FloatingBd

Just got a beautiful 2001 LS430. Now I need to add a trailer hitch, electrical lighting module, etc. That seems straightforward, but any advice would be appreciated.
Possibly more important, are there shocks that would be better than the stock ones for this (without going to air shocks or spending a fortune). I would be happy with a stiffer, better handling car with less of the famous Lexus soft ride, if that is possible. Would a sway bar also help? Other options or ideas for happy trailering?

SweetSally

I got my hitch and other accessories from Hitchweb. I find them to be very quick with shipping which is fantastic. If you're still looking at buying a hitch and wiring, here is their website:
Class 2 Hitch Lexus LS430 & Upgraded Circuit Protected Modulite

chunkyda

Saw an LS with hitch in traffic the other day. Remove the stickers and it will be harder to see.

DomeSL

Could you please anyone inform me which Thule kit goes on LS430?
I cannot find any.

FatherTo1

Cyclehead, I'm going to get the same Curt 12231 trailer hitch as yours. Planning to hook up this combo bike and gear platform rack, using this 1.25-to-2-inch adapter .

From the product page, the adapter only has about 3" clearance before it rises 4". From your installation, is there at least 3" of clearance from the edge of the bumper to the trailer hitch's lock pin? If not, I may go with a straight hitch adapter instead of a riser. Thanks for your help.

schmidjo

Its 2016 and my wife needs a quiet car, so we found a beautiful 2001 ls 430 with only 60k miles! So far this car has been great to work on! (fixed the folding mirror and Tilt for steering wheel and sunglass holder) One car family, so a trailer hitch is a must for a utility trailer / bike racks, etc. By the way, loaded up to the gills with with scrap deck lumber, I only knew that trailer was back there because I could see it in the mirror. I feel safer towing with this car, than with a full size chevy pickup …

The post by Cyclehead is brilliant! It really save some time for me, I managed to get the electrical installed in a few hours. Some further notes.

1. I used curt electrical converter and hitch off of Ebay total $185. The hitch took a bit of time, but only because the holes weren’t quite perfectly lined up with the ls 430 holes. Of course you only find this out after attempting the install over and over again until it finally dawned on me what was going on. I used a step drill (harbor freight) to enlarge all the holes just a bit.

2. I installed my converter box (double side tape with the kit) to the horizontal sheet metal just rear of the fuse box shown in Cyclehead picture labeled ”fuse box for rear accessories” . The “to-the-trailer” side wires were long enough though, to allow me to do this. (I ran my trailer wire out the bottom rubber grommet as well. Which I drilled two small holes and one larger center hole in the rubber and slit it so I could get the flat four connecter through (which I had in HF’s 3/8” plastic conduit). Yes I didn’t feel like cutting the wires to get them through a smaller hole, and then re-soldering them.

3. I accessed all the car wires right there on the left side. By the way, I never did get all the felt board out, but was able to move it aside enough to access the fuse box in order to attach the power wire to the same 12v power source. I had a 6mm nut, so ground wire went simply up to one of those two bolts on the fender above the vent seen in the picture labeled “Added trailer hot-wire and fuse”

4. These wires to splice into are tiny! I am near sighted with my eyes on the verge of needing bifocals, so I had to take my glasses off and go in close and also try to rotate the wires to make sure I got the right ones. I spent a good amount of time checking and re-checking and re-reading Cycleheads post to make sure I got the right wires! By the way two Violet (or purple) wires for each side, so four total (to hook brown to). Which one? Well I freaked out for a while until I realized it probably doesn’t matter, they all are for the running lights/ taillights. I picked one and went with it.

5. I soldered all my connections as well, similar to Cyclehead. The extra wire for splicing simply came from cutting the wires (going to converter box) shorter. Made a right mess of wires but after I bundled them and taped and zipped tied and put them back as best possible into conduit, it looked OK. It all worked, the trailer lights function as they should !

Thanks again cyclehead ! from John

SCn8ive

I'm with honeygee2. Why should he buy another car just to tow light items? I actually prefer towing with my LSs better than my RX (which are more wagons than SUVs), except if heading towards hilly roads. Wave runners, Harleys, day sailers, light trailers for kayaks/bikes, etc. are no problem.

I frequently tow with my LS when dual purposing trips for a mix of business and pleasure. Its nice to play outside all day and then arrive at a business dinner, wedding, etc. in style in the evening (but the hidden hitch does "hide" better under dark cars).

Juicehall

I was just going to search this. I have a new dodge Cummins for towing but would like a hitch to carry my paramotor.

Sandriatic

I just purchased a new 2016 GX460. Searched high n low to find exactly the one I wanted. My dealership couldn't come up with one, so I flew 600 miles to pick it up and drive it home....The only option it is missing is a Tow Hitch....I only use it for bikes, no real "towing" of boats etc... Today I stopped in my dealership to check on getting the front windows tinted to match the back and as I was talking to the service rep. I mentioned having a tow hitch installed. He was quick to point out that if I had an after-market hitch installed, it would void my warranty???? REALLY??? I also own the exact same SUV (GX470 2007) but 9 years older that had an after-market hitch installed and never had any issues with the warranty.... Is this new?

tkblazer

typical dealer BS, I wonder if putting on aftermarket wheels will void the warranty as well

Sandriatic

That's what I'm thinking!!

