2015 Golf TDI trailer wiring harness installation

I've order this Towready T-One Connector (Part # 118646) for my 2015 Golf TDI:

http://www.towready.com/products/el.../!FQHI|fPlghJZkcriTmM5GDYONQmbIrUpDMOFuptfrg=

Has anybody:
1) Installed this part (or similar products from other manufacturers)
2) Have pictures of their install?

I'm wondering where to mount:
1) control box
2) grounding point
3) power to battery
4) where to store flat-4 connector and how to run it to hitch. It seems from the instructions that this is to be stored in the rear cargo area and just out the back hatch (!really?) when you need to connect it to the trailer wiring harness. It seems like this should be run out of the underside of the cargo area and along the hitch itself, but maybe this is getting too close to the exhaust and there is risk of melting insulation on the exhaust.

The install directions are here:
http://www.towready.com/support/installation/N118646.pdf

They don't provide much detail on where the "suitable grounding point" on the driver side near the connectors is, so if anybody has experience with where to put this, that would be awesome (pictures would be ideal!).

Similarly, I'd like to know if anybody has a recommendation on where to run the power wire that goes to the + terminal of the battery. I've heard there are 3 basic options: a) through the frame, b) underside of vehicle avoiding any hot areas and attempting to limit exposure of the wire, or c) inside the cabin, perhaps similar to how an amplifier might be powered. Again, pictures of this would be awesome.

Finally, I'm in the San Jose area and would love recommendations on a place that people know to do quality work for this type of thing. I've got an appointment scheduled with Rack and Road in Campbell, CA but if there are VW specialists that might know this particular model better, it might be worth taking the job to them. I'm also willing to do the work myself but am in a bit of a time crunch (part arrives this Wednesday, and I need it installed by Friday).

Have generally the same thing for my Jetta:

Control box just mounts by light fixture behind plastic Also a good place to drill and place ground wire. Trailer 4 plug is stored in spare tire area and yes just set out when you need it. Just lay wire flat and close hatch. I had a power plug in the area which is always on so I took the hot from that line. Have not had any trouble using that but have a small trailer with not many lights on it. Took about an hour to do job.

I have a write up along with photos of my installation in the "what did you do to your mk vii today" thread stickied at the top of this forum. Should answer all of your questions.

Bueller, thanks, glad to know it can be done cleanly! I have the Torklift Central Ecohitch as well and love it!

Have you done much towing with your TDI? I ordered an adjustable (5" drop or 6.5" rise, in 1" increments) ball hitch but don't know how much rise/drop I'll need for things like a Uhaul utility trailer or similar.

It will definitely be used as rise, not drop. I can't remember specifically, as I have several of them from various Jeeps, pickups, and trailer combos I've had over the years. The one I'm using may be a 4" drop (flipped upside down of course), which tows my single axle 5 X 8 trailer with 15" wheels just about level.

I haven't done much towing yet with this combo, but I've had it to 75 mph and have also towed 2000# of wood pellets (2400 # total including the trailer) in some very hilly country without issue. It did just fine.

I installed this 2 weeks ago. There is a oem grounding point you'll see once you get to the back of the drivers side tail light. I ran my power wire to the battery following the same path as the brake lines. I also ran the 4 wire trailer cable outside the and left it strapped up near the hitch.

let me get this straight: in order to install and use the tow-light, you have to run wire from the battery in the engine compartment all the way to the back of the vehicle?



willie
on the Gulf of Mexico

You can tie into the rear power plug but that only supplies power when the car is on. That's what I did on my JSW. I'm not sure if that will run the emergency flashers if you're broken down some where. I'll have to test it next time the trailers is hooked up.

kjclow said:

You can tie into the rear power plug but that only supplies power when the car is on. That's what I did on my JSW. I'm not sure if that will run the emergency flashers if you're broken down some where. I'll have to test it next time the trailers is hooked up.

Click to expand...

Fixed by doing the fuse mod to give constant power to the cigarette plugs and outlet

linux_author said:

let me get this straight: in order to install and use the tow-light, you have to run wire from the battery in the engine compartment all the way to the back of the vehicle?



willie
on the Gulf of Mexico

Click to expand...

You don't have to, but I chose to. I wanted a dedicated circuit.

2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI SE

Does anyone know if the Tow Ready 118646 wiring harness will operate properly on a 2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI SE? I noticed most of the above postings were Golf TDIs. I also asked E-trailer over the phone and via email. Over the phone the representative was not convincing as to proper fitment. I'll report back when they answer my email. Any advice would be appreciated.

Update from E-trailer: "For your 2015 Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen the only trailer wiring kit we offer that has been confirmed as a fit is the Curt part # C56201KIT."

I am still hoping to use the 118646 if I can figure it out. Less Tap ins and cheaper!

TDI WNY said:

Does anyone know if the Tow Ready 118646 wiring harness will operate properly on a 2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI SE? I noticed most of the above postings were Golf TDIs. I also asked E-trailer over the phone and via email. Over the phone the representative was not convincing as to proper fitment. I'll report back when they answer my email. Any advice would be appreciated.

Click to expand...

