Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

smoknbarrels · 05-25-2009, 01:55 PM

I need a full wiring harness kit, I am not sure which to go with? my truck has a few electrical options - I did add an electric fuel pump, HEI, stronger headlights, electric cooling fans, and an air compressor. so I do need a few accessories.
any recommendations would make my life a lot easier? I don't mind spending a little extra to get a good product.

smoknbarrels · 05-25-2009, 02:03 PM

hmm, just looked up AAW.. they look pretty decent,.. or at least self proclaim... anyone have experience with them?

chevychase · 05-25-2009, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoknbarrels

hmm, just looked up AAW.. they look pretty decent,.. or at least self proclaim... anyone have experience with them?

Found a quick link with a positive on AAW:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=343141

I have Painless system that I haven't installed so I can't comment.

smoknbarrels · 05-25-2009, 02:13 PM

yea, I seen that too in the search, but that guy sells those kits, so it's a little biased...

chevychase · 05-25-2009, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoknbarrels

yea, I seen that too in the search, but that guy sells those kits, so it's a little biased...

Good Point!

CG · 05-25-2009, 02:28 PM

There is a large thread on another car board frequented by pro car builders and AAW comes out on top with all of them. Sounds like their instruction and quality are hard to beat.

I think the harness they make for our trucks sounds a little better than the other guys offer. Musclerodz, the rep for AAW has a very good rep on this board. I dont think Josh would let him be a board vendor if the stuff he sold was crap and I dont think Musclerodz would even consider selling something that was subpar.

I was going to go with Painless until I checked the other wiring kits available. Painless is good and has a good rep, but Ill be buying one of the AAW kits for my panel next week.

Longhorn Man · 05-25-2009, 02:31 PM

Seems a lotta people go with an aftermarket harness thinking it'll be easy, or not as hard as a stock harness, but then they are always the ones asking a million questions and never getting the answers they are looking for.
If you know basic electronics, then the aftermarket ones may be better. If you are more of a novice, then you might be better doing a one for one swap with new factory stuff, and then add a couple new sub systems for your added items.
Personally, I would stick with stock stuff myself. It is so easy to add stuff that I have never seen any reason to go with aftermarket wires. Nine times out of ten, there is no reason to even replace whats there.

CG · 05-25-2009, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

Seems a lotta people go with an aftermarket harness thinking it'll be easy, or not as hard as a stock harness, but then they are always the ones asking a million questions and never getting the answers they are looking for.
If you know basic electronics, then the aftermarket ones may be better. If you are more of a novice, then you might be better doing a one for one swap with new factory stuff, and then add a couple new sub systems for your added items.
Personally, I would stick with stock stuff myself. It is so easy to add stuff that I have never seen any reason to go with aftermarket wires. Nine times out of ten, there is no reason to even replace whats there.

I agree, but in my case...there is nothing there =)

Tx Firefighter · 05-25-2009, 02:53 PM

I've never seen LMC make anything of their own. It looks a lot like Painless that they sell to me.

smoknbarrels · 05-25-2009, 03:08 PM

well I figure since I need to upgrade the alt. wiring, the headlights, dizzy, and plus my fuse block is broken off the firewall - I figure I am better off replacing the works.

If I go with the AAW set, I just hope it's easy to determine which key wires to move from the column to the dash ignition.

Big-Blue · 05-25-2009, 03:14 PM

When the AAW set came out, they posted a nice video on MySpace I think. It may be on YouTube as well. It was several minutes long. I am not a "MySpace person" so I can't tell you how to find it.

cparman · 05-25-2009, 03:19 PM

I used M&H wire fabricators on my 67 Chevelle. They were great, but AAW is just as good. Both of these companies will modify an OE harness to accept HEI, and a new style alternator. Like Longhorn man said I am a fan of an OE wiring harness. The biggest reason is that IF a problem arises in the future, you can look at a factory wiring diagram and get help. My next big project, like my Chevelle will get new wiring from one of these two companies.

