journey13

Wow, a Journey equipped with 255 tires? Well, all I can say is thanks for testing, at least now I know if I want to get 245's because I can't find 225/235 tires. ...I predict it might have a tough time navigating through snowy conditions, let alone the impact on the fuel consumption and engine wear/tare. In my locale, we often deal with snow. My Journey came fitted with 235 tires, but I chose to switch to 225s on my mechanics advise as it would cut through the snow more efficiently. The car now easily cuts through the snow like butter. I don't see any compelling reason to opt for wider tires, unless I want engine repair or pay for more gas or getting tickets because my spedo is not accurate. No thank you.

Or... You can just fix this by getting rid of your stock car battery. Replace it with an aftermarket one. Ever since I have done that in 2017, I have had no issues with the GPS system. Hasn't failed me in 4yrs so far....just sayin... Before, i was on a stock radio...and the GPS radio was replaced 3x under warranty, then failed another after warranty...I paid to have it hacked and it worked, then stopped....I just simply changed my stock battery after it died and my problems went away... GPS has worked flawlessly since...no more maps not found...

Any chance you can show the picture of how and where you spliced in the diode and what size? Also, in the diagram I attached below, to which green wire did you splice into? There appears to be three...

Your solution on a 2013 Dodge Journey R/T Rallye 3.6L V6 for the electrical braking system. It is located on the passenger side. The switch above the brake pedal is useless.

So I discovered that I had it wired correctly the 1st time LoL It would appear there are two standards for wiring the USCAR connector. The one from the US is different from Canada. *pulls out hair* I was forced to swap the following wires: Black with Green Brown with Red Blue and White The one in the center for the reverse light is correct on both standards. Thus, the 7-Way RV Blade is not correct for Canada as shown previously. I have yet to make an updated image but have attached how my box looks now. Eventually when I get around, I will update the image.

Well today, I got through the wiring under the hood into the driver side under the steering wheel. I still have to make the connection under the driver side but all the wires are there now including: 1x Electrical Brake wire from Hitch/USCAR connector 1x Ground for Electrical Braking System 1x 12+ Power for Electrical Braking System 1x On/Off Switch for Hitch Lights (the wiring has already been run to the hitch when I ran wires underneath the car last weekend) In about 2 weeks time, I will be doing the final connection under the driver side for the electrical braking switch. I had to remove the wipers on the driver side to get access to run the wires through a large rubber grommet as shown in pictures.

Installed a power cut-off switch for the rear hitch harness/wiring under the hood...

To be honest, it was probably one of the worst projects I have ever undertaken for my vehicle; and I have done plenty in my lifetime. I have never came across wires from 3 seperate harnesses using different color schemes. Not to mention, not even follow the color codes of what each wire is in the actual manual. That just baffles me. Anyway, as far as what I will be towing? HaHa TBH, I initially wanted to only put up a hitch to put on a bike rack ROFL For some stupid reason, I decided to do the works, the entire wiring apparatus. I guess I thought it would be an interesting project; only thing is, it turned out to be hell HaHa. Honestly, I don't even know if I will ever put a trailer on it? How sad is that? This is despite going all out and even installing an electrical braking switch. I guess parts of me found this interesting, the whole install hitch and wiring the harnesses. I missed working on cars. Last time I worked on cars was back in 2013 when I had a heavily modded Mustang with a supercharger. Mind you, some of the work was not done by me so I can't take all the credit but the projects back then were fun. At least the wires and colors matched up! Ha So yeah, most likely just a hitch and a bike rack HaHa

You would think after all this I would be finished, far from it. One thing left outstanding is the wiring for the Electrical Braking which is not done yet. I have ordered the following parts for that: CURT Manufacturing 51500 Brake Control Wiring Kit CURT Manufacturing 51170 Spectrum Original Equipment Style Electric Trailer Brake Controller, Proportional CURT Manufacturing 51515 Brake Control Wiring Harness Once I have that complete, I will update with further documentation and pictures. Until then, everything is wired on my journey with the exception of the Electrical Braking wire which is under the driver side steering column.

