Broken Bolt Trailer Hitch Install

[mariopalumbo]

I was trying to install a 1/2" bolt in one of the side holes for the hitch and it was not going in that great. 2- 3 turns, I read some posts saying it can be really tight with all the rust. Well, I broke the bolt flush and it was 1/2" inserted. I drilled a 5/32" thru hole in the bolt and tried to go larger but my bits kept getting burned up. So I tried an bolt extractor and it broke flush. It is made of very hard steel and will not drill out.
On a side note, the hole is actually a 12 x 1.75 mm and I had a tap to clean out the other holes but now I am stuck with a broken bolt. Any ideas?

[mariopalumbo]

I was able to remove the bolt extractor and the bolt by drilling 2, 1/8" holes around were the broken extractor was. I bought a set of titanium bits, took my time (slow speed only on the drill) and used plenty of oil. After the extractor came out I was able to enlargen the hole one size at a time until the bolt collapsed. I picked it out, ran a tap through it and installed the hitch. Success.

Tonight I'll try the wiring, I have the hoppy 5-4 connector and plenty of info from this site so it should work out.

[VTchemist]

Glad to hear you could get the broken bolt out. I am sure that was a PITA.

Happy trailering!

[mariopalumbo]

I got the bolt out, I guess I can never do things the easy way. It was kind of fun. I was determined to get it out.

I installed my wiring last night. Not too bad, my green wire was the only wire that was not looped as extra slack. It was just a loose wire, so I thought for sure it was the ground wire but not the case. It is a little confusing to have the green wire as the right turn signal. White and black are ground wires?
I tested out the 4 wire plug with my volt meter to verify. I will be picking up the utility trailer from my parents house tonight, I have stuff to move and wood to pickup, should be fun.

The hoppy converter I bought was a little bit different than I saw others post, there is no black box to store under the jack, the converter (black box) is part of the 4-wire connector that is exposed to the outside. It says it is a double weather proof design. We'll see, I won't use it everyday so it should not be an issue.

[far2grumpy]

mariopalumbo ... I'll attached service manual extract for trailer wiring (applicable to 2005 Vue) ... probably too late for you, but could help confirm wire colors and functions.

Trailer Wiring

Additional wire length has been provided for connecting trailer wiring to your vehicle. A loop of five wires is stored below the jack, which is located on the driver's side of the cargo area. The wires are fused in both the underhood and instrument fuse block. See Instrument Panel Fuse Block and Underhood Fuse Block .

The wires do not have a connector and should be wired to the trailer by a qualified electrical technician. The technician can use the following information when connecting a trailer wiring harness to your vehicle.


Yellow: Left Turn Signal

Brown: Parking Lamps

Light Blue: Stop Lamps

Black: Ground Wire

Dark Green: Right Turn Signal

When connecting a trailer harness, be sure you leave it loose enough so the wiring does not bend or break, but not so loose that it drags on the ground. Store harness below jack in the cargo area when it is not in use. Wrap the harness together and tie it neatly so it will not be damaged.