2022 Lariat Smart Trailer Tow Connector

[pjstud1v]

My 5/31 blend date Lariat PB has the smart tow connector listed on the sticker. I noticed it has the 7/4 pin combo in person. Wiring is there for the smart connector but the plug isn’t. I had already ordered the trailer camera kit and thankfully that has the correct plug set. My truck does have the fully populated 12 wire harness for smart tow connector, so that’s nice.

I know there’s been a lot of confusion over this plug and wiring since the new truck launched. Just wanted to share a current example of what’s being delivered.

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[snipes]

I picked up my 402 a tremor yesterday and was bit bummed when i saw only 7 pin / 4 pin and no 12 pin smart connector. I am in worse shape in that i only have two wires running to the connector. Was really hoping to have slick camera setup on back of my camper. Guess i need to investigate other option.

 

[pjstud1v]

I picked up my 402 a tremor yesterday and was bit bummed when i saw only 7 pin / 4 pin and no 12 pin smart connector. I am in worse shape in that i only have two wires running to the connector. Was really hoping to have slick camera setup on back of my camper. Guess i need to investigate other option.

That stinks. I have max tow and 360* cameras, which must be why I have all the wiring. Just hooked up my trailer camera and TPMS today. Getting my yaw sensor tomorrow morning.

Do a search for the wiring harness you need. Someone posted a part number that supposed to work. I hope you can figure it out.

 

[Kidder]

That stinks. I have max tow and 360* cameras, which must be why I have all the wiring. Just hooked up my trailer camera and TPMS today. Getting my yaw sensor tomorrow morning.

Do a search for the wiring harness you need. Someone posted a part number that supposed to work. I hope you can figure it out.

I have Max Tow and only have the two wire. There is no rhyme or reason on why Ford did it. I could probably go back and look at what Max Tow provides and fight Ford on it. And, I may very well do that.. It also feels like I have taken a step backwards using a 7 to 4 adapter versus have the 4 pin on the bumper.

 

[Buyer2021]

Folks, "Smart Tow Connector" is the term for a set of features incorporated in the 7/4-pin trailer connector (e.g. trailer taillight failure sensing, trailer taillight test routine, trailer disconnect alarm, etc). I'm betting that your trucks as delivered do in fact have the features associated with "Smart Tow Connector", those features are fully supported on my 2022 Lariat with 7/4-pin connector.




"Smart Tow Connector" has nothing to do with the 12-pin connector for accessory kits like trailer TPMS, trailer rear cam, trailer-mounted Yaw Sensor Module.

For info relating to the totally unrelated 12-pin connector and the many variations of wiring as delivered, see this thread.

 

[pjstud1v]

Folks, "Smart Tow Connector" is the term for a set of features incorporated in the 7/4-pin trailer connector (e.g. trailer taillight failure sensing, trailer taillight test routine, trailer disconnect alarm, etc). I'm betting that your trucks as delivered do in fact have the features associated with "Smart Tow Connector", those features are fully supported on my 2022 Lariat with 7/4-pin connector.




"Smart Tow Connector" has nothing to do with the 12-pin connector for accessory kits like trailer TPMS, trailer rear cam, trailer-mounted Yaw Sensor Module.

For info relating to the totally unrelated 12-pin connector and the many variations of wiring as delivered, see this thread.

Thanks for clarifying. Ford is ridiculous with how things are named. Whatever you actually call it, my trailer now has functioning camera, TPMS, and yaw sensor.

 

[Buyer2021]

That stinks. I have max tow and 360* cameras, which must be why I have all the wiring. Just hooked up my trailer camera and TPMS today. Getting my yaw sensor tomorrow morning.

Congrats! FWIW my Lariat with 5/12 blend date also has Max Tow and 360* cams, but only 2 wires at the subject connector

Having informally tracked reports of folks 'with' and 'without' complete 12-pin connector wiring I can't discern any consistent rhyme, reason, or pattern to how Ford is delivering these things (it doesn't seem to be tied to any blend-date cutoff, nor to any specific equipment, at least to this date)

It is what it is .... but at least there are solutions described in the thread I linked above.

 

[Snooker_ML]

I just bought a 2023 F150 PowerBoost MaxTow 360Camera Lariat 501A, built in Nov. '22; (MaxTow on mine included Pro Trailer Backup Assist)...

... and I am trying to buy the camera/TPMS/yaw kit for my travel trailer. I was upset after first reading the aforementioned post as I have the EXACT same connectors on the bumper as shown by the OP. But now I too see that the flat 4 connector (which is only pins, not wired) apparently can be removed and replaced by the "Even Smarter tow trailer camera/TPMS" connector (12-pins actually wired) it looks like. Phew.