LUV2XCLR8 · 05-25-2009, 03:19 PM

My truck has "M & H" and it looks like OEM, fit like it,
had all of the same connectors, & same wire colors.

Jarridlem · 05-25-2009, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

I've never seen LMC make anything of their own. It looks a lot like Painless that they sell to me.

And usually at a higher price with shipping than the other guys!

big_al_71 · 05-25-2009, 04:23 PM

We rewired my complete truck and used brand new factory style harness and it took five days to complete the whole truck as I did not want to see one single wire so my assistant extended the harnesses.

**Bob B.** · 05-25-2009, 05:52 PM

If you are restoring your truck factory stock, I think AAW is the way to go. High quality, the right connectors and color codes. My only advice is to be sure to check the new harness against the original or a factory wiring diagram. Once in a great while they will mix wires up in the connectors, and it is much easier to fix that problem before the harness is in the truck! Painless is probably best if you are going to add a lot of custom features like power windows or non-factory A/C. Painless is high quality too, and it is easy to add circuts.

stueber68 · 05-25-2009, 06:04 PM

It sounds like you might as well go with an aftermarket style with all of the add-ons with your truck. It will give you the availibility to add relays for your headlights, fuel pump, and fan. If you were to use a reproduction you would just have to cut a bunch of it up to do your upgrades.

haysonj · 05-25-2009, 06:21 PM

I used the painless kit and it was a piece of cake to install. the fuse panel fits in the stock location and all wires are factory color with numbers every foot or so and a book that tells what each number goes to It also separates the circuits as to engine compartment cab and tail lights. It had all the connectors I needed except the harness for the stock AC

JustLiveIt · 05-25-2009, 07:03 PM

Hey smoknbarrels, I have my brand new Painless harness for sale in the classifieds section if you decide to go for the Painless harness. Here is the link: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=341883

stueber68 · 05-25-2009, 07:10 PM

link doesn't work

JustLiveIt · 05-25-2009, 07:21 PM

Hmm... how about this link?

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=341883

heavy71chevy · 05-25-2009, 09:15 PM

I found a 23 circut harness at speedway motors...thats the route im going....ill post link later

bubbletop1961 · 05-25-2009, 09:24 PM

Ive put in 2 ron francis systems, Both good, but their tech support was great. Almost everynight I would email a question to them, and when I got home from work the next day their was always a good answer. Dont think they ever missed one.

ChevLoRay · 05-25-2009, 10:47 PM

www.wiringharness.com

aka M&H Fabricators.

Got mine from GMC Paul at a better price than I could have gotten from M&H (at the time). But, I have ordered directly and their harnesses are great!

Skirkpat · 05-25-2009, 11:03 PM

I would suggest M&H if you have the cash, I am one who worries more about breakdowns than most, I would not put a 25.00 OEM harness in a truck I just put 20,000 in elsewhere, Just my opinion. I put M&H in my Chevelles, looks almost stock, and you can special order the options you want, pricey, but very nice. I saw probably 10 Painless sets go into my cousins cars, they did not have factory connectors as I recall, everything was spliced together? don't know if that is different on these trucks though

05-25-2009, 01:55 PM	#1
smoknbarrels Registered Mail Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 513	Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? I need a full wiring harness kit, I am not sure which to go with? my truck has a few electrical options - I did add an electric fuel pump, HEI, stronger headlights, electric cooling fans, and an air compressor. so I do need a few accessories. any recommendations would make my life a lot easier? I don't mind spending a little extra to get a good product. __________________ '67 chev 496, lwb to swb, bagged - pro street project

05-25-2009, 02:03 PM	#2
smoknbarrels Registered Mail Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 513	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? hmm, just looked up AAW.. they look pretty decent,.. or at least self proclaim... anyone have experience with them? __________________ '67 chev 496, lwb to swb, bagged - pro street project

05-25-2009, 02:13 PM	#4
smoknbarrels Registered Mail Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 513	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? yea, I seen that too in the search, but that guy sells those kits, so it's a little biased... __________________ '67 chev 496, lwb to swb, bagged - pro street project

