!!

Were the lights individual or on a bar. I am aware of the blue ox electrical connector on the base plate. Do the lights have markings for the different functions? Brand and where purchased? Dumb questions? No, I want to understand what I am seeing when I go shopping.

I made the electrical umbilical cord (between coach & towed) and used #7 for a charge line to the battery. Do you have a charge line or can't be done on hybrid? The local Ford dealer must be your brother...$250.00, dirt cheap.

Thanks, Kerry

..I don't live in the southwest, but I do tow a 2013 Fusion Hybrid. Been towing it for 2 years now, and its been great.

I went with a Blue Ox base plate, ordered from hitchsource.com. Cost was around $380 IIRC. Had our local Ford dealer do the installation, they did a great job with it, charged about $250 for the install (labor).

As to the wiring for the lights: I pretty much did that myself for very little $$. Went with the magnetic lights, but mounted them somewhat permanently INSIDE the vehicle, behind the rear headrests on the shelf back there. Piece of velcro holds them in place well. Ran wires for them into the trunk, then up and to a '6 round' connector up at the front of the vehicle (on the baseplate mount provided for such).

I found that the tail lights on the Fusion, as well as the electrical system in general is pretty complicated and NOT something you want to mess with or tap into any more than absolutely necessary. That was why I went with the magnetic lights.

Anyway, hope this helps. Feel free to ask away, anything else you might be curious about with this. :)