TakersLex

Last month I descided to put a towing hitch to my 1999 RX 300 Lexus. After some research on the web and reviews from other fellows who did the same thing, I chose the CURT hitch. I though at best it would be a small can of worms to get this on. To my surprise, all I had to do was to drop the rubber hangers on the muffler. Using the small schematic that came with the hitch was all I needed to attach the hitch. Again, with the aid of my wife, we muscled it up, ran a bolt through the hitch then the frame. It was that sweet. All bolts were right in front, an effortless job. Three bolts, washers and nuts to each side. Re-hang the rubber hangers to the muffler and voila! Be good to your wife, you never know when you'll need another mule. Just kidding Ladies.

JAB

The hitch is the easy part. Wait until you try to run the wiring harness.

TakersLex

Ironic you should mention that. I am about to post that acomplishment. BTW, I lived in Herndon, Va when I bought my 2004 Tundra. In Arizona now. I bought it from Fairfax Toyota, I believe it was called.

walkerman

Curt also has the plug in harness to create a flat 4 connector. Plugs right in under a black box cover on left rear side.

JAB

Walkerman: I don't believe that 'black box cover' you describe was standard on 1999 models. Installation of the trailer wiring kit was far more involved than that on my 1999 RX.

TakersLex

Fortunately, the wiring harness came with the Curt Tow Bar. Including were the instructions on which wires to join. I used a simple electrical tester that looks like an ice pick with a 12V light bulb in the handle following a short wire with an alligator clamp at the end. I sharpened the ice pick end very fine to find current running through each wire relative to the light I was searching for such as L&R turn signal, brake and running light. Instead of cutting each wire, I stripped away about 1/2" of the insulation, exposing the correct wire of the car side. The harness, I stripped 1/2"-5/8" of the wires at the end. I wrapped the Harness end around the correct wire of the car side and soldered. I have a real nice WEN soldering gun and it went smooth. Using electricians tape, I covered each soldering joint. I don't use the hitch very much so I store the harness in one of the bins in the back of the RX. When I want to use it, I take out the spare and run it through one of the pop out plastic plugs on the bottom. You could leave the plug outside permanently by altering the plastic plug and positioning the plug for easy access. The plug came with a cover. I use a dielectric silicone compound to keep corrosion away.
1999 Lexus RX 300
PS: Cutting into the wires on the car side location is right behind the left tail light assembly. Several holes had to be drilled for the harness wiring exit.
I will try to get pictures of way I did it and post them.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Sounds good! Only thing I would worry about is the electrician's tape insulation. In the hostile car environment, black electricians tape adhesive rapidly becomes a slimy mess that doesn't stick for long.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

My 1999 RX300 had the black box, but I believe the towing prep kit went through several iterations in the first year! My black box self destructed on the second use (unfortunately just out of warranty). The replacement I bought from Lexus (different from the original) seems to be holding up

TakersLex

I agree with you on the electrical tape. You have any suggestions to replace this tape?

bob2200

Short of using heat-shrink tubing, which would be optimal; I think that wrapping with electrical tape and then using small tie-wraps at the ends of the wrapped tape and maybe a few in the middle will work. The problem is that electrical tape will loose adhesion in warm temperatures. The tie-wraps will keep it tightly in place.