Hopkins Towing Solutions 47185 Multi-Tow 4 Flat to 7 Blade and 4 Flat Adapter

We planned to use this on our 2013 Ford Escape (Titanium) with factory towing, but ended up using it on a 1997 Ford Explorer XLT instead (not due to the item itself, but due to the towing capacity of the Escape). The wires are completely sealed with some sort of epoxy where they go into the adapter itself. My only issue here is that the bolts provided for mounting the bracket to the vehicle may not be long enough for several applications. In our case, they were barely long enough to go through the bumper we drilled through on the 97 Explorer. The adapter performed as expected however, and survived a 2500 mile trip without any issues, and we expect it to last a long time to come.

I returned it. It was delivered to late to use. I bought one in time from Autozone for the same price when I needed to install it.

This was never going to be an easy install for us and it wasn’t. The instructions aren’t bad but they are also not awesome. It took about 3 hours to install in a cargo van so I would easily add more time for a passenger vehicle.

I have these on several vehicles- great quality. ALWAYS use the combination adapters like this so if you need to tow a trailer with either connector, you can. I learned that the hard way when I had an axle failure on my car trailer away from home- I had to get a rental trailer to get my race car home while I left the other trailer at a friends house while I had to order a new axle for it. Being able to slap a rental trailer on without buying an adapter is awesome. You never know when you may want to tow something for a friend or whatever. Its also no more wiring involved to have this combo unit.

The number on packaging says 47185 but no bracket was included like some of the pictures show. As such, there is no way to mount it. It is useless without a bracket to mount unless you already have one or figure out which one to buy separately. As of Jan 2023, if you look at the photos for the product, you will see two different product packaging with the same 47185 item #. On one of them, the label makes it clear that the bracket is included. The other packaging does NOT indicate the mounting bracket is included. It seems I received the one without that didnt clearly list the mounting bracket as included. Since this item has been sold for years, Im assuming something changed over the years. Whether I received an old version, or a newer version of the 47185, I cant be sure. Either way, be aware there is a risk you are going to receive no mounting bracket. If you dont need the mounting bracket then this wont matter. However, I did and Im sure many/most do. If they sold the bracket separately for a few bucks, I probably would have just gone ahead and ordered the bracket. However, that doesnt appear to be the case, so I dont really know what they expect you to do.

Gave it 4 stars because the mounting bracket is very thin and flimsy, will probably have to build a more solid bracket in the future.

works great after you replace the fasteners on the bracket with slightly larger ones that have nylon lock nuts. Couldnt keep the bracket tight worth a damn with the stock hardware, worked itself loose almost daily. the screws that hold the socket into the bracket were fine though. they just need to improve the bracket fasteners by making them a little bigger & using lock nuts instead of jamb nuts

My installation was a little different than the normal hookup since I wanted to do four things: 1) tow a small trailer w/o brakes, 2) be able to tow a trailer with brakes using a brake controller, 3) provide power to operate a macerater pump for transferring black water, and 4) provide power to operate a power lift to help load and unload the back of the minivan. Therefore, I needed a little heavier wire to the back of the minivan, but otherwise the hookup was the same. The only thing I did differently than suggested in the package was to mount the plugs on the bumper rather than on the hitch - that was a mistake, since the angle bracket has taken some damage that it would not have experienced had it been attached to the hitch. My requirements 1) and 2) were very well taken care of by the adapter package. I run a separate black wire for ground rather than use the frame of the vehicle and, like I said, due to my load requirements, I needed heavier wire. I used the black wire from the adapter as my blue wire for the electric brake support. Unfortunately, my macerater pump uses the center wire (the one marked backup lights - purple) as an auxiliary power. If I get time, I will switch that to use the black wire (aux) which seems to be more suitable, but for now that is is how it is. The heaviest user of power is the power lift. It uses 30 amps of 12 vdc, so the wires (red for positive and black for negative battery were run to it first and then Td to the other operations (one for the power brakes (2) and one for the macerater (3). Since the lift does not operate during travel and would not be in use while the macerater is running, the power is shared among them as well as the lights for the trailers (both 1) and 2) ). I had installed the standard 4-wire small trailer package which is a prerequisite for this products installation. It all works like a charm.

The 4-pin is not an add-on like other adapters. It is part of the adapter assembly. The wiring is accessibly, but firmly potted into the plug. Installed on a Subaru Outback with 4-pin factory hitch wiring. I had to pound the bracket flat and drill holes in braket to install, but it all worked out. It hangs a bit low for me, but I suspect it will be fine. Wiring all checked out fine with tester.