Painless Wiring Questions

[edmonton72]

I have a few questions about the 18 circut wiring harness for the 67-72 trucks. Is the steering column plug for stock or after market columns. How long is the harness going back to the rear of the chassis. Will it be long enough for a long box and is the plug for attaching trailer lights. Is it for internal or external regulated alternators. thanx for the help.

[HD2000]

I have mine about 3/4 done so I am not an expert - but a few answers:
- The steering column comes with no plug "housing". It is pre-terminated with the correct connectors and you are meant to pop the wires out of the old housing and reuse it. The pins just slide back in and lock. I'v eheard some other people mention that theirs came with the entire plug assembly but mine didn't (I ordered my kit from Summitt in August)
- The rear harness looks like it would have sufficient length for a long box (I haven't done that part of it yet). But the rear harness is basically 5 long wires that run to teh back of the truck. You need to fabricate a new rear harness or splice into the old rear section.
- As for the alternator. I believe that it is flexible enough to work for newer internally regulated alternator or the old style external regulator. I've got mine wired up for a newer style alternator (80's style on the passenger side).
I believe that you can download the instructions from Painless (and Summitt I think) that may give a better idea of what you have to work with. Any other questions - I could go out to the garage and have a look.

[nandress]

1) Column harness as HD2000 describes. Will not work as well with an aftermarket column, but there are always ways around. I cut mine off and used a simple AMPHENOL modular plug on both ends to not have to worry about compatibilty with original style plugs (and didn't need to use a WeatherPack under the dash, especially since 8 or 9 pin WeatherPacks are hard to come by).

2) Tail harness is definately long enough. It does not have the crossmember plug, so you will have to do a direct wire to each light (it is designed to do that, and you will find a number of splices along the way). I did without the "to the rear" parts and subsituted American Autowire re-pops (available from LMC and others, possibly your local speed shop) for the frame harness and the taillight harness. It has the like stock crossmember plugs, and no splices. Also correct plugs for the tail light housings. At the fuse block, I removed the wires for the taillights from the Painless and terminated the American Autowire wires in their place using Packard 56 terminals--VERY simple!

3) Kit includes a high amp alternator kit, which is designed for modern internally regulated, one wire alternators. Also very simple!