The 2023 Towing Saga Part 2 - Finally good news!

[2020Telly]

So, I'm sure several of you have already figured out what an idiot I am. Thank you for not rubbing it in. Yep, the actual hitch receiver frame takes up space I needed for the 7-pin connector. It's close, but no banana. Thank goodness the rear skid plate (KIA 86672-S9500) is available as a spare part. Back to the drawing board... At least the hitch receiver is installed and looks great. I may actually be able to launch my boat this weekend.

Great find. This looks like the missing piece to the puzzle for 2023 owners who lost theirs in a botched install.
86672s9500.

 

[dkuldell]

Yes the 5th pin disabled the surge brake on my trailer so I didn’t need the steel lock key that you put on trailer to back up. The harness is the 2023 Hyundai Pallisade harness 7 pin from hyundaipartspro that everyone is ordering. Sorry not near the box so don’t have the part number. Once you have it installed just get a 7 t0 5 pin converter and enjoy no using the surge brake lockout key and no beeping and sudden braking from th telluride while backing up the trailer

Did you buy your telluride with the hitch installed by the dealer, or did you go with after market?

 

[csayers]

Did you buy your telluride with the hitch installed by the dealer, or did you go with after market?

I bought the 2022 OEM Telluride Hitch ordered through my Dealer which came from somewhere in Eastern Canada(I'm in Canada) and I installed Myself. I would not buy anything but OEM as I wanted the most ground clearance possible. Also I left the rear Bumper access cover off and used a Black permanent marker to (paint) the non black parts. Can hardly tell the cover is not there. Waiting for the lackey's at KIA to release a 2023 Cover that works with OEM Hitch

 

[TellmeyourWHAT?]

Waiting for the lackey's at KIA to release a 2023 Cover that works with OEM Hitch

You would think it was rocket science!

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[LarryJordan]

I promised I would work on the install last weekend, and so here's that detail. I tried to take a lot of relevant pictures, but feel free to ask questions if you have any. This will probably end up being several posts long to make things easier to type.

Step 1 is to remove everything from the luggage bin, including the cover for the luggage compartment and the jack cover on the left hand side. These just pull out. Nothing to it.

Step 2 is to remove the scuff plate trim (the chrome piece). It just pulls straight up with force to overcome the plastic trim clips. I pulled up from the right hand side first.

View attachment 30647

Step 3 is to remove the trim cover that is at the back of the luggage bin and attached to the 3rd row seats. You simply have to pry open one small retainer (shown with the screwdriver in it), and then pull the entire panel straight up from the floor.

View attachment 30648

You need to remove these two panels to make it easier to access the jack area in the following steps.

My Palisade Part No. S8F67 AC800 arrived from Canada within 2 weeks of my order with no customs delays. I was pleased to see that the parts were marked as both Hyundai and Kia compatible. The wiring diagram in the installation manual is also very helpful. BTW, I tried several different mounting designs, but finally concluded that your Pollock bracket with hitch bumper cover cut was the cleanest way to do the install. Thanks for all of your help!

 

[solomon]

One final step, take that letter from Kia saying they had no OEM solution, drive to the dealer that didn’t want to help you with trailer in tow, slap the letter on their window while pointing at your OEM tow option and say:
View attachment 30671

So i have gone through all the posts but am a bit confused. what is the best option for a 2024 Tride hitch only for a bike rack no wiring needed. Im trying to maintain maximum clearence. also my salesperson said if I go aftermarket it will void my warranty. what? sounds wrong to me.

 

[alexdrums]

So i have gone through all the posts but am a bit confused. what is the best option for a 2024 Tride hitch only for a bike rack no wiring needed. Im trying to maintain maximum clearence. also my salesperson said if I go aftermarket it will void my warranty. what? sounds wrong to me.

An aftermarket hitch or any other part won’t void your warranty, that is some dealer b.s.
As far as I understand it, if you go with the OEM hitch on a ‘24 there will be a hole in your bumper because Kia still hasn’t made the bumper insert or whatever part available for the hitch install.
If you don’t mind having the hitch under the bumper (and the bonus of no hole in your bumper) go aftermarket and save some money.
If I were you I would call your local U-Haul and ask them for a quote. Just tell them the ‘24 uses the same hitch as the ‘23, in case they don’t know. U-Haul knows hitches, and if there is ever a problem, they can fix it

 

[solomon]

An aftermarket hitch or any other part won’t void your warranty, that is some dealer b.s.
As far as I understand it, if you go with the OEM hitch on a ‘24 there will be a hole in your bumper because Kia still hasn’t made the bumper insert or whatever part available for the hitch install.
If you don’t mind having the hitch under the bumper (and the bonus of no hole in your bumper) go aftermarket and save some money.
If I were you I would call your local U-Haul and ask them for a quote. Just tell them the ‘24 uses the same hitch as the ‘23, in case they don’t know. U-Haul knows hitches, and if there is ever a problem, they can fix it

thanks for the direction that is awesome!

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[lgreen2]

The harness behind my dash does not fit the harness sold for the 2023 Tellluride by brake controller manufacturers. If anyone has any ideas please respond to my new thread "Brake controller harness missmatch." Help would be much appreciated.

 

[skewesb]

The harness behind my dash does not fit the harness sold for the 2023 Tellluride by brake controller manufacturers. If anyone has any ideas please respond to my new thread "Brake controller harness missmatch." Help would be much appreciated.

