Painless Wiring Harness

[ronh72c10]

I know that the painless wiring question has been done to death, but after looking at the original burb wiring harness over the weekend I'm not really happy with it and am thinking of replacing it.

Here's the question, all of the pictures of the Painless wiring harness I've seen terminate in bare wires not connectors. Does this mean that you have to splice at the each of the connectors for the turn signals, lights etc? I'm curious because it's one more point of failure and kind of ugly since things like the side markers can be easily seen under the hood and a splice at that connector would be obvious.

Ron

[pbmcauliffe]

All the Painless kits I have installed have had bare wires for terminations. I usually solder and heat shrink them so there isn't a connector there. In some situations you can remove the factory terminal and replace it with a new one still using the factory plug.
I did do a re-wire of a 67 Suburban and the kit he got (Ron Francis or American Wire something) came with the factory style ends on the wires so they plugged in like factory.

[chickenwing]

I just installed a Painless harness. If I had to do it over I would shop around some more... Most ends terminated in factory terminals reusing the old connectors.

[ronh72c10]

I checked out the Ron Francis website and it looks like it's just a universal kit, no terminations just like a Painless setup.

I'm starting to think there's no real advantage to buying a Painless kit that's supposed to be specific to our year of trucks. Especially with a $350US pricetag. What other companies sell harnesses, I found EZ Wiring, couldn't find the American Wire website through Google.

Ron

Originally Posted by pbmcauliffe

All the Painless kits I have installed have had bare wires for terminations. I usually solder and heat shrink them so there isn't a connector there. In some situations you can remove the factory terminal and replace it with a new one still using the factory plug.
I did do a re-wire of a 67 Suburban and the kit he got (Ron Francis or American Wire something) came with the factory style ends on the wires so they plugged in like factory.

[Bernie]

I rewired my truck a while back . After a long discussion on this board I went with an M and H kit that I got from GMC Paul. It cost a bit more than the Painless kit, but I have been very pleased with it. It was easy to install and their tech help is wonderful. I was an hour on the phone with the guy and couldn't get away.

[70c10]

Are you guys saying you have to use your "old" connectors and splice them into your new harness?.

[chickenwing]

New terminal pins inside the old connectors. The Painless harness does come with entire new: heater, ign switch, instrument pnl, windshield wiper connectors. Headlight bulb connectors were new but have to be butt connected because the headlight wire is trim to fit. HEI connector you have to install, came with new shroud and terminal pin. You must re-use the side marker and tail light sockets. I bought new sidemarker sockets and re-used the tail-light sockets. Think that about covers it... Chime in if I goofed plz.

[pbmcauliffe]

Originally Posted by ronh72c10

I checked out the Ron Francis website and it looks like it's just a universal kit, no terminations just like a Painless setup.

I'm starting to think there's no real advantage to buying a Painless kit that's supposed to be specific to our year of trucks. Especially with a $350US pricetag. What other companies sell harnesses, I found EZ Wiring, couldn't find the American Wire website through Google.

Ron

I couldn't remeber the exact kit I installed, so I called and asked the customer where he ordered the Suburban kit, and he said that it was indeed a Ron Francis kit. He called them and told them the specifics of the vehicle, and they built the kit to what he wanted. It was complete ready to go in when he brought it to me, factory style end/connectors and fully wrapped in the stock cloth style tape.
Maybe they just show the universal on the site and you can call to customize it. HTH

[ronh72c10]

Sent Ron Francis an email, we'll see what he comes back with.

[Low69CST]

I put in a Painless kit. I'm doing some custom stuff, so I like the kit. If I was doing just a resto project, then i would probably go with the M&H kit.

[ronh72c10]

Heard back from Ron Francis, he said I'd still have to reuse the side marker sockets, which would mean a splice if I use the original sealed ones. I did notice that the rear ones are not sealed so if I found a few more of those I could get away without a splice there. I don't think there's any way to avoid a splice for the front turn signals though.

I suppose I'm just being fussy. Either the Ron Francis kit or Painless would do the job, especially since I plan on putting a TPI system in the burb.

Ron

[chickenwing]

I'm not saying the Painless harness is a bad choice... Just if your looking for plug in simple, Painless is not painless. It's a good set-up. Easily adaptable to whatever you want to do. I like the provisions for power windows/locks. (one day), elec fan relay,fuel pump. It even has all the stereo stuff pre-installed, although the power antenna lead was overkill.
Edit: If you do go with the Painless, double check the firewall template. It did NOT match up with the fuse block.

[ronthet]

Look at Early classic Enterprises. They claim original plugs and all. No cutting or splicing require. Price seem high. I think it was 700.00 for all wiriing for 68 chevy truck.