Review on 🚗 CURT 56222 Vehicle-Side Custom 4-Pin Trailer Wiring Harness: Perfect fit for Kia Rondo and Soul by Matt Welch

One star because I paid a high price for a "plug and play" device designed for my car make and model, which has nothing to do with plug and play . Although it can be made to work, the product does NOT live up to its claims and does not perform the function for which it is sold. AKA is plagiarism. I am a very experienced mechanic. I have worked on cars, boats, motorcycles, bikes and houses for many, many years. Everything from starting a new circuit to installing a custom stereo, AC repairs and rebuilding performance motors from scratch. I have a basement full of all kinds of tools. So you want to attach your soul to a pendant. The trick with the wiring is that most trailers use a 4-pin spade connector that combines brake and turn signals. One wire on each side serves as both a brake light and a turn signal on that side. But your Soul (like MANY other cars) has separate brake and turn signals; There is one wire for both brake lights and one wire for each turn signal. So what you need is a "black box" to convert separate turn signal and brake light circuits into a combined setup. These things are called "Taillight Converters" and Revain, like many others, sells them, usually for around $20. Example: sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1429822166&sr=8-16&keywords=tail+light+converter. There are many out there from many companies and suppliers. But if you don't want to figure out which wires go where, you can buy a device that just plugs in and works. Could you spend a little more to do just that? That should be this block. It is intended to be plug and play for 2014 2014 Kia Soul Base WITHOUT LED taillights (If you have LED taillights, buy another unit). But that's not the case. do not close. For the price, that's unforgivable. The instructions provided are general and vague. They do not contain important information about where to mount components, how best to route cables, and there are no tips and tricks that will make the job easier and faster. It's fine if you buy a JC Whitney all-in-one kit, but for $50 they should work better. There are some online instruction videos on YouTube but not for Kia Soul 2014/2015 and there are some differences. from the previous model. So the outdated online videos help a bit, but again not specific enough. The module is supposed to be mounted behind the left rear light, or so it's supposed to be, but how exactly is kind of a trick. They say you can install it in other locations, but they also say that not weatherproofing voids the warranty. So I think directly under the bumper the car is not quite weatherproof. Hmmm. If you have a place and a way to install it, why don't you just tell me? Good. First you have to figure out how to get the taillight out without breaking it, a trick they don't share. You will need a non-scratching plastic feeler gauge. The thing you use to open your iPod, commonly referred to as a "Spuge". just more. I used a cut piece of body putty and after removing the obvious screws I worked along the outside of the taillight assembly from top to bottom and then back up. Pry a little here and wedge a little there and pretty soon it will pop out without breaking. If you grab and pull it like they (kinda) show the guys in their video, you're going to break it. Do not do that! It wouldn't kill them if they showed you how to gently pry it out with a non-scratch tool, but they kind of mistake it for a smart screen bezel and make it look like you can just grab and pull, which isn't the case . It really can't be done without breaking it. Next you need to route the wires down and through the bumper cover to the back of the bumper brackets. The 2012 Soul video shows a nice big hole in the back. There isn't a nice big hole as seen in the video. Instead, there's a small passageway that you can't see, but if you're patient you can thread the necessary wire ends through it. You'll need some sort of fishing line, wire, or rope to make your job easier because under the floor of the car that hole I'm talking about is pretty damn hard to reach. You will then find that this is the only place the module is glued next to the side lamp reflectors, hidden behind the factory wiring to the individual lamps. which quickly turns into a rats' nest of wires if you don't thread the device's wires carefully before you start pulling them through the tiny passage mentioned above. Do not install the module yet, however, as you have work to do before you can reattach the taillight. Next you will see that the ground wire for the module you want to install needs to drill a hole in your case and drive a self tapping screw for the ground. That ground wire from the module is stupidly short so you don't have much choice where to drill the hole. Instead I just connected a long extension cord to the module's ground wire so it could also be routed under the car where I didn't have to drill new holes but could be grounded to some existing under car equipment. The correct solution here would be if the manufacturer gives you a bit more wire length on this part and you don't have to drill or splice. Instead, for less than a cent per wire, you have to decide for yourself whether you prefer to drill or splice. And while you're thinking about it, remember: the taillight in the car must already be grounded or it won't work. Why does this device even need a separate ground wire? Next is a green wire across the bottom of the bumper from the driver's side taillight to the passenger's side taillight; Fish it through this obscure hole and connect it to the tail light circuit behind the right tail light assembly. Simple, but the bottom of the Soul 2014/2015 doesn't look like the previous model in the tutorial video, so routing the cables is up to you. but wait. No matter HOW you run your cable, it's not long enough. about two feet! Not even close! So let's go back to the parts closet, grab that green wire, some splices, and extend that sucker. Be sure to protect the connectors from the elements with silicone sealant or liquid tape. The good news is that since you have yet to cut the green wire, you can now fish it out of the right taillight nacelle instead of struggling to fish it out through an obscure hole. Finally, you can plug the green wire back into the connector. Mounting area of the right rear light. NOW mount the module to the side of the inside of the left taillight assembly and carefully slide each taillight into place being careful not to pinch the wires. There's not much space. Installation took me about 2 1/2 hours. The good part was figuring out what would work. Then I got the extra wire I needed, splice connectors, tape to get things I couldn't get to easily, tools to strip and crimp the wires, then waited for the liquid tape to dry. And I already had most of it in my basement. When I finished I wasn't impressed at all and wondered why I didn't just get a $20 tail light converter since I had to splice the wires anyway. It really annoys me to pay a lot of money for a certain kit only to find out it's just crap with bad instructions that doesn't fit my car at all. If you buy this product, be prepared to spend more time installing it. what they offer. You will need some splicing and possibly drilling. There's no point in making a bad job of it, so plan to take your time. and if you're the type who isn't afraid of splicing and soldering, you might be able to save some money and just buy a tail light converter.