Some other pictures to illustrate... Please note that the wiring in the junction box is incomplete but all top connections are from the USCAR 7 harness while the bottom ones are from the vehicle and the Dodge Journey 4-pin harness.

My apologies, forgot the "brown" wire illustration

Ok. So I now have my 2013 Dodge Journey R/T Rallye all wired up for a hitch with a fully functional USCAR 7 Wire and 4 pin connector based on the trandictional 7-Way R/V Blade Configuration. Here is an image for everyone of what the wiring looks like. Please note, none of the color wires match, not even from CURT's documentation manuals. This took me 20 hrs to figure out. Also, if you have a 2013 Dodge Journey or newer, you will find the 'reverse' light cable in the rear top quarter panel on the left side (it will be part of a green connector plug as shown in the picture attached). It will be one of the middle wires, one for each side (left and right) it doesn't matter which one you connect it to as long as it is the middle wire. Do note that the middle wires have 2 wires spliced into the middle, one is the wrong one. Please be sure to test it as it was frustrating. If there is any questions, feel free to private message me or post here. I never realized how involved installing a hitch would be in a Dodge Journey let alone expect it to take me 20hrs to figure this nonsense out. I don't know why CURT makes this so difficult.

I wired it based on the trailer side when it should be based on the vehicle side; thus, this means the colors are yet again, all over the place FFS *sigh*

Ok. Back to square one next Saturday hahaha...my wiring on the USCAR is all wrong FFS...I wired it based on the trailer side and not the vehicle side...*pulls out more hair*

So, in addition to the parts I mentioned that I used for my CURT Hitch installation, I will be getting these as well for the electronic braking system (blue wire)... CURT Manufacturing 51500 Brake Control Wiring Kit CURT Manufacturing 51170 Spectrum Original Equipment Style Electric Trailer Brake Controller, Proportional CURT Manufacturing 51515 Brake Control Wiring Harness Once I have completed the work, I will post an update and pictures.

Looks like I found my electric brake source @ https://www.etrailer.com/question-122768.html which links to -> https://www.etrailer.com/faq-installation-of-brake-controller-from-scratch.aspx

On an additional note, we did remove/cut out the exhaust for this work; it made life simpler with running the wires while on the hoist as well as with the hitch install. And since my entire exhaust was out, I took advantage of the time and cleaned my original factory exhaust tips as well :P Oh and that white plug with the blue end that you see in the first picture (just below the rear bumper on the left top side of the image), I never used it. In order to use it, you have to have the Journey computer flashed by the dealership at a cost of $100+.

@Armando G Yeah, the WTF moment was from the 55774 to 56229 to 56330. The colors for all those do not match. What I did realize after 4hrs scratching my head is that the wires on 56330 do not even conform to the color codes identified in the actual Curt manual hahaha ...so needless to say, that did not help. Eventually, the mismatch in color wires between 55774 and 56229 was irrelevant as I discovered because the wires line up correctly at the end of 56229 (if that makes any sense). In the end, connecting 56229 to 56330 was simple. As for the battery, it is currently on the same battery. I have yet to install a 2nd one. Honestly, I doubt I will ever need it. Initially I just wanted a hitch to lug a bike rack in the back. However, my friends own a shop so they did all the work for nothing for me as they said 'let's do the works'. I did help but most of the work they did. The wiring was the only pain we encountered as the hitch was on the car within 2 hrs if not less. Also, the power is fused based on the 56330 harness, no cutting was done to that harness other than cutting off the 4 wire plug so I can connect it to the 56229 harness extension. We did run 3 cables from the back of the car to the front for power. One cable for when I eventually will add hitch lights in the back, another for the blue cable, and the third for the 56330 harness fused power.. The wires were connected as such from the 56330 harness to the 56229 extension: Black to Black, White to White, Yellow to Yellow, Brown to Brown, Green to Green, Blue to Blue,. The last and final wire, purple, is for the reverse light which connects into a wire in your left rear tail light, I believe it was a beige type wire. The blue one I have yet to connect as its for the electrical brakes. So if anyone has pointers where to find the connection i'm all ears. My understanding is its somewhere under the dash?