The issue at https://accessories.ford.com/ is that you can search for the part number and nothing shows up, IF you have an F150 selected in your garage! So you must unselect the F150 in the upper right (in your garage), because they still don't have it shown as fitting the F150, only SuperDuty:
https://accessories.ford.com/search?q=LC3Z1A189

As for ordering the correct trailer kit, it is SO confusing, the name of the part, the year, and the detailed descriptions are incomplete, wrong, or malformatted. One says camera and the other says sensor, etc.

However, the base part number is LC3Z1A189<x> where <x> can be one of several letters (A,B,C,D, etc). From what I gather, A is for a truck WITH Pro Trailer Backup Assist (adds Yaw), and D is without. They are the same price. I think I need A but I ordered both and will return one. LC3Z1A189A or LC3Z1A189D. These 2 cost more than the others and according to the pictures (also inconsistent) it shows a camera so I think A and D include the camera itself.

The A item is found exactly here, (and it had a 15% special code at the top of the main page): https://accessories.ford.com/produc...ler-sensor-kit-with-pro-trailer-backup-assist

I think the A item has the most features and includes all 3: camera, TPMS, yaw. But does anybody know? The description does not make sense but the pictures showing the parts kit looks clear. I'm not sure what is different about the D item, the picture shows the Yaw sensor box on D also, but maybe that picture is wrong (likely).

In fact, the trailer kit I ordered was LC3Z1A189A and it should be for all 3 features: camera, TPMS and yaw. It appears that either you can replace the left side "double" connector to now be: standard 7-pin on top and new 12-pin Even Smarter tow connector on bottom...
... it looks like there is a right angle female round connector as well, and I think that is a docking station to plug the new trailer cable into when not using the trailer.
(so what is the big empty round hole on the right side of my license plate for? with the dummy plastic cover).

Is this true? In any event I will know soon.

I also found this, with encouraging consistent names (but the prices are old):

I found this, not sure which F150 and which kit it is for:

 

[DcnPat]

The hole to the right of the license plate is so you can lower your spare tire using the tools behind your right rear seat (with the jack). The owners manual says a key lock goes in the hole but seems like most recent trucks just have the plastic flip cover.

 

[DcnPat]

I just bought a 2023 F150 PowerBoost MaxTow 360Camera Lariat 501A, built in Nov. '22; (MaxTow on mine included Pro Trailer Backup Assist)...

... and I am trying to buy the camera/TPMS/yaw kit for my travel trailer. I was upset after first reading the aforementioned post as I have the EXACT same connectors on the bumper as shown by the OP. But now I too see that the flat 4 connector (which is only pins, not wired) apparently can be removed and replaced by the "Even Smarter tow trailer camera/TPMS" connector (12-pins actually wired) it looks like. Phew.

The issue at https://accessories.ford.com/ is that you can search for the part number and nothing shows up, IF you have an F150 selected in your garage! So you must unselect the F150 in the upper right (in your garage), because they still don't have it shown as fitting the F150, only SuperDuty:
https://accessories.ford.com/search?q=LC3Z1A189

As for ordering the correct trailer kit, it is SO confusing, the name of the part, the year, and the detailed descriptions are incomplete, wrong, or malformatted. One says camera and the other says sensor, etc.

However, the base part number is LC3Z1A189<x> where <x> can be one of several letters (A,B,C,D, etc). From what I gather, A is for a truck WITH Pro Trailer Backup Assist (adds Yaw), and D is without. They are the same price. I think I need A but I ordered both and will return one. LC3Z1A189A or LC3Z1A189D. These 2 cost more than the others and according to the pictures (also inconsistent) it shows a camera so I think A and D include the camera itself.

The A item is found exactly here, (and it had a 15% special code at the top of the main page): https://accessories.ford.com/produc...ler-sensor-kit-with-pro-trailer-backup-assist

I think the A item has the most features and includes all 3: camera, TPMS, yaw. But does anybody know? The description does not make sense but the pictures showing the parts kit looks clear. I'm not sure what is different about the D item, the picture shows the Yaw sensor box on D also, but maybe that picture is wrong (likely).

