Painless wiring harness

[superstator]

Those of you that have gone the Painless route for a new wiring harness, which one did you use? I like the price of the 8-circuit modular (10307/10308), but I'm worried that might be a little too minimalist even for this rig.

[greenmeanie]

I'd use a 12 circuit (10101) as a minimum. You'd be suprised by what you find you need. THey also do a nice set of mounted relays but that is probably a bit pricey compared to <$10 ea from NAPA etc.

For my project I'm considering the 20 circuit waterproof (10140) but then I'm running a lot more circuits on this truck for fuel pumps, aircon etc.

You might also want to check out EZ wiring as they are much cheaper and seem to have reasonable quality.

[JSBriggs]

I have this one (10 fuse)

http://www.thehoffmangroup.com/autoloc/details.lasso?itemid=KICKZBB

They also have a 13 fuse set up

http://www.thehoffmangroup.com/keepitclean/details.lasso?itemid=KICKZB

-Jeff

[ArlowCT]

I used a 20(I think) circuit EZ-wire kit to rewire my truck when I replaced the dash last year. I love it, I took me a few nights to lay it out and plan how to run it, then one night with a friend to hook it all up.

I got rid of all Lucas connectors and hard wired everything I could with non-insulated crimp connectors and adhesive filled heat shrink tube and yes I left enough wire that I could cut it dozens of times and still have enough. To avoid running the rear wires through the frame I ran them over the seat box, through the middle bulkhead out into the rear tub, then ran them in tubing through the rear body capping. I tried to do as much as I could to prevent chaffing and problems from moisture and corrosion.

If you are looking at alturnitives check out what mcmaster-carr has to offer and do some searches for marine grade wireing, It took me almost a year to figure out how I wanted to do it and I do have to say it's been a full year now and no mysterious electrical gremlins

[zayante]

I have a lot of non-OEM electrical devices and a lot of hacked-up wiring. Thinking about future upgrades and belt-and-braces reliability, I bought an 18 circuit harness from Hot Rod Wires:

http://www.hotrodwires.com/

Like many generic hot rodder wiring kits, it uses a GM fuse, horn relay, turn signal and flasher block. The toughest thing to figure out about it was where to mount it so it would be accessible and somewhat protected without getting in the way. Settled on a spot on the dashboard- too big to fit on the engine side of the firewall.

[superstator]

Thanks all - I've got an 18 circuit from painless on the way. Probably overkill right now, but I'd rather have some extra expansion ability down the road. Looking forward to not having to disconnect the battery every time I park!

[ScottT]

$100 off Painless

Just found out Painless is having a $100 rebate. That seals it for me.

Just waiting on my pay bump.

[JackIIA]

general harness question

Has anyone found a GOOD online resource for making your own harness? The only one I've found was for a motorcycle. I didn't even know you had to bother with a harness on a bike...well maybe the ones I see with giant windscreens, radios, wipers, and a sidecar with a chimp in it

...with goggles on, of course.

[SafeAirOne]

Has anyone found a GOOD online resource for making your own harness? The only one I've found was for a motorcycle.

What info are you looking for when you say "good online resource"? I'm on the verge of making my own harness for the engine and engine bay (which will force me to address the wild spaghetti I have behind my instrument panel) on my SIII.

[kevkon]

I've used Painless products and the're ok but pricey. However, for a Series truck it comes down to what you are looking to achieve in the way of upgrading. Painless doesn't make a Series specific harness, so the big advantage of using them is primarily lost. Btw, that rebate is limited to specific kits. The first thing you should do is determine what you want to eliminate and what is ok to keep in the stock wiring. Since the Series is old school, the use of relays is limited to the starter. That in itself leads to a lot of the "spaghetti" found behind the dash. You can find better components than Painless at a fraction of the cost at any auto salvage yard or EBay.

[LaneRover]

Has anyone found a GOOD online resource for making your own harness? The only one I've found was for a motorcycle. I didn't even know you had to bother with a harness on a bike...well maybe the ones I see with giant windscreens, radios, wipers, and a sidecar with a chimp in it

...with goggles on, of course.

That was no chimp that was my. . .

[SafeAirOne]

Has anyone found a GOOD online resource for making your own harness?

Came across this while poking around today:

http://users.mrbean.net.au/~rover/rewire.htm#Selecting your wire sizes

EDIT: ALSO, the page prior to this has quite a few more options:

http://www.series123.com/repairs_W.html

[JackIIA]

Mark thanks for the sites. I guess what I meant by a 'good' site was one that assumed zero knowledge.

I've done a good deal of electrical work (including breaker boxes and whole house stuff), but when it comes to the truck, talk of relays and other methods of ease/safety leave me scratching my head abit. The australian site you found seems OK, hadn't thought of issues surrounded annealed copper and quality. I guess a really basic primer is what I want...soup to nuts.