how many have done painless wiring kits?

[RedZ71]

unfortunatly, this project is baring down on me, as i only have a few months left on my current inspection (and i dont intend to pull my truck off the road over that). right now i have no turn signals, no horn, no reverse lights, a few other electric no-workies, and what wiring i have is 100% rigged.

im still a couple years away from full frameoff and teardown... how many have taken a working truck and stripped the wiring and replaced with the painless kit? is it really.. "painless" ?

[Goodguytrucks]

I was kinda wondering the same thing

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Its not painless but its pretty easy I am no wireing guru but it took me 3 taken it easy days to get it done.

[RedZ71]

frenchblue72, can you tell us a little about your process of what all you had to do to get it done? as much detail as you care to share, would be great!

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

I know allot of people will jump on me for this (new verses used) but here goes anyway. First off when I bought my 70' the wiring was pretty much hacked up over the years. So I went to the auto wrecker and found a 67' that was very clean (I even asked the owner why it was in his yard as it was too good too be parted out and he told me that someone owed him money and gave him the truck) and I removed the harness. Installed it and that was two years ago and no problems thus far.

Wiring is pretty much free at an auto wrecker ..... I think I paid $10.00 bucks for it.

esll.

[Shane]

The only problem with junk yard wiring is the 40 year old wire with 40 year old insulation on it.

With something as important as wiring, don't risk the fire ... buy new.

[cdowns]

i've used a couple of painless kits on streetrods they're alot of money for what you get// on the other hand i've had a number of these trucks and have found generally that by following sound electrical principles such as cleaning contacts and establishing good grounds almost all can be fixed the 2most crucial things to have are a wiring diagram and a multi meter and an understantding of both and you can save hundreds of dollars that way

[texas69truck]

I used a painless in my truck and the only part that was painful was getting the headlights and taillights working. It turned out to be a problem in the fuse box where there wasnt a good connection.
Travis

[FRENCHBLUE72]

The kit did not come with the correct rear harness sockets they were left up to you to get also the firewall hole has to be enlarged other than that it was pretty easy they included a bunch of extra acc options too,power windows,3rd brake light,a/c,cruise and some others I cant think of. The only other major pain was the steering coulum hook up but it all works great....

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

Originally Posted by Shane

The only problem with junk yard wiring is the 40 year old wire with 40 year old insulation on it.

With something as important as wiring, don't risk the fire ... buy new.

**********************************************************

Shane you make an interesting point for sure .... are you saying that if a vahicle is 30 to 50 years old one should automatically rewire it?

esll.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

I dont know about automatically rewireing a truck because of its age but we have all seen the hilly billy modifications and 15 wires spliced into one power wire with 20 butt connectors running straight to the battery with the + starter wire vise griped to the terminal post. I think it is a good idea to rewire depending on the condition of the wireing..

[Shane]

Originally Posted by EAST SIDE LOW LIFE

**********************************************************

Shane you make an interesting point for sure .... are you saying that if a vahicle is 30 to 50 years old one should automatically rewire it?

esll.

If it has been sitting in a junkyard ... exposed to the elements ... yes, rewire.

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

Never really gave this much consideration before, I just took it for granted that the weather was the same at my house as the auto wreckers.

esll.

[Ackattack]

I installed one back in 2001.

A few complaints that I had/have.

First, the radio doesn't work in ACC mode.
It didn't include the A/C wiring portion, which I didn't realize until after I had ripped out the old stuff.

Also, I had to go buy some special connectors at the dealership. I don't remember what they were for though.


The good thing is that it has plenty of extra wires for fans, windows, locks, fuel pumps, etc. And once installed I've never had a problem with it or other electrical gremlins. (EFI wiring not included in discussion )

[msgross]

Originally Posted by EAST SIDE LOW LIFE

Never really gave this much consideration before, I just took it for granted that the weather was the same at my house as the auto wreckers.

esll.

