Community Forums

jondrew55 · 06-18-2017, 08:34 AM

Sold my EZ Tow, installed a Blue Ox baseplate, have the Blue Ox Alpha, RVi3 braking system all in place. It took me almost as long to pull the wire for the break away switch thru my firewall as it did to do the install of the baseplate. I probably should have just drilled a hole in the firewall instead of trying to put it thru a small hole I poked in the main electrical harness grommet.

My main problem now is battery draw, pulling fuses and rear lighting. I thought maybe I could disable the steering wheel lock, put a Fuse 19 bypass switch in for towing, maybe even buy a wireless tow light bar. But in the end I decided to do the following:

I bought the Blue Ox 7-6 Wire coiled wire and connector set (attaches directly to the little stems coming of the baseplate, a Roadmaster RM 155 wiring kit with bulbs, and an RVi towed battery charger. I looked at the diode based wiring kits and Im sure they're fine, but I'd just rather drill another hole in my tail lights (as shown on the eTrailer dot com website) and put in an extra set of lights that are completely independent of my car's electrical system. With the towed battery charger I'm assuming I wont have to pull any fuses, just use the aux power plug for my RVi 3 Brake and not worry about a dead battery.

The remaining stuff comes this week, so we'll see how that install goes. First trip is mid July so i have time to finish everything up.

One question for anyone who might have that RM 155 kit from Roadmaster, what is the part number of the bulbs? I'm thinking about swapping them out with LED lights before I install. Probably not a big deal, but a bit less power draw and potentially brighter?

dennis45 · 06-18-2017, 09:34 AM

In my opinion the diode route is the best and simplest solution but either way works.
As for fuses etc, the absolute best solution is to installed a charge line through the umbilical cord from the coach to the toad battery. Use a 20A fuse at each end to protect the system.
If and when you do end up with a dead battery after a few hours of towing, replace the OEM 450 CCA, group 51 battery with a group 24 850+ CCA battery (stock battery on the 2015 models)
The change is very simple. Remove the OEM battery and two piece battery tray. Install the new two piece tray, new larger battery and your in business. No pulling fuses, no more dead battery.
The two piece battery tray is available from Honda for an Oddesy. Cost is under $20. Best quality battery will be about $125.

Ron_H · 06-18-2017, 12:03 PM

We installed a fuse bypass switch and have not had a single battery problem since - 40K miles later. Install took 10 minutes and it completely resolved dead battery problems even after multiple days of continual towing without recharging the CR-V's stock battery.

jondrew55 · 06-18-2017, 01:09 PM

Agree, but that does not provide 12 power for my RVi3 break.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron_H

We installed a fuse bypass switch and have not had a single battery problem since - 40K miles later. Install took 10 minutes and it completely resolved dead battery problems even after multiple days of continual towing without recharging the CR-V's stock battery.

jondrew55 · 06-18-2017, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dennis45

....
If and when you do end up with a dead battery after a few hours of towing, replace the OEM 450 CCA, group 51 battery with a group 24 850+ CCA battery (stock battery on the 2015 models)...

Not sure I'm following you. If I have a charge line, why would I end up with a dead battery?

dennis45 · 06-18-2017, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jondrew

Not sure I'm following you. If I have a charge line, why would I end up with a dead battery?

The OEM battery is basically an oversized garden tractor battery. The charge line will keep up the the ignition draw etc but add an Aux brake and all bets are off. Some have installed a fuse switch with success but IMHO, the battery is grossly undersized for what it is asked to do. The 2015 models by the way (no longer towable) have the group 24 battery as standard. Says something?

The last straw for me was when I filled up with gas and accidentally left the lights on. In the time it took to fill, the battery was Stone Dead. That's when the old one went to recycle world......

rrmacomb · 06-19-2017, 01:50 PM

Looking at buying a 2011 CRV. Could you estimate the cost for making 4 down ready? Thanks in advance, randy

Daveht · 06-19-2017, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrmacomb

Looking at buying a 2011 CRV. Could you estimate the cost for making 4 down ready? Thanks in advance, randy

I have a 2010 and it was about 2,000 dollars.

Hope this helps!
Dave

rrmacomb · 06-19-2017, 03:06 PM

Thank you, what should we figure for labor?

Daveht · 06-20-2017, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrmacomb

Thank you, what should we figure for labor?

Another thousand.

rrmacomb · 06-20-2017, 08:03 AM

Thank you

jondrew55 · 06-22-2017, 08:43 AM

I have maybe $2200 so far and I've done done the work myself myself. $1000 for labor would not suprise me

jondrew55 · 06-25-2017, 06:14 PM

Almost done with my install. So far, the Blue Ox baseplate is installed. I have my RVi3 Beatles system with breakaway switch installed. Today I put the Roadmaster tail light set in. It has a set of lights independent from your car's electrical system. You drill a hole I. Your taillight assembly and plug the bulbs in. I replaced the standard incandescent bulbs with LED replacements (just because). Just too hot to work so I called it a day after I'd strung the wires under the CRV up to the front bumper. Next step is to wire the Blue Ox 7 to 6 blade connector in. Last thing will be installing my RVi Towed Car charger. That should be fairly easy since all the hard work is done.

For anyone contemplating doing these installs themselves here's a tally of how much time this has taken me (I consider my mechanical skills average to maybe a bit better than average):

Blue Ox Baseplate ~ 4 hours (this includes taking the front facia of the CRV off, chiseling out the nutplates, installing the bar and putting everything back together). eTrailer has an excellent video on the install. Mine was easier as I did not have to drill any holes out to get the bar aligned.

RVi3 breaking system. 3 hours. I know, all you have to do is drop the box in the car and attach it to your break pedal, right? No, you have to install a breakaway switch, and for whatever reason, it took me forever to get the breakaway switch wires thru my firewall.

Roadmaster T-155 tail light kit - this took about 4 hours. Again, eTrailer has a great video on the install. Mine went like the video, only it took a long time since I'd never done it before, and I don't have a car lift.

I figure the final Blue Ox coiled wire will be another hour. No contortions required.

The battery charger should be less than an hour too. RVi has an install video and they say 15 minutes.

All in all it's about 14 hours or so (assuming everything works). So if you like doing stuff yourself you should be able to knock it out in a day or two.

Winemaker2 · 06-25-2017, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jondrew

Almost done with my install. So far, the Blue Ox baseplate is installed. I have my RVi3 Beatles system with breakaway switch installed. Today I put the Roadmaster tail light set in. It has a set of lights independent from your car's electrical system. You drill a hole I. Your taillight assembly and plug the bulbs in. I replaced the standard incandescent bulbs with LED replacements (just because). Just too hot to work so I called it a day after I'd strung the wires under the CRV up to the front bumper. .

Getting ready to do the same...
Wondering if you wete successful in snaking wires fwd inside a hollow unibody frame member?
I did my 2005 and it was pretty easy...haven't been under the 2014 CRV to see if its similar.