05-25-2009, 02:28 PM	#6
CG BlahBlahBlah Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Wa. Posts: 19,874	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? There is a large thread on another car board frequented by pro car builders and AAW comes out on top with all of them. Sounds like their instruction and quality are hard to beat. I think the harness they make for our trucks sounds a little better than the other guys offer. Musclerodz, the rep for AAW has a very good rep on this board. I dont think Josh would let him be a board vendor if the stuff he sold was crap and I dont think Musclerodz would even consider selling something that was subpar. I was going to go with Painless until I checked the other wiring kits available. Painless is good and has a good rep, but Ill be buying one of the AAW kits for my panel next week. __________________ … … … … … … … … ... … … … … … … … … … … … Last edited by CG; 05-25-2009 at 02:30 PM.

05-25-2009, 02:31 PM	#7
Longhorn Man its all about the +6 inches Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Hilliard Ohio Posts: 2,693	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? Seems a lotta people go with an aftermarket harness thinking it'll be easy, or not as hard as a stock harness, but then they are always the ones asking a million questions and never getting the answers they are looking for. If you know basic electronics, then the aftermarket ones may be better. If you are more of a novice, then you might be better doing a one for one swap with new factory stuff, and then add a couple new sub systems for your added items. Personally, I would stick with stock stuff myself. It is so easy to add stuff that I have never seen any reason to go with aftermarket wires. Nine times out of ten, there is no reason to even replace whats there.

05-25-2009, 02:53 PM	#9
Tx Firefighter Watch out for your cornhole ! Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Azle, Texas Posts: 14,162	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? I've never seen LMC make anything of their own. It looks a lot like Painless that they sell to me. __________________ I'm on the Instagram- @Gearhead_Kevin

05-25-2009, 03:08 PM	#10
smoknbarrels Registered Mail Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 513	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? well I figure since I need to upgrade the alt. wiring, the headlights, dizzy, and plus my fuse block is broken off the firewall - I figure I am better off replacing the works. If I go with the AAW set, I just hope it's easy to determine which key wires to move from the column to the dash ignition. __________________ '67 chev 496, lwb to swb, bagged - pro street project

05-25-2009, 03:14 PM	#11
Big-Blue Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: highland village, TX Posts: 309	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? When the AAW set came out, they posted a nice video on MySpace I think. It may be on YouTube as well. It was several minutes long. I am not a "MySpace person" so I can't tell you how to find it.

05-25-2009, 03:19 PM	#12
cparman sharp as a marble Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: atlantic beach,florida Posts: 1,082	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? I used M&H wire fabricators on my 67 Chevelle. They were great, but AAW is just as good. Both of these companies will modify an OE harness to accept HEI, and a new style alternator. Like Longhorn man said I am a fan of an OE wiring harness. The biggest reason is that IF a problem arises in the future, you can look at a factory wiring diagram and get help. My next big project, like my Chevelle will get new wiring from one of these two companies. Last edited by cparman; 05-25-2009 at 03:21 PM.

05-25-2009, 03:19 PM	#13
LUV2XCLR8 The LuvShack Garage Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Maple Grove, TN (West Side) Posts: 30,477	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? My truck has "M & H" and it looks like OEM, fit like it, had all of the same connectors, & same wire colors. __________________ Owner/Op: "TN Classic Transport Carriers" The Toy: "Square Vette" 72 Hybrid Blazer Toy Barn: "LuvShack" 40 x 60 x 20 Shop Tow Piggy:"Maddy" 88 Silverado 3500 Hauler: "Feathers" 14 Aluma 8218T

05-25-2009, 04:23 PM	#15
big_al_71 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: South Florida Posts: 11,375	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? We rewired my complete truck and used brand new factory style harness and it took five days to complete the whole truck as I did not want to see one single wire so my assistant extended the harnesses. __________________ Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please!!!!!. Sylvester's build thread >>>http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ht=big+rebuild

05-25-2009, 05:52 PM	#16
Bob B. Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 1,332	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? If you are restoring your truck factory stock, I think AAW is the way to go. High quality, the right connectors and color codes. My only advice is to be sure to check the new harness against the original or a factory wiring diagram. Once in a great while they will mix wires up in the connectors, and it is much easier to fix that problem before the harness is in the truck! Painless is probably best if you are going to add a lot of custom features like power windows or non-factory A/C. Painless is high quality too, and it is easy to add circuts. __________________ 1967 GMC CM-2500 Camper Cruiser, 351E V-6, NP 435 4 speed, Dana 60, and factory A/C. 2012 GMC K-3500 WT regular cab, 6.0L Vortec, 6L90.