Bad thing about the JY is that you have busted out windows, rain pouring into the cab and rats....

I see the point that he is making and every truck is different, my truck was sitting for 7 years and had a rusted out fusebox that needs replaced. Check out Ron Francis as well, He can customize your kit for newer alternators, power windows etc...

http://www.ronfrancis.com/

[sleepyboy]

Originally Posted by FRENCHBLUE72

Its not painless but its pretty easy I am no wireing guru but it took me 3 taken it easy days to get it done.

[Fenny]

Originally Posted by EAST SIDE LOW LIFE

Never really gave this much consideration before, I just took it for granted that the weather was the same at my house as the auto wreckers.

esll.

It may be the same weather, but Shane is right. If you are going to change out a wiring harness why risk using 40 year old wire that has probably become brittle at some points even if you can't see it. But to each their own.

But to answer the original post. I installed a painless harness, from head lights to tail lights on a Saturday.

[Musclerodz]

Painless harnesses are better than they used to be but I still prefer American Autowire. I have sold several Highway 22 universal kits to guys here and a couple complete truck sets as well. The problem with a Painless harnesses is all the extra wires you have to bundle under the dash when you don't use the circuit and looks unprofessional. Highway 22 kit is a modular panel and you only add the wires you will be using. As with all universal kits, the vehicle specific plugs will not be included and have to be reused or bought seperately. You could also buy factory replacement harnesses as well, which can be expensive, but is 100% complete with correct connectors and straight foward to replace.

Mike

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by Musclerodz

Painless harnesses are better than they used to be but I still prefer American Autowire. I have sold several Highway 22 universal kits to guys here and a couple complete truck sets as well. The problem with a Painless harnesses is all the extra wires you have to bundle under the dash when you don't use the circuit and looks unprofessional. Highway 22 kit is a modular panel and you only add the wires you will be using. As with all universal kits, the vehicle specific plugs will not be included and have to be reused or bought seperately. You could also buy factory replacement harnesses as well, which can be expensive, but is 100% complete with correct connectors and straight foward to replace.

Mike

I originally had unused wires tied under the dash and under the hood. Then I removed the fuse block and removed the wires to clean it up.

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

I agree with Shane and the rest of you about used wiring. I guess I lucked out as this truck (the doner) was only in the wreckers for a couple of months not 40 years. I only used the headlight harness from the fire wall to the headlamps.

I have had no problems .... if I ever decide to go new I know I won't be using painless to do it. The problems posted here I would expext with used not new. I have restored allot of vehicles and owners have refused to have anything but original (NOS or used) wiring in their vehicles.

The price I paid for the wiring harness and the couple hours spent installing it if I experience problems I can easily take it out and then buy new as that option is always open.

It does not appear that this will be any time soon.

esll.

[mnunn454]

I had previously thrown out the gauge cluster flexwiring and hardwired all the gauges and dash lights and that solved most of my non-working-lights problems. 2 pictures of that are below.

Once I started my interior upgrade, I bought a $180 Painless 18 circuit fuse panel, but opted not to replace the entire stock wiring harness. Reason is because of all the customizing I'm doing (Non factory A/C install, Kicker stereo system, swapping alt to other side, moving tank to rear, adding underhood lights, etc), I really didn't want to pay to replace the underdash or underhood harness only to have to cut it all up, so I stayed with the old one.

Mounting the new fuse panel took a lot of tracing and troubleshooting (measured in days), but in the end I'm pleased with the organization it brings to the area and the ease with which I can add/change things. Here's a picture of the rewired fuse panel too.

[Henraldbane]

Hello,
Try American autowire
I just completed my truck and it went SMOOTH!!!
great customer service to boot.

Good luck
Don

[ksbeatty]

I am using Centech. I have not checked to see if he is a BBC but the guy was knowledgable and he was less expensive than the painless. I have been happy with what I have done so far. Google Centech auto wiring.