Smulheron

I have 2005 LS 430 and put on a Curt hitch. I use the car to tow my boat 21 ft bow rider, tandem jet ski trailer, utility trailer and a 6x12 enclosed trailer that I transport furniture and tools in. I understand that it is taxing on the car but it can be done and that car has handled it very well. It has plenty of power to handle whatever load I have given it. I use a bar with a several inch rise on it to level the trailer. The boat is the heaviest load that I haul but fortunately only have to travel a couple miles to the storage yard. I wouldnt do this with my new Jaguar but on a 13 yr old Lexus that has served us very well I am not to worried about it

mjfn

Reviving this thread looking for a little advice. Since I'm not an overly handy fellow, I had the Curt hitch recently installed on my '05 LS at a Canadian Lexus dealer with the understanding they would also install the Tekonsha wiring harness (recommended by etrailer) I had also provided. However, when I went to retrieve my car, I was told they did not install the harness because they had dealt with many Lexus vehicles with electrical/electronic issues caused by aftermarket trailer wiring harnesses and they weren't confident regarding the Tekonsha harness. After discovering that a Lexus trailer wiring harness was not available for the car, the service manager reluctantly agreed to set up another appointment to install the wiring but said that he couldn't guarantee there wouldn't be electrical issues.

I emailed etrailer to double check that the Tekonsha harness could be installed problem-free. Etrailer responded indicating that electrical problems had indeed been reported to them by owners of high end cars who used the splice-in harnesses and I was to use my discretion whether to install the Tekonsha product - not exactly a resounding vote of confidence.

I'm really not sure how to proceed at this point. I think I have read through all of the the threads pertaining to how to do the wiring install and have a basic idea of how everything is supposed to work but I don't have the skill set to do it myself. My question to the members who have done the wiring install themselves or have had others do it for them...have you had any type of electric or electronic failure that can be attributed to the wiring harness.

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

SuperCoupe400

mjfn, I hate to say it, but from all indications, there is a high probability that there will be electrical issues from an install of that harness. The only question is whether the issues people have had in the past have resulted from corrosion of the splices over time, or just from having additional load on the electrical system for which it was not designed to accommodate. If it's from the later, then there's no way around it. If it's the former, then greater care can be taken during the install to completely seal the splices from the elements (water, snow, road salt, etc.)

It sounds like you know your limits, and if you've got no mechanical savvy then you certainly wouldn't be able to do a better job than the Lexus technicians.

The only advice I could give is to search for an independent shop that specializes in aftermarket installs and custom work. They are likely to have a better handle on how to do the work-arounds necessary to pull this off without issues.

Kansas

The last Lexus I installed a trailer hitch and wiring harness on myself was a 2000 LS400. I used a general purpose wiring harness similar to the Tekonsha you bought from etrailer which is where I've bought a number of trailer hitches, wiring harnesses, bike racks and other stuff.

I would be very surprised if installing a wiring harness like the Tekonsha would cause electrical problems since the Tekonsha's converter box is powered from the vehicle battery. A trailer harness converter box is really only a set of electrical relays in a compact package that uses the vehicle's running light, brake light and turn signals as relay triggers with the power for the trailer lights coming from the vehicle battery. This is explained in the video about the Tekonsha harness on the etrailer website.

If you are conscious and mobile, then you probably have the skill set needed to install the Tekonsha. You will, however need basic tools, which the Tekonsha's installation instructions probably list. You might need to elevate the vehicle on jack stands if you run the power wire underneath the car to the engine compartment. Some people think they have to run trailer light power wires through the interior but there is little danger of a power wire ran underneath a vehicle being damaged as long as common sense is used when zip tying the power wire to the vehicle.

The installation might be a little more difficult if you want the trailer light connector mounted on the exterior of your LS430. As much as I disliked closing a trunk lid on trailer light harness wires, that's the way I did it during the 11 years I towed with my 2000 LS400. I now tow with a Sienna van although I also installed a hitch on our Prius v which is totally capable of towing our 4'x8' utility trailer.

If you are going to use only a "4-flat" trailer light connector and want it on the exterior, an especially nice solution for mounting it is a Hopkins 48595 bracket. The attached photo shows the Hopkins bracket that I installed on our Sienna - high quality and only $4. Installing the connector on the exterior of an LS430 might require chopping the wires leading to Tekonsha's connector and then splicing the wires back together with butt connectors since you may not find an existing hole in the body large enough to pass the connector through. Look for an existing grommet in your trunk.

My main cautions are: Follow the instructions and do not take shortcuts. I've been involved in many discussions on car forums about installing tow hitches and electrical harnesses and most of the problems people have reported were due to not following instructions.

If you don't want to tackle this project yourself, maybe you can find an indie Lexus repair shop that would do it for you. I would expect this task to take no more than one hour for someone who understands the basics of working on vehicles made by Toyota.