I just installed a Curtis Hitch on my 2013 Dodge Journey R/T Rallye Stage 3. I purchased the following kits: CURT Manufacturing 56330 Vehicle-Side Custom 4-Pin Trailer Wiring Harness for Select Dodge Journey CURT Manufacturing 55774 Dual-Output Vehicle-Side Trailer Wiring Harness Connectors for Select USCAR Vehicles, 7-Pin Trailer Wiring, 4-Pin Trailer CURT Manufacturing 56229 USCAR Replacement Vehicle End Wiring with 24" Wires (7 Way Vehicle end with 24 in Bonded Wire) CURT Manufacturing 13201 Class 3 Trailer Hitch, 2-Inch Receiver for Select Dodge Journey CURT Manufacturing 58000 Easy Mount Electrical Bracket for 2" Receiver Tube CURT Manufacturing 23518 Black Trailer Hitch Lock 5/8-Inch Pin Diameter Fits 2-Inch Receiver CURT Manufacturing 45036 Class III 2" Loaded Ball Mount with 2" Ball Attached a picture of what it looks like finished after 10 hrs of work. One of the reasons for the length of time is because for some stupid reason, CURT wire's do not follow standard colors. The colors from 56229 to 55774 to 56330 are different color schemes. I was nearly pulling my hair out for 4 hrs hahaha. Thankfully, I have documented it all so I made sense out of it. But man, frustrating!

I would advise that anyone having problems with their GPS/Maps with the map not found feature, get rid of your stock (factory) car battery. I have gotten rid of my stock (factory) battery a year ago and since then have had no issues with my GPS/MAPS radio. Just my 2 cents. Cheaper than buying a new unit. I have only reloaded my maps once in the last 2 years. Last year my stock battery died after being in the car 5yrs. Since I replaced it, my GPS/MAPS unit has been working without issues. Last year I had problems with it just before the stock (factory) battery died but since then, not a single fault.

FYI I had this problem for the past 3 years. Last year November my factory battery died and I had to replace it. before that, I had unlock maps problems. After replacing the factory battery with stock I haven't had problems for the past 6 months and my unlock problem has gone away. What I am saying is, try getting rid of your stock battery and replace it with an after market. So far, in the last 6 months I haven't had issues as I had in the previous year with the factory battery. Kind of makes me wonder is it really the GPS unit or was it my factory battery as the problem? The map system even loads faster than with the stock battery now...with the factory battery, my GPS unit was replaced 3x due to the unlock map issue and was slow to load...worth a shot!

This is a long shot in the dark. But everyone that is experiencing problems with their GPS units, with the maps not available; are you still using your stock battery? I recently had a problem with my unit in October 2018. Shortly there after, my battery has died. It was the factory stock still installed after 5 years. Anyway, I changed to an after market battery and got rid of the stock battery. Since October 2018, I haven't had any further problems with the GPS unit. I'm hoping that it sticks. But it makes me wonder. Is it really the GPS unit that is faulty or the stock battery that sells with the Dodge Journey?

Funny, this morning I started the car and the GPS/Maps is working...*sigh* I swear this vehicle is possessed as it wasn't working since Monday this week prior...I am going to try and reload the maps in a few days. Hopefully it buys me another year again...

Yeah, well, the radio went on me 3x during warranty, replaced 3x during warranty...2x after warranty...the after warranty I reloaded the firmware myself including the maps. Now I can't reload anything as the gps/maps feature is stuck on 'loading'. Reloading the firmware did not help.... So yeah, no more defective dodge for me, just like ford (fix or repair daily)... The only reason I bought a Dodge was because they seemed to have good reviews; only problem was 6 months after it was nothing but bad reviews. I backup the bad reviews going forward and would not recommend a dodge to anyone simply for the fact that a $1200 US radio/gps deck fails every year no matter how many time you replace it. The item is under recall in USA but no in Canada...

Well, I am back...1yr 2 months later after getting my radio fixed, it is dead again...at least the GPS anyway. I am stuck on a screen with "loading please wait.." *SIGH* PS: I swear, I am never buying another DODGE in my life again and I would never recommend this vehicle to anyone. Period.