2012 to 2018, Couple Questions

[matt_m]

Installed the hitch and wiring today. Hitch was pretty easy, just had to bend the access holes in the frame rail just a hair bigger. Probably a 30 minute job.

Wiring less easy. Didn't like how much I had to cut the grommet to snake the wiring out to the headlight after doing the first and using a ton of RTV to seal it up. For the second side I cut the wiring kit wire and pushed that through a tiny hole then soldered it back together Wish I'd done that on the first side. 2018's at least have a grommet in a perfect spot to snake the trailer wire out but same issue so I have a replacement grommet on order and will do the same there for a clean install. For power, I grabbed power from the rear 12V power port which has a dedicated 20A fuse and this requires just a 10A supply. The only "gotcha" is that it only has power with the key on so the brake lights turn signals only work with the key on. That would also be true of the hazard lights. I don't see that being an issue.

[bangster]

Cool, I think you will find the Escape is a decent tower. It is better than my car mainly because of the short distance between the rear axle and the hitch. On my Grand Marquis it is 5 feet! Love the paddle shifters also for going down mountains with a load.

There are a ton of switched and constant power sources in the rear fuse panel, just find a different one that is constant. Fact I found out when doing my wiring, the brake lights do not work if the key isn't in run. But you will want emergency flashers to work with the key off. I don't have power passenger seat so I am sure I used that (could have used any even ones that are used, like driver's seat).

I also cut and spliced the wires to the tail lights so I could pass through a small opening. I RTVed it but want to get back in there and check it out to be sure it is still good.

I first tried to flare one of the sides of the slots, but after seeing how little I needed to file away it wasn't 2 minutes work with a dremel.

[matt_m]

One REALLY nice thing, I can just see the ball in the rear camera and the black dotted line runs right across the top. Hooking up a trailer would be SUPER easy. But we probably won't tow much with it, just need to be able to grab a trailer from UHaul if we need to haul something. More likely we'll use it for a bike rack.