05-25-2009, 06:04 PM	#17
stueber68 1968 C20 Vortec Beast Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: STILLWATER,OKLAHOMA Posts: 483	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? It sounds like you might as well go with an aftermarket style with all of the add-ons with your truck. It will give you the availibility to add relays for your headlights, fuel pump, and fan. If you were to use a reproduction you would just have to cut a bunch of it up to do your upgrades. __________________ Ugly or not it still kicks a**!

05-25-2009, 06:21 PM	#18
haysonj Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Santa Maria, Ca. Posts: 1,423	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? I used the painless kit and it was a piece of cake to install. the fuse panel fits in the stock location and all wires are factory color with numbers every foot or so and a book that tells what each number goes to It also separates the circuits as to engine compartment cab and tail lights. It had all the connectors I needed except the harness for the stock AC __________________ 69 Chevy 4x4 383 Power

05-25-2009, 07:03 PM	#19
JustLiveIt Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Los Angeles, Ca Posts: 135	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? Hey smoknbarrels, I have my brand new Painless harness for sale in the classifieds section if you decide to go for the Painless harness. Here is the link: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=341883 __________________ 1968 Chev SWB Fleet with GMC Clip and lots of 71-72 parts!



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05-25-2009, 07:10 PM	#20
stueber68 1968 C20 Vortec Beast Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: STILLWATER,OKLAHOMA Posts: 483	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? link doesn't work __________________ Ugly or not it still kicks a**!

05-25-2009, 07:21 PM	#21
JustLiveIt Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Los Angeles, Ca Posts: 135	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? Hmm... how about this link? http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=341883 __________________ 1968 Chev SWB Fleet with GMC Clip and lots of 71-72 parts!

05-25-2009, 09:15 PM	#22
heavy71chevy Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: antreville, south carolina Posts: 873	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? I found a 23 circut harness at speedway motors...thats the route im going....ill post link later __________________ "Dixie Destroyer" 71 C10 LWB Fleet Future Blown Prostreet Monster

05-25-2009, 09:24 PM	#23
bubbletop1961 Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Location: topeka, kansas Posts: 28	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? Ive put in 2 ron francis systems, Both good, but their tech support was great. Almost everynight I would email a question to them, and when I got home from work the next day their was always a good answer. Dont think they ever missed one. __________________ http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...ndid=186313550 Current project is for sale. 4" chop, channelled, lowered 5", http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=347067

05-25-2009, 10:47 PM	#24
ChevLoRay Old Skool Club Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Benton, AR "The Heart of Arkansas" Posts: 10,880	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? www.wiringharness.com aka M&H Fabricators. Got mine from GMC Paul at a better price than I could have gotten from M&H (at the time). But, I have ordered directly and their harnesses are great! __________________ Member Nr. 2770 '96 GMC Sportside; 4.3/SLT - Daily driven....constantly needs washed. '69 C-10 SWB; 350/TH400 - in limbo The older I get, the better I was.

05-25-2009, 11:03 PM	#25
Skirkpat Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: K.C. Missouri Posts: 1,024	Re: Painless wiring or LMC Truck wiring...which is better? I would suggest M&H if you have the cash, I am one who worries more about breakdowns than most, I would not put a 25.00 OEM harness in a truck I just put 20,000 in elsewhere, Just my opinion. I put M&H in my Chevelles, looks almost stock, and you can special order the options you want, pricey, but very nice. I saw probably 10 Painless sets go into my cousins cars, they did not have factory connectors as I recall, everything was spliced together? don't know if that is different on these trucks though

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