I order Tekonosha part number 3081-P that Krause mentioned on his post #68. It is supposed to arrive today from Amazon. I will let you know if it fits.

 

[lgreen2]

It will not fit mine. From the other thread:

First postpictures are on the other thread)


2023 EX X-line. Installed OEM hitch/receiver, Hyundai harness from Canada. All good.
Next I am going to get a brake controller. Pictures 1 and 2 show the harness I found behind the fuse box (the darker picture has better contrast to show the connector holes). Pictures 3 and 4 show the 4 pin brake controller harness that came with the Hyundai Canada wiring harnesses. Not a match. I contacted etrailer and they were useless. Tekonsha has a harness that is supposed to work with the Telluride, but it matches the Canadian harness exactly. Am I looking at the wrong harness? It is the only one I can find behind the dash. Any words of wisdom from the Brain Trust? Thanks, all.

Skeweb: The 3081-p part you ordered has only 4 pins/wires. My connector has 6 wires. Hopefully, your Telluride has a 4 wire harness, and it will work for you. See update below.



Update: Kia confirms that there are 6 wires in the brake controller harness behind the dash. The dealership technician "assumes" that the additional two wires go to the computer, but doesn't know - the wiring diagram KIA provided does not show what the wires are for. He said that the two additional wires appear to have been added mid-year, with no communication with the dealerships. KIA Customer Care, ever helpful, told me that "this is a dealer issue." When I told them what the dealership said, they insisted that it was up to the dealership to tell me what parts were needed. KIA has, evidently, not communicated with the brake controller manufacturers, so they do not have a harness to recommend. Worst of all, a local trailer hitch shop told me that without knowing what the extra two wires are for, they would not be willing to try to "splice" into the system. KIA, it seems, has managed to fix the original problem, but in doing so created a new impediment to me towing a trailer with brakes. Awesomeness.

 

[TellmeyourWHAT?]

KIA, it seems, has managed to fix the original problem, but in doing so created a new impediment to me towing a trailer with brakes. Awesomeness.

Supposedly, on Aug 1 (5 days away), KIA is going to start installing hitches and harnesses to special needs folks. Why don't you claim special need status and give them the headache? I wouldn't mess around with this complex harness issue for all the tea in China.

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[lgreen2]

Does preservation of my mental health qualify as a "special need?"

 

[TellmeyourWHAT?]

Does preservation of my mental health qualify as a "special need?"

Hobble into your dealer, and claim you got injured and will be needing a wheelchair trailer. That should be easy enough to pull off.

 

[lgreen2]

This has now become comedy. After a morning of talking to KIA employees that know nothing, I was "escalated." The fellow who called me was smooth as silk as he insisted that the tow hitch/wiring fiasco I was experiencing had nothing to do with a recall. I mean he was glib, slick and a total a**hole. "Recalls are VIN specific and there has been no recall of your vehicle." I asked him to stop playing semantic games. OK, my particular vehicle had not been recalled, but the problem was created by the previous recall. He insisted that it was all just supply chain issues for which KIA bore no responsibility. "OK, let's pretend that is true." I said." Why can I not get a brake controller installed ANYWHERE?" He insisted that there was no problem with redesigning the brake controller harness mid-year with no dealer communication or communication to brake controller manufacturers. because, ahem, " there is 'probably' information on that topic" on a website: kiatechinfo.com. He did not mention that if I wanted to bang around on that website for who knows how long looking for information that might or might not be there I would have to pay money to subscribe. KIA treats their customers like the enemy. The company culture sucks. I am telling everyone I know to never buy a KIA.

 

[skeetermx1825]

Just had my first service done and stopped in the Parts Office to ask about the Trailer Hitch Saga and if they had any update. They had NOTHING to tell me, I asked about the 2020-2022 Hitch and new Palisade Wiring harness option and they said they wouldn't install either as they are not official 2023+ Telluride parts and it would void the warranty...

Unreal how KIA keeps their dealers in the dark to take on the brunt of pissed off customers...

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[Garry1951]

Just had my first service done and stopped in the Parts Office to ask about the Trailer Hitch Saga and if they had any update. They had NOTHING to tell me, I asked about the 2020-2022 Hitch and new Palisade Wiring harness option and they said they wouldn't install either as they are not official 2023+ Telluride parts and it would void the warranty...

Unreal how KIA keeps their dealers in the dark to take on the brunt of pissed off customers...

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Just had my first service done and stopped in the Parts Office to ask about the Trailer Hitch Saga and if they had any update. They had NOTHING to tell me, I asked about the 2020-2022 Hitch and new Palisade Wiring harness option and they said they wouldn't install either as they are not official 2023+ Telluride parts and it would void the warranty...

Unreal how KIA keeps their dealers in the dark to take on the brunt of pissed off customers...

 

[Garry1951]

Most dealers act like little Kia puppets!!! void ur warranty an we haven’t heard anything!!!! Form answers!!!! Guess they turn them off with a switch at quitting time?

 

[Coneman]

SO is this a plug and play for a 2023 KIA Telluride SX Prestige without the tow package? I just need lights for a 4 pin and have been waiting to install my hitch I got with ETrailer.

 

[KiaJohn]

So i have gone through all the posts but am a bit confused. what is the best option for a 2024 Tride hitch only for a bike rack no wiring needed. Im trying to maintain maximum clearence. also my salesperson said if I go aftermarket it will void my warranty. what? sounds wrong to me.

I too want this - just for a bike rack. Has anyone installed a stealth hitch on a 23 or 24 Telluride?
Thanks, John