harness recommendations

[wsurf4me]

I'm getting close to putting my harness back in after all the cab work. I thought the previous owner had told me it was a Painless brand but after a closer look I think it's an EZ brand. I looked them up and see the EZ is about half the price of the Painless. So the obvious question is what warrants the big difference in price? I
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[memo43]

ive done both sets of harness in differnt vehicles. pretty much the same to me except for the Maxi fuse in the Painless kit. (extra insurance for the harnes, but you can make your own with local parts from your fav automotive store)
to me its more like chevys and fords
and comes down to presonnel preferance. I have an ez wiring harness in my truck now, no issues
one last thing is the EZ wiring has awesome tech support

[wsurf4me]

Here's a pic of the fuse block, the only distinguishing marking I can see is the EZ wiring in the corner.

[OrrieG]

I just finished installing about 95% of my EZ wire harness. My understanding is that the Painless is more "complete" in that it comes with a lot of the wires terminated where, except for the steering column, EZ wire give you bare ends. On my EZ install the only wires I did not need to shorten or lengthen were the column connectors. The lengthening was because of my choice to use some extra circuits at the back, for the most part the EZ wires were longer than needed. If it is a stock truck and you are replacing the harness with a stock one then maybe the plug and play will justify the extra expense. I got my 21 circuit set for just under $200 on sale and had about $100 in additional connectors, loom, relays, fusible links, shrink wrap, etc.

[wsurf4me]

Thanks, sounds like the EZ should work just fine. Whenever I see that big of a price difference it raises red flags.

[Boss hawg]

I got a friend that just put a 20 circuit from speedway in his truck after looking at painless and eZ and it didn't take him long to put it in and it came with a lot of stuff. It was 176 bucks I think after shipping. He said he would recommend it over either any day.
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[roger55]

I just bought an AAW Classic Update harness kit for my '57. I found the best price on ebay for $466.

I used an AAW kit in my '55 Bel Air and liked it so much that it is the only consideration I gave for my truck.

[dubie]

I'm in the middle of installing a Rebel wiring harness. It's a 9+3 circuit kit that comes complete with everything except connecting ends. Because it's a universal kit, you buy the ends separately that your truck needs. It was $200 delivered to my door and cost me an addition $12 for all the right connections. It has a new fuse panel with blade fuses, all the wires are labelled every 2 feet and they come with a pretty detailed instruction booklet. For it being the first time I've ever wired a complete vehicle, it's very user friendly, and affordable to boot.

[wsurf4me]

Originally Posted by roger55

I just bought an AAW Classic Update harness kit for my '57. I found the best price on ebay for $466.

I used an AAW kit in my '55 Bel Air and liked it so much that it is the only consideration I gave for my truck.

Roger, what is it about the AAW harness that you liked? I went to their website and it has an impressive list of features. Does it come standard with the instrument cluster and rear harness connectors?

[_Ogre]

aaw $466, rebel 12 circuit $200 and painless 2x ezwire

guess why truk has an $179, 21 circuit, ezwire in it
works great with lots of room for options

orrieg, mind sharing an honest estimate on how many hrs you have installing your wiring harness?
i hear guys say that they wired their car/truck/halftrack in 8 hrs.
my bs meter goes crazy when i hear 8 hours
i know i spent at least 100 hrs wiring truck but that includes pw, cruise, stereo, 2 amps, 4 speakers, 4 tweeters, subwoofer, keyless entry, alarm, efi, fuel pump, trunk latch, tonneau cover latch, door switches, lots of relays, etc...

anyone else care to give an honest answer to how long to wire their truck?

[Boss hawg]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

aaw $466, rebel 12 circuit $200 and painless 2x ezwire

guess why truk has an $179, 21 circuit, ezwire in it
works great with lots of room for options

orrieg, mind sharing an honest estimate on how many hrs you have installing your wiring harness?
i hear guys say that they wired their car/truck/halftrack in 8 hrs.
my bs meter goes crazy when i hear 8 hours
i know i spent at least 100 hrs wiring truck but that includes pw, cruise, stereo, 2 amps, 4 speakers, 4 tweeters, subwoofer, keyless entry, alarm, efi, fuel pump, trunk latch, tonneau cover latch, door switches, lots of relays, etc...

anyone else care to give an honest answer to how long to wire their truck?

All of that came on your 21 circuit wiring harness? Why on earth would anyone buy anything else when you can get every single wire possible in a vehicle on a 21 circuit harness from EZ for 179 bucks.....
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[roger55]

Originally Posted by wsurf4me

Roger, what is it about the AAW harness that you liked? I went to their website and it has an impressive list of features. Does it come standard with the instrument cluster and rear harness connectors?

Yes it does come with those.

The fit, quality, ease of installation, customization options and the completeness of the kit are what I liked. It is a must to have the right crimpers for the double-crimp type of terminals. I bought 2 pairs from AAW at the time I bought the kit for the '55.

[fabguy]

I just bought an EZ wiring harness for my truck at the Pomona Swap meet on Sunday. I paid 169.95 and after going over the wire layout, the very basic drawings, I think it is a good harness. I can't say how long it will take to install and wire as I have about an hour into just trying to figure out where to put the fuse block and it still isn't mounted yet. (Firewall is shaved and painted)
I did have to buy 2) 4-way plugs for the bed as I want to be able to unplug it instead of cutting wires if I ever have to