Getting down to the nitty/gritty and need to start some projects on the truck that I can do before the engine stuff arrives. What about wiring harness'. I know Mike S. had a custom harness in Serious One (in a cool orange pelican case no less). What options besides LR stuff do I have for a complete rewire. I attacked the stock harness when stripping the bulkhead and want to start over and get rid of that tangled mess.

I assume one of the Painless harness' would work. How about Centech, or other vendors?

Thanks for the info,

Blister

just do one yourself. thats what i plan on doing. buy the individual components and then wire it up. i think it will be a great excercise and also i will KNOW how the truck is wired. none of this "i wonder where that wire goes" BS. i can make my own diagrams, route the wires where i want, use the guage of wire that i want, and do it to a standard that i want.

just IMO.

What do you want? Where do you want things? That will dicate what you need in a harness. Painless is crap. Personally I am using a slightly modified SIIa harness. In your case a modified SIII dash harness should work. Then add to it as needed.

Or DIY like 9-volt says.

Ron

Ok, here's where I have to chime in (of course...)

I will say that Painless is definitely not crap, but, it definitely is not painless. I would think that would be true for any wiring harness, or any wiring job, it's just plain difficult.

BUT, the wire in the Painless kit is high quality, the insulation is high quality, and if you solder your joints (which I do now, it took a while to commit to it honestly) and plan your routing, the painless really is pretty darn good.

I do not have any experience with other harnesses, but have watched no less than 5 Painless kits go in without a hitch.

The one thing I have done in each Painless kit I have personally installed (2 now), is to put in an additional fuse box for constant hots. In the Serious One there are 9 additional hots, and in the crew-cab I have a Hella fuse block that will have 12 additional hots. I probably won't use them all, but like to have the option if I choose to in the future.

IMO I wouldn't use a factory harness. The wire isn't that high of quality, the insulation isn't the greatest, the cloth wrapping is flammable and does not stand up to heat well (remember, this is LUCAS after all).

Also, the bullet connectors are a PITA.

If you really really REALLY don't like the Painless kit, then talk to the hot-rod guys and find out what they are using (if not Painless, what is it?), not trying to be flip, it would be interesting to find out.

Second best would be to design your own, but the hours spent just deciding on what type of fuse block to use will be better spent just putting in a pre-made loom. Of course you'd have the chance to choose your own components, which could be nice.

Go Painless, but do the 12 circut version, not the 18 circuit.

Oh, get GOOD shrink tube, and get the propane mini-torch for your soldering. www.wranglernw.com has good wiring supplies and great shrink tube. I have been getting all of my stuff from them recently.

The most important thing when wiring is excercizing PATIENCE PATIENCE PATIENCE (yeah, I know it sucks...).

Originally posted by 9-Volt
just do one yourself. thats what i plan on doing. buy the individual components and then wire it up. i think it will be a great excercise and also i will KNOW how the truck is wired. none of this "i wonder where that wire goes" BS. i can make my own diagrams, route the wires where i want, use the guage of wire that i want, and do it to a standard that i want.

j
ust IMO.


Have to agree with 9volt .
My answer was go to the junk yard ,find a near new car and just take the whole loom .The wiring is only a month or two old .Best part is that you get all the main colors plus all the ones with a trace color .Saves a lot of time as getting trace wires is a major PITA .The only draw back is you have to strip off all the outer sheath .Work out where you want all your crap and start running the wires .Used multi pin flat connectors crimped with the proper tool [5 10 bucks] from an electronics store and then soldered .

Also run a battery isolator switch that can be padlocked out .
Everything on the car is relayed .
Outer sheath is heat proof with a split down the middle to ease access .

Luke .

Hey Mike, I will prolly be getting the Painless 12 and was wondering what size pelican case it will fit in? How did you handle the wires exiting the box (just siliconed the crap outta them?).
Prolly will also go with a custom length GM column (like in a Jeep), and the Painless harness will plug right in to it.

Blister

Hey Bill,

Good choice (IMO).

The Jeep column will be nice actually and if you get a telescoping tilt one, could be trick.

The Pelican 1120 case is the one I use, and I bore a hole in the side then pass the loom through. I use a gasekt in conjunction with plenty of Sill-E-Cone (patent pending).

I relish the thought of seeing you drive Skeletor in Moab. I think your truck might be naming itself. :vader2: :vader: :trooper:

My son Connor is reading this as I type, otherwise I'd give you the regular salute!

Have fun at RDS!

I have a painless 18 circuit harness in the scout. I'm happy with it and have no regrets. Centec seem to get some good reviews here on POR. The one catalog that helped me a ton on the scout rewire was Northwest Power Products. There web page sucks so order there free catalog.

http://www.wranglernw.com/