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Factory hitch mounted - with pics

21K views 17 replies 7 participants last post by  Pilgrim 
#1 ·
OK, let me start by saying that the directions at http://www.nissanmurano.org/downloads/murano-hitch-manual.pdf are extremely helpful AND they are correct! the only real error I found is that the instructions call for a gasket between the muffler and tail pipe, but there wasn't one. I cleaned off on both surfaces (muffler and tail pipe) with a steel wire brush and used copper hi-temp silicone as a sealer when re-connecting them...just in case.

There are a couple of things they won't tell you:

1) There are four white "S" shaped clips on the body under the bumper fascia just below the hatch. You can expect to break a couple of these when removing the fascia - get at least two replacement clips (retail about $9.50) BEFORE you begin, or you will either have to make an emergency run to the dealer or pull the fascia again (only about a 15-minute job) to replace the broken ones a couple of days later when you get the clips.

2) The fascia is held on by two screws, the white clips mentioned above and four push-lock pins that go through the fascia. That's it! The push-lock pins underneath the car (one on each side) are likely to get balky and may need to be replaced. This is not bad because you can reach them any time, so if you use a standard bolt through the holes for these pins, you can get by for a few days. Pick up two of them beforehand ($5 each) and you will have no problem.

Elapsed time was about 3.5 hours for this job, part of which was spent waiting for replacement S-clips.

The factory hitch is pretty substantial but shows a bit less than the aftermarket ones. I darn sure wouldn't pay even $100 extra to hide it better, but I got lucky and found a used factory hitch on Ebay for $45.

The factory hitch mounts on the unibody rails on the left and right sides of the car, with two L-shaped brackets on the outside of each rail. Bolt holes and nuts are pre-mounted in the car; bolt measurements are given in the install document linked at the start of this post.

The first photo is the installed hitch with the replacement bumper (armature) in place. Note notches on lower left and right sides. The back of the car curves but the hitch goes straight across; these cut-outs allow outer ends of the hitch to intersect the arc of the bumper.

If you want to, you CAN cut out notches in a stock bumper to provide the same clearance and save $100. Note the white plastic items items visible above the bumper - immediately below the hatch rubber seal - which are the white "S" clips designed to hold the top part of the fascia in place:



Finished mount in place, underneath and from the passenger side. The black piece of metal showing slightly thing between hitch and muffler is a heat shield bolted to the back side of the hitch bar, which replaces one bolted to the body from the factory. Note the cut-out in the bumper, which shows the end of the hitch protruding into space which would be occupied by the stock bumper:



This is what a fascia looks like - removed.



Here's the inside:



Here's the top side of the fascia, with marks recommended by the instructions. These marks actually identify the position of each S-clip which holds on the top of the fascia;



I didn't get pix of the entire hitch today, but here's where it mounts...

Passenger side, rear end of hitch:



Passenger side, front end of hitch:



Driver's side - a view of the entire side of the hitch. Note two L-brackets which mount to the chassis rails.



All the bolts which go straight up into the chassis rails are 12mm diameter; the ones which go into the side of the rails are 10mm.

Here is the "energy absorber" (same stuff bike helmets are made of) ready to mount on the bumper:



Here it is in place:



The installed hitch:



And of course, the installed hitch with the absolutely mandatory Washington State University Cougar Head hitch insert:

 
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#3 ·
P-

Thanx for the pics and the additional helpful pointers.

After looking at all that is involved you just have to wonder why Nissan did not come up with a simpler, less expensive, less intrusive approach.

-njjoe
 
#4 ·
looks like the only thing that's needed now is the wire harness for the trailer plug-in. Looks nice to have a hidden hitch huh?

About how long from start to finish?
 
#5 ·
ekaxel said:
An aside. Looking at all that rust under there. I am glad I come from a state that does not use salt on the roads!
Sure, Oregon has no rust at all - especially on the coast!

Actually, rust is pretty minimal here...they do use some mag chloride on the roads in winter, but rust is not bad. What you see is just light surface rust on such items as un-coated muffler hangars. Eastern and upper midwest cars have much worse problems.

And I do have the wiring plug that mounts on the hitch - the seller cut the wires about 16" from the plug. I removed it while re-painting the hitch and will repair and install it later this spring. Will look for a wiring scheme...although the place where it mounts on the hitch actually has each wire labeled as to function. Handy!

I spent about 3.5 hours start to finish, at least 45 minutes was spent waiting for those silly S-clips.
 
#7 ·
So after putting on the OEM hitch assembly, what do you think is the purpose of having the notched out bumper armature? I know that the major difference between it and the other is the notches. What would prevent the hitch installation if you had the un-notched armature?
 
#8 ·
Warhammer said:
So after putting on the OEM hitch assembly, what do you think is the purpose of having the notched out bumper armature? I know that the major difference between it and the other is the notches. What would prevent the hitch installation if you had the un-notched armature?
That's easy. If you draw an arc, then a straight line across the arc, the straight line will intersect the arc at two points. The armature is made in an arc, but the hitch is made in a straight line. The notches are located where the straight line of the hitch intersects the armature.

