By far the cheapest and easiest way to hook up this connection is buying a kit from UHaul for about $65. can or $45. US. The installation videos on YouTube are great...

 

Ford seems to claim all Escapes are pre-wired for towing, but from my own experience and the existence of this forum topic, obviously that is misleading.

I can also confirm that Ford does not install relays or fuses needed for the towing wiring on a Ford Escape 2009 at the time of manufacturing. All they do is lay the wires to the rear fender. While about to tow a trailer off a lot, I discovered there is no power to the tow wiring, and that there is no required fuse nor relay installed. I was sol.

From this forum, it's not guaranteed that there are even connections to the required fuses/relays in the front fusebox. One person on this forum said that all they needed to fix this is to install the relays, while another person said the relay seats for towing in their front fusebox weren't even hooked up. I just had the hitch installed at a dealership with the 4-prong flat wire adapter for the rear fender connection too, but after installation, they didn't even test the voltage to make sure it's hooked up right. I guess I'll find out tomorrow what my options are when I show up early in the AM at the dealership shop asking how they missed that little problem.

If the fusebox is properly hooked up, get relays. If not, splice into the breaklight wiring.

I guess bottom line regarding towing on this model is, experience may vary, so ask to see them perform a voltage test on those pre-installed wires before driving off the lot after any purchase or after-market hitch+wire adapter installation.

Also, the relays are available only through dealerships. Call local auto supply shops to see if they are permitted to carry these items before wasting a trip.

 

Am I glad I found this forum!! Just bought a 2009 Ford Escape and installed a hitch and was moving forward on getting the wiring connector hooked up. Went to Ford dealer parts and asked about the micro relays that were required in the fuse box for the connector at the rear of vehicle as described in this forum. He looked it up and gave me price $39 each for the 3 needed, but never said anything about being sure my fuse box would handle the fuses. I removed an existing fuse and place it in 31C, D and E...........no connectors to accept. What BS!!! Pisses me off that Ford parts guy would not warn me that the receptacle might not be wired for it. Looks like I am now going to have to splice into my wiring which I will probably have someone at UHaul or other trailer outfit do for me. Can't believe the fuse box is not wired for these when they go to the trouble of putting the wiring in the vehicle all the way to the rear end....from I assume somewhere near the fuse block in the engine compartment.

 

Cheapest and easist way to hook up the wiring is to goto UHaul, by the wiring package for about $50-60. and install it by watching the YouTube video. If you buy it from the dealer it will cost you many times more as it comes piece by piece.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9341QIjqj84

 

Whoops, that wa the hitch - this is for the 2005, will try to find the 2008...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r89S3...eature=related

 

Sorry, that's not right either, will keep looking - , nevertheless, it's fairly simple..

 

However, we are able to ship throughout the US and to Canada. If you are lucky enough to live in this area, or happen to be passing through, we can install your hitch, wiring, brake controller, etc for FREE! Just call our custom service department and see how!

 

Wish I would have found this site earlier... ran into the same problem with the relays on my Tribute. I bought 'em and have no where to plug them in to. I paid 122.87 (tax incl.) for the three. I even tried opening up the fuse box to see if there were any wires not hooked up under there. No luck. I guess I'll have to try and splice as others have recommended. I hope Ford takes returns on these relays. The other option would be to try and run the wiring to the fuse box, but I think that'd be more complicated than splicing. Any thoughts? Anyone want to buy the relays off me? I'm in Richmond Hill.

 

http://www.etrailer.com/tv-wiring-in...rd-escape.aspx

Here's a video of a guy splicing in one on a '09

 

I posted one about my experience and there are others. Your fuse box has the fuses missing.....but even if you get the fuses there is "probably" nothing that they can plug into....check out this site....see what numbers the fuses are...then open your fusebox, and look into the locations with flashlight and you might see there is nothing for the fuse to plug into. Ford will also gouge you on the cost to install. As others have stated, probably easiest way to get wired is splicing into existing wiring, but somewhat of a challenge on the drivers side tail light assembly.
James810