340wedge1971
Well-Known Member
having to many wiring probs,thinking about buying a "painless wiring harness",anybody try using one of these? Is it really "painless"?
Anybody try a "painless wiring harness"
- Thread starter 340wedge1971
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It's anything but the name... You better make sure you continuity test EVERY wire in the set up to make sure it's in the correct harness location. Many have found criss-crossed wires, etc.
340wedge1971
Well-Known Member
figured it was to good to be true...thanks
pettybludart
Well-Known Member
Do a search for Ron Francis wiring harnesses here(or google)They,re more geared to Mopar and very good customer service.I had a custom harness made for my 66 Dart street/strip car with added electrical.Wires are labelled also come with all plugs for Mopar,unlike Painless(more Chebbie oriented)Give them a call,talk to Bob.Good Luck
mullinax95
Well-Known Member
I used the 21 circuit by EZ Wiring. I didn't have any trouble with it .... it was actually easy.... did it myself.
http://www.ezwiring.com/
http://www.ezwiring.com/
66cuda
2011Armada K of C 1st PL
I used KWICK WIRE .... ( bought it a while ago at a meet ) cost around $200 for a 16 circuit set up..... I changed everything including the connectors on both ends. I didn't want to use 40 year old connectors....Originality to me, is not as important as unwavering functionality. all of my connections/connectors are soldered. It was pretty easy, time consuming but easy. DO NOT IMAGINE FOR ONE SECOND that you can do this in a weekend ( talking about changing everything out OR wiring from scratch).... THIS is NOT a weekend job not matter what product you use. PLAN ON a full 7 days 8 hours per day to do this ( this includes "frustration time" and some BEER time) to do it RIGHT.
VERY MUCH HELPS is you have the original schematics for you year & model....Ma Mopar does some funky confusing stuff to save wiring "chin bone connected to knee bone" type stuff and the switches and lights are engineered to be connected like that. so if you plan on using original switches GET A SCHEMATIC BEFORE YOU START and spend a few days tracing down what goes where.... break it out by circuit makes it much easier
WARNING: If you "slap it" together and dont make solid soldered connections or properly bundle/friction tape the wires....YOU WILL PAY for it later. I have seen a few guys "rewire" their cars using butt connectors, crimp connectors and twist & tape splicing ...they got in done in a day & a half....... headlights dont work steady, tail lights & brake lights are random, radio cuts out, car has trouble starting.....
taking the time to do it right, is well worth the time spent in the long run...ya your car will be down for a while PICK a rainy week and you wont miss much
most of the "kits" are about the same in quality, so SHOP for price within the reputable brands.
OR you can pay $3600 to have an "original MOPAR harness" made from your VIN. It will have all the correct connections all soldered and correctly bundled...but that is a
chunk o change for a non concours vehicle
good luck
VERY MUCH HELPS is you have the original schematics for you year & model....Ma Mopar does some funky confusing stuff to save wiring "chin bone connected to knee bone" type stuff and the switches and lights are engineered to be connected like that. so if you plan on using original switches GET A SCHEMATIC BEFORE YOU START and spend a few days tracing down what goes where.... break it out by circuit makes it much easier
WARNING: If you "slap it" together and dont make solid soldered connections or properly bundle/friction tape the wires....YOU WILL PAY for it later. I have seen a few guys "rewire" their cars using butt connectors, crimp connectors and twist & tape splicing ...they got in done in a day & a half....... headlights dont work steady, tail lights & brake lights are random, radio cuts out, car has trouble starting.....
taking the time to do it right, is well worth the time spent in the long run...ya your car will be down for a while PICK a rainy week and you wont miss much
most of the "kits" are about the same in quality, so SHOP for price within the reputable brands.
OR you can pay $3600 to have an "original MOPAR harness" made from your VIN. It will have all the correct connections all soldered and correctly bundled...but that is a
chunk o change for a non concours vehicle
good luck
abodyjoe
Well-Known Member
i went american auto wire highway 22 kit.. very nice quality and adapted to my dart with ease. can't be happier.
I use the American Autowire kits in most all of the builds I do. Well built, easy instructions and a great quality. I am warming up to the Ron Francis stuff, they have some cool accessories. I am not a huge fan of his fuse panels, though.
Painless. No.
Painless. No.
I used a RF wiring and it was nice. Good tech support. If I get another car I may go with the American Autowire. The American Autowire has more options but I don't know how good the tech support is. But, if you had an aftermarket steering column such as an Ididit or Flaming river then wiring the ignition and turn signals would be a breeze.
None of the kits are geared towards mopar. The only issue will be the ignition and the turn signal switch. Not a big deal. Just knowing what color wire goes where is all. The RF tech support was great with that. I probably called 3 times and was on the phone for less than 5 minutes total all 3 times.
The RF kit comes with special terminals to hook to the fuse box. I cut all of the plastic off of each terminal and used a ratchet crimper to make the connection. Then I used a piece of heat shrink to finish it up.