There is no reason that a standard armature couldn't be notched to provide the same relief. If you were willing to mount the hitch, hold the armature against it and then take the time to notch it on both sides, it should work fine. I didn't see any reinforcement inside or outside - just the cut-outs.

I have my original armature and plan to sell it for a crash repair - it could also be notched and used for a hitch installation.
 
#9 ·
That's what I noticed on one of your close-up pictures. There was no reinforcement at all in the notches. I thought that the armature had some welds inside it that reinforced the notches.

One less thing I have to buy when I go to do mine. A little bit of dremel work and you're done! :D
 
#10 ·
Mr. Pilgrim,

I'm curious, you think you can let us know if you notice any drop in gas mileage due to the added weight? I order my MO with the tow hitch option and many times I blame the weight of it for not having as great gas mileage as others reported here. Only if you can tell any difference at all. Thanks.
 
#11 ·
Warhammer said:


One less thing I have to buy when I go to do mine. A little bit of dremel work and you're done! :D
That metal is thick enough that I'd recommend a saber saw with metal cutting blades as a minimum tool. It will still take a while.

And the hitch doesn't weigh more than two average suitcases. IMO Nitely doesn't need to worry about its weight. It would take a lot more than that to make a measurable difference in gas mileage. Carrying one passenger would add as much or more weight than TWO trailer hitches.

Gas mileage is NOT my goal or I wouldn't be driving a vehicle in this class. I just finished a 150 mile trip which was 60% downhill from Vail ski area to Fort Collins - dropped 5,000 feet in altitude and travel 70 to 80 MPH. The readout indicates 25 MPG plus a fraction. That's plenty good for me.
 
#17 · (Edited)
2003 - 2006 Factory Wiring Harness Problems

Thanks for the thread and the pictures. I recently got into a 2006 Murano SL. I found a factory hitch off of a 2003 Murano at a Denver Pull & Pay for $25. It also had the factory harness for $15. The hitch fit perfectly. Knowing that the white S clips that you mentioned could be an issue, I snagged the ones off of the junker that I took the hitch from. I also nabbed the aluminum bumper with the cutouts. i didn't end up needing the S clips - my fascia came off without busting any of the S clips. I ended up breaking off 2 of the mounting points for my right tail light. Seems some of the friction pin connectors are tougher than others. I put the harness in and I can't get it to work correctly. I couldn't find the wiring instructions that you had provided before. I found wiring harness instructions here: http://www.nissan-techinfo.com/asistgc_1/diskdocs/1/S/N/1SN24.PDF. They are for 2009+, but I figure that the installation isn't different for 2006. It looked the same as I remember seeing the harness in the 2003 before I took it out.
The darn thing isn't working for me. I used a 12V test light to test. Didn't even connect to my trailer. I connected from the ground (white) to the running lights (brown) and have no power when i have the car running lights on. I have constant power when I go white to yellow (left) and white to green (right), which are both incorrect. When i turn on left blinker, the yellow and green remain constant on, and nothing for the brown running lights. When I turn on the right blinker, yellow and green are constant on and the brown flashes like the green one should be doing. Are there other ideas for troubleshooting this device? I tried to ensure that the ground wire got to a bare metal connection.
So, I read in these threads that others are having issues with Curt or even OEM harnesses. I bought a whole hitch and harness set-up from eTrailer before I found the car and factory hitch at the junk yard. I may try the Curt harness to see if that works OK and ditch the factory harness.


BTW, here is a wire harness installation instruction for a newer model of Murano: http://www.nissan-techinfo.com/asistgc_1/diskdocs/1/U/T/1UT21.PDF

11/30/2015 - Well, I did as much troubleshooting as I could do with a trouble light and still couldn't make sense of the behavior. I put in the Curt one that I had ordered from eTrailer, and it works perfectly on the first test. I have read a number of posts where others have had a bad OEM harness (bought new from Nissan) and then put in a Curt and was OK, and other posts where the opposite was true. Seems that you just need to be prepared to find a dud along the way occasionally to finding one that works. The OEM one is nicest in that it provides a plug to plug into an opposite plug in the car wire harness bundle in the spare tire well. The Curt says to run a wire from the spare tire well all the way to the battery in the front and add in a 30 amp fuse. They would save a lot of expense if they simply provided the plug. I cut mine off of the OEM harness and soldered it to the Curt harness.
 
#18 ·
I recommend buying the factory wiring harness to solve these problems. It plugs into the harness inside the car, and comes with the rubber plug needed to route the wiring through the floor to the hitch.

I've read mostly horror stories about aftermarket wiring harnesses in the Murano, so even though I'm a cheap guy I bought the factory trailer wiring harness online.
 
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