propman

i bought a hitch off ebay and it installed in 15 minutes. it was a curt brand for about $220. it was a reciever type looked heavy duty. intalled the wireing box and plug. i towed my harley road glide on a aluma mc-10 single motorcycle trailer from chicago to fort myers florida. i figure the whole rig weighed less than 1400 lbs. the 400 did a great job. i didnt know it was back there. at 78 mph, i got 20 to 21 mpg. i love this car. jim...

lexmoose

Nice! What year is your?

Decided to sold the minivan we had and that I would use the 400 (96 in my case) to haul our popup tent (1800lbs).

A340E was available in jeep and pickup so with a cooler that transmission will have no issue and the 1UZ have more power than the 180 poor HP I use to have in my van (weight of both car roughly the same). Brake, again much better than the van, the only thing ill need to get is some larger mirror when hauling.

Did you have any issue with wiring?

KA8

iTrader: (1)

Nice just got my kit on amazon for $130. Can't wait to install it. You were going at 78mph while towing?? Sounds dangerous

dicer

So are these hitches installable without having to drill any holes or cutting anything in the car ?

RA40

iTrader: (6)

This was a prior discussion on class 1 and II hitches for the LS:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...questions.html

propman

remove 4 bolts.....then hitch bolts right up....no drilling..wireing the box was a piece of cake. i put the box in the left rear area hehind the wheel well inside the car....you have to run a + wire, so i ran it under the car and hooked it up at the battery with a fuse at the battery. the car handled the tow so well, i started out at 70mph, but with 1400 miles to go i steped it up to 78. it just didnt feel like you were towing. felt rally solid.....thanks for the comments car is 1998

dicer

The pics I saw for install of one type of hitch the rear bumper has to be cut. Not good. Guess if I want a hitch I'll have to design one, no cutting nothing and no drilling nothing. For 90-94....

lexmoose

Is the 12v power required only for the 7way plug or to power a module that control the lights?

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

most bolt-on hitches come out under the rear bumper iirc.

dicer

The reason for the cut bumper was mostly for the bracket that bolted up, since the bumper covers the bolt holes that are used it showed cutting a chunk out of that lower area of bumper. I'm surprised Lexus didn't engineer a good hitch mount point and hitch option. Since the owners manual talks about it.

VicSWFL

Greetings Propman:

I have, for only two months, owned a gently used 2003 ES300. I am planning a trip to Michigan to retrieve some family heirloom furniture and bring it back to Flort Myers, Florida. I've found several trailer hitch assemblies, all of which seem easy to install with no drilling. I have a question about the route to the battery from the trunk for the positive wire. I'm still learning the geography of the car and would appreciate your guidance on this one aspect of trailer hitch installation.

Regards,

Vic
Fort Myers, Florida

dicer

There is going to be more than just one wire to a trailer. You need at least 4. 1 is a ground 2 is from the tail lights 3 is from left turn signal and brake 4 is from right turn signal and brake. Sorry one wire will not cut it.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

if you are in any way uncomfortable running the wires from the battery to the trailer, i highly suggest you have a professional install the wiring. as stated, you need more than just a power wire. brake and signal lights are necessary as well. most uhaul places install trailer hitches and associated wiring.

lexmoose

He's probably talking about the power wire needed in a 7way config.

Unless you need to power stuff in the trailer (ex: fridge in a camping trailer) I would suggest you only use a 4 wire plug and there's no nee to run anything from the battery.

Kansas

I towed trailers with LS400's for 24 years - a 1990 I bought new and then a 2000 I bought used in 2003.

I have never seen a hitch for the gen 1 (90-94) LS400 that required cutting the rear bumper cover. However ... all the hitches I have seen for the gen 1 LS400 required removing or notching the removable plastic trim piece that hangs below the center of the rear bumper. The Draw-Tite hitch instructions for my 90 LS400 said to remove and discard the little trim panel below the bumper but I instead notched it using a copying saw and a rat-tailed file. This made the Draw-Tite hitch almost completely hidden.

After my experience with my 1990 LS400, I have to say that it is never a good idea to power trailer lights from the taillights - always power trailer lights from the battery in the engine compartment or the engine compartment fuse box using a relay that is a standard part of most trailer light wiring harnesses.

It is not that hard to run the power wire for a trailer light harness underneath a vehicle to the engine compartment. Per past threads and the photos I have supplied, there is a terminal on the inboard side of the LS400 engine compartment fuse box that is perfect for powering trailer lights and other add-on accessories.

I had my usual mechanic run the trailer light power wire on my 2000 LS400 underneath the car but I did it myself on the 2014 Toyota Sienna that is now my daily driver. It was easy to do.