It needs a slight modification to make it work for the GSW because our tail lights are wired differently

Would Like To Try Your Method

skramer said:

It needs a slight modification to make it work for the GSW because our tail lights are wired differently

Click to expand...

[FONT=&quot]"To get this harness to work w/ the GSW, we need to remove the Green and Yellow wires running from the harness adapter to the module, on mine it was the bottom wire.

Yellow goes to wire Black w/ red (I used a tap-in on the t-one harness (white wire) (don't forget to tape up the covered end on the plastic square where the yellow wire used to mount (don't want any shorts)

Green goes to wire Black w/ purple doing the same process. "

Any pictures? Not sure what this means = "[/FONT][FONT=&quot](I used a tap-in on the t-one harness (white wire) "[/FONT]

skramer said:

It needs a slight modification to make it work for the GSW because our tail lights are wired differently

Click to expand...

I have the Curt kit and the tails do not work properly. I take it the modification is to address this? Can you link to the alteration required? etrailer is no help and my searching hasn't turned it up yet.

Shife said:

I have the Curt kit and the tails do not work properly. I take it the modification is to address this? Can you link to the alteration required? etrailer is no help and my searching hasn't turned it up yet.

Click to expand...

I made this up for the Tow ready, it may help you. This is for the GSW

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=6EB14A973B526631!6355&authkey=!ACeiXSZ9GMYFYVY&ithint=file,pdf

I'm more confused. Pictures might help!

skramer said:

I made this up for the Tow ready, it may help you. This is for the GSW

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=6EB14A973B526631!6355&authkey=!ACeiXSZ9GMYFYVY&ithint=file,pdf

Click to expand...

Thanks! I pinged the wrong wires. I will desolder my current connection and resolder it to the correct ones.

TDI WNY said:

I'm more confused. Pictures might help!

Click to expand...

Two wires carry stop/turn signals as two of the rear lights in each housing act as stop turn. One of them however also carries a tail lamp signal. I hooked up to the ones that only have stop/turn and predictably my trailer had no tail lamps.

PWM systems can be a bit confusing. It's basically a very simple waveform that tells a board in the light housing what to do for each element.

TDI WNY said:

I'm more confused. Pictures might help!

Click to expand...

Not sure how pictures would help over a wiring diagram (crude, but its very to the point). The tails have 4 wires, the "factory" wire colors are the colors of the wires going to the tail light connector. The tow ready harness is installed between the factory wiring, and the tail light assly. The harness will have 3 white wires, and one colored (yellow or green). The reason the harness does not work on the GSW is our wiring is different from the factory compared to the hatchback, the source/pick-up wire needs to be the wire that has all three functions on it, otherwise the setup will not work correctly.

skramer said:

I made this up for the Tow ready, it may help you. This is for the GSW

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=6EB14A973B526631!6355&authkey=!ACeiXSZ9GMYFYVY&ithint=file,pdf

Click to expand...

Thank you! With your wiring diagram I could do the installation on my 2015
Sportwagen

Vehicle Wiring Code & Description

which system is for a 2015 Golf Sportwagen?
Vehicle Wiring Code & Description
A - 2 wire system B - 3 wire system
BT - Brake/Tail multiplexed wiring system
BTT - Brake/Tail/Turn multiplexed wiring system*

For those late to this party, here's a photo of what my modified (for 2015 GSW) Towready harness (#118646) looks like (green wire moved on passenger side; yellow wire moved on driver side).

So you actually opened the connectors and swapped two wires on each plug!

I'll give this a shot, much cleaner than tapping/splicing into the factory harness with a universal kit.

Correct. There's a VW tool that makes makes popping those wires out of harnesses super-easy, but of course, $$$.

Someone here used to make a very good facsimile for like $20 or for a set (one for bigger wires; one for tiny wires; this harness requires the smaller of the two.)

(Quick Google search for "VW wire removal tool" found that our good buddies at IDparts.com sells the exact ones I have.
https://www.idparts.com/vw-pin-removal-tool-set-p-6236.html
$25

...so how do you actually remove the pins inside the connectors? I have the plastic open, but the contact pins seem to be securely in place. If I force them, I'm certain I'll just pull the wire from the plug.

I posted without refreshing.

So you need something tiny enough to slide into the tiny rectangular openings where the contact pins are? I'll look around and see what I might have that may work, otherwise I have no aversion to buying tools, even if they only have a minimal specific use.

Yeah - if you have some tweezers that you can file/grind down so that they are maybe just less than 1mm in width...that's what you need. I'll go take a couple photos of what they look like in action.

Here's the two of them.




And here's what you're trying to do (this is "big" - like off a headlight harness).
Notice the two barbs top/bottom.


You need to hold those down so that they don't dig into the surrounding plastic of the connector. Like so:

I just ordered a set on Amazon. Should arrive Monday and I'll likely have it done Tuesday.

I still can't help but wonder why the manufacture doesn't just build a kit like this so we don't have to modify them. The kit looks really well built, just isn't wired correctly for the GSW.

Thanks a lot for the pictures!

Yeah - bizarre that they don't just halt the line for a minute and do 1/10th of a production run (or whatever) simply swapping those two wires. Versus their current "made for Sportwagen" model which is a bunch of cutting, tapping, crimping, etc....just a total mess.