In fact, the trailer kit I ordered was LC3Z1A189A and it should be for all 3 features: camera, TPMS and yaw. It appears that either you can replace the left side "double" connector to now be: standard 7-pin on top and new 12-pin Even Smarter tow connector on bottom...
... it looks like there is a right angle female round connector as well, and I think that is a docking station to plug the new trailer cable into when not using the trailer.
(so what is the big empty round hole on the right side of my license plate for? with the dummy plastic cover).

Is this true? In any event I will know soon.

I also found this, with encouraging consistent names (but the prices are old):

I found this, not sure which F150 and which kits it is for:

View attachment 72827

Let us know what is in the kit when it arrives.

 

[Snooker_ML]

The hole to the right of the license plate is so you can lower your spare tire using the tools behind your right rear seat (with the jack). The owners manual says a key lock goes in the hole but seems like most recent trucks just have the plastic flip cover.

Ok thanks. Haven't read the manual yet. Makes sense, but it sure seems like a big hole!

 

[Snooker_ML]

I just bought a 2023 F150 PowerBoost MaxTow 360Camera Lariat 501A, built in Nov. '22; (MaxTow on mine included Pro Trailer Backup Assist)...

... and I am trying to buy the camera/TPMS/yaw kit for my travel trailer. I was upset after first reading the aforementioned post as I have the EXACT same connectors on the bumper as shown by the OP. But now I too see that the flat 4 connector (which is only pins, not wired) apparently can be removed and replaced by the "Even Smarter tow trailer camera/TPMS" connector (12-pins actually wired) it looks like. Phew.

The issue at https://accessories.ford.com/ is that you can search for the part number and nothing shows up, IF you have an F150 selected in your garage! So you must unselect the F150 in the upper right (in your garage), because they still don't have it shown as fitting the F150, only SuperDuty:
https://accessories.ford.com/search?q=LC3Z1A189

As for ordering the correct trailer kit, it is SO confusing, the name of the part, the year, and the detailed descriptions are incomplete, wrong, or malformatted. One says camera and the other says sensor, etc.

However, the base part number is LC3Z1A189<x> where <x> can be one of several letters (A,B,C,D, etc). From what I gather, A is for a truck WITH Pro Trailer Backup Assist (adds Yaw), and D is without. They are the same price. I think I need A but I ordered both and will return one. LC3Z1A189A or LC3Z1A189D. These 2 cost more than the others and according to the pictures (also inconsistent) it shows a camera so I think A and D include the camera itself.

The A item is found exactly here, (and it had a 15% special code at the top of the main page): https://accessories.ford.com/produc...ler-sensor-kit-with-pro-trailer-backup-assist

I think the A item has the most features and includes all 3: camera, TPMS, yaw. But does anybody know? The description does not make sense but the pictures showing the parts kit looks clear. I'm not sure what is different about the D item, the picture shows the Yaw sensor box on D also, but maybe that picture is wrong (likely).

In fact, the trailer kit I ordered was LC3Z1A189A and it should be for all 3 features: camera, TPMS and yaw. It appears that either you can replace the left side "double" connector to now be: standard 7-pin on top and new 12-pin Even Smarter tow connector on bottom...
... it looks like there is a right angle female round connector as well, and I think that is a docking station to plug the new trailer cable into when not using the trailer.
(so what is the big empty round hole on the right side of my license plate for? with the dummy plastic cover).

Is this true? In any event I will know soon.

I also found this, with encouraging consistent names (but the prices are old):

I found this, not sure which F150 and which kit it is for:

I ordered more than one of these kits from accessories.ford.com and I can tell you a couple of useful things. First, the descriptions at that site are completely goofy and the verbage and pictures are not to be trusted. The best descriptions are in the image I shared above, from that you can get the part number of the cable assembly you want, then use that part number for ordering. There are six options, only varying by the final letter of the part, from A to F.

The cables appear to only vary by which connectors you want for the various combinations of the 3 features: TPMS, Remote camera, YAW (called Pro Trailer Backup Assist in the image). Everything you need for the feature is included in the kit, EXCEPT that the YAW sensor box itself is not included (this explains why the kits that include the YAW are shown as the same price - it only adds a connector on the cable for the YAW kit but no kit.

The "A" kit is the most inclusive, it has all 3 connectors, and all the components (camera, TPMS, and 4 TPMS sensors for wheels), just no YAW kit.

On eBay I found LC3T-14G621-AD which is the YAW kit. It also comes with a cable which you can't use if you have one of the above kits.

Having said all of this, none of these are shown to be available for the F150 but apparently they do. Also, I tested the camera and it shows up on my 12" F150 display, but I have not tried the TPMS or YAW yet, and am waiting for warmer weather to install it (soon)!

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