I crimped, soldered and heat shrunk all of the ignition wire. I didn't want them coming apart. I did the same for any of the big wires going to the starter solenoid.
The RF kit has a bunch of wires going to the starter solenoid. If I did this again I would probably use a power junction box and run 1 wire to the solenoid instead of 6 wires. If my starter ever goes bad I will probably clean this up a bit.
I have my fuse box attached to my glove box door. I made a plate that attaches to the insde of my dash next to the glove box that houses my grounding strip and voltage regulator.
It was a lot of work but I know how every wire is run in my car and I was always afraid of wiring. I enjoyed it. Especially when people comment on how clean the wiring looks.
Best of luck with any kit that you use. I think painless and American autorwire post the instructions on their websites. Check them out.
None of the kits are geared towards mopar. The only issue will be the ignition and the turn signal switch. Not a big deal. Just knowing what color wire goes where is all. The RF tech support was great with that. I probably called 3 times and was on the phone for less than 5 minutes total all 3 times.
The RF kit comes with special terminals to hook to the fuse box. I cut all of the plastic off of each terminal and used a ratchet crimper to make the connection. Then I used a piece of heat shrink to finish it up.
I crimped, soldered and heat shrunk all of the ignition wire. I didn't want them coming apart. I did the same for any of the big wires going to the starter solenoid.
The RF kit has a bunch of wires going to the starter solenoid. If I did this again I would probably use a power junction box and run 1 wire to the solenoid instead of 6 wires. If my starter ever goes bad I will probably clean this up a bit.
I have my fuse box attached to my glove box door. I made a plate that attaches to the insde of my dash next to the glove box that houses my grounding strip and voltage regulator.
It was a lot of work but I know how every wire is run in my car and I was always afraid of wiring. I enjoyed it. Especially when people comment on how clean the wiring looks.
Best of luck with any kit that you use. I think painless and American autorwire post the instructions on their websites. Check them out.
HemiMark
Well-Known Member
Hey Mark, The car runs awesome. Just fininshing up some interior pieces. I put about 500 miles on it last fall. Hoping to do 10X's that much this summer!
Here are pics of the wiring.
HemiMark
Well-Known Member
very cool. Thank you.........
abodyjoe
Well-Known Member
as long as you have a wire diagram for the stock system its cake. the turn signal wires were different colors but in the came order in the connectors...
i changed to the GM plug incase i want to go aftermarket on the column down the road, plus i never liked that stock connector.
HemiMark
Well-Known Member
:thumblef: Nice Joe. I have a few years before I wire the Demon but should I use an aftermarket wiring harness for my Dart?
GaryS
Well-Known Member
I worked over 30 years in aircraft, missile, and spacecraft wiring and electronic assembly, so you can take my comments for what you think they are worth...probably two cents.
If you are not experienced in making wire connections, you might be causing more problems than you are preventing when you solder crimp connections.
First, unless you are positive you are using non-activated solder and/or flux, you will be inviting corrosion wherever flux remains. All activated flux residue must be thoroughly cleaned with the proper solvent after soldering.
Second, if you use too much heat and the solder "wicks" inside the insulation beyond the insulation grip barrel of the termination, you have created the perfect condition for the wire to stress and break.
Third, if you install shrink sleeving over good solder, it can help with stress relief, but if you install it over bad solder, you are only hastening corrosion.
Solder over crimp, if done correctly, is like wearing suspenders with a belt...it's good insurance. However, if you don't know what you are doing, it's a recipe for bigger problems down the road.
FWIW, I almost never solder my crimped joints. High quality terminations on high quality wire, crimped properly, will function for decades without problems.
If you are not experienced in making wire connections, you might be causing more problems than you are preventing when you solder crimp connections.
First, unless you are positive you are using non-activated solder and/or flux, you will be inviting corrosion wherever flux remains. All activated flux residue must be thoroughly cleaned with the proper solvent after soldering.
Second, if you use too much heat and the solder "wicks" inside the insulation beyond the insulation grip barrel of the termination, you have created the perfect condition for the wire to stress and break.
Third, if you install shrink sleeving over good solder, it can help with stress relief, but if you install it over bad solder, you are only hastening corrosion.
Solder over crimp, if done correctly, is like wearing suspenders with a belt...it's good insurance. However, if you don't know what you are doing, it's a recipe for bigger problems down the road.
FWIW, I almost never solder my crimped joints. High quality terminations on high quality wire, crimped properly, will function for decades without problems.
pauly v.100
Well-Known Member
Thank you, I have no intention to go back over all the wiring i've gotten done so far to solder the crimped connections... this is hard enough!
pic is before start of actual wiring.
abodyjoe
Well-Known Member
iss depends what you want. i am going to run a/c, efi, maybe bigger radio and god knows what else down the road so i upgraded to an aftermarket harness. if its a show poodle with no extras then stock style should be fine.
mullinax95
Well-Known Member
That's the second time I have seen soldering isn't best but crimping is the way to go. I understand the reason why because GaryS described it better. It's to late for my cuda however.... shes staying soldered. lol
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