A buddy came over around 3pm to help install the Renegade Ready hitch kit. It's now a bit after 12:30am and it's finally road-tested and done. The wiring and the cutting of the factory bumper cover to put the bezel in were the worst parts of the install. Admittedly we did deviate slightly from RR's instructions, but we did so to better hold and protect the wiring. RR's directions leave the wire that takes signal off the right turn light somewhat unsecured behind the bumper cover, we tucked it and routed it a different way. The splicing of the two sets of harnesses also wasn't too much fun. Cutting the bumper for the bezel and installing the bezel was very labor intensive. Took several passes to get the template lined up, then took a long time to cut the main hole. Cutting holes for the tabs wasn't so bad, but installing the bezel was definitely a two-man job. The end result looks good but getting to that point was certainly not trivial.
Took my dealership a day and a half to install my hitch, it was more than they had anticipated. Seems to be a bit time consuming, so I'd say you done good for the time you got invested.
Yep. Now that I've had time to recover I'll go through the steps... Lift and support vehicle for duration of the job Open liftgate (to remain open for the duration) Remove interior rear cargo panel inserts (like where the flashlight is on the 2015) Examine left-side fuse block with a multimeter, find an always-on receptacle to place the fuse block adapter into, note this position Unhook battery (probably optional, and I would have not done so if I'd realized the headaches with doing so) Remove rear wheels Remove rear fender liners four flat plastic nuts four sheet metal screws one larger speed-nut three plastic push-in fasteners Push-out four green plastic retainers between wheel opening molding and bumper cover Push-out two blue plastic retainers between wheel opening molding and quarter panel Unhook and remove tail lights Pry-back wheel opening molding, breaking two inaccessible blue push-in fasteners Remove rear bumper cover Two larger speed-nuts under tail lights two 7mm hex-head screws behind wheel opening molding eight Torx-30 fasteners, four at either side of the hatch, four underneath at lower edge of the bumper cover Use trim prying tool to work the bumper cover free from the fenders at each side (Trailhawk) Pull two 13mm nuts at back of old bumper insert (Trailhawk) Remove six 21mm bolts holding old bumper insert into body, two from wheel wells on each side, one from underneath on each side Work the old bumper insert out (Trailhawk) Remove the red hook from the old bumper insert, two 18mm bolts Install the red hook into the new hitch/bumper insert (henceforth called "hitch") and torque to about 90 ft-lb Rough-in the new wiring Line the cutouts in the sheet metal behind the lights with electrical tape to protect wires Take the controller, drill-out the hole to the same size as the stud that retains the fuse block Pull long green wire with harness through the left tail light plug hole in the sheet metal, down along the body, over across above the plastic bumper-insert, up the other side, and back through the right tail light plug hole Pull the lower part of the door weather strip, with a friend hold the green wire taut under the body sheet metal lip, then reinstall the weather strip such that it holds the wire against the sheet metal below the lip "Floss" the green wire so that only the slack necessary is left on the right side, pull slack back to the left Cut the trailer tow plug off of the end of the controller Fish the four wires through the opening below the tail light plug opening, down the body Install the controller on an unused mounting stud below the fuse block, use a nut that one has obtained on one's own to retain it Ground the controller, use the inner nut/stud retaining the fuse block for this Pull extra (not supplied in the kit) heatshrink tubing up the four wires, heatshrink them where they go through the sheet metal Remove the wiring harness from the new hitch, cut the two zip ties, remove the two Phillips head screws, put them back in to the harness to avoid losing the nuts Install the hitch into the back of the vehicle (Trailhawk-optional) Procure extra M8-1.25 lock nuts, start all six around the six mounting studs at the back Start the six 21mm bolts that retain the hitch to the insides of the boxed "frame" areas Tighten-down the 13mm nuts, firmly tight, be careful to not overtighten and break-off the studs from the sheet metal Tighten-down the six 21mm bolts, torque to about 120 ft-lb Finish the new wiring Cut end off of the stub-harness from the hitch, pull-back the tubing as far to the trailer-plug-end as possible, temporarily tape back Cut the four wires each to different lengths, about 1" increments Strip-back the insulation about 3/8" Loosely install with the Phillips screws back onto the hitch below the bracket, pull the wiring through the hole in the hitch Take the harness from the controller, slide-on the corrugated wire loom, pull the wires through and down to the hitch Cut the wires in the same fashion, at 1" increments, so that the colors line up Strip the insulation back about 3/8" Tin the ends of the wires with solder Slip the provided heatshrink tubing on to the longest two wires on each side of the splice Solder the splices together Cover the splices with the heatshrink tubing and heat it Connect the add-in harnesses at the tail lights to the existing tail light wiring, and temporarily connect the tail lights Snug-up the Phillips head screws retaining the trailer harness to the hitch Zip-tie the harness to one or both of the positions on the top of the hitch if needed Test the wiring, make sure that brakes, tails, and turn signals work before proceeding and fix if there are any problems, likely source of problems are grounding and 12V in the fuse block Clean the bumper cover, then clean the bumper cover again Measure the bumper cover to find center, the "M" of the Mopar logo on the reflectors should work well for this Apply the template, re-measure several times to confirm that it's positioned Get cutting, cut the corners first, then cut the straight edges Test-fit the bezel, make any corrections drill and then cut the holes for the bezel retaining tabs Install the bezel, be prepared to use a 2x4 clamped into a vise as an anvil and use your hands to press things together, expect this step to be very hard to do and to need help holding the bumper in place Install the bumper cover Make sure the wiring is routed tight outside of the liftgate opening Start at the left, work the corner in at the quarter panel, then the under-tailgate part, then up to the right, get it aligned and verify all friction-fit inserts are holding Confirm that the liftgate opens and closes properly (note that if the battery was unhooked this may require the fob-remote to open it) Open liftgate, install eight T-30 fasteners Install two concealed 7mm-head screws under wheel opening moldings Install speed-nuts under the tail lights Install the tail lights, taking care where the wiring will sandwich, install harnesses Test lights again Install interior panels Install wheel opening moldings, replace any broken clips before doing so Install fender inserts No steps are individually all that hard other than when separating the cover from the body, but a lot of precision is required both when removing the cover and when cutting the cover.
That body plug for the wiring harnesses on the bottom left, mine lacks that entirely. My Trailhawk is a base as possible though. There was literally one fuse in my fuse block and only one extra socket that was even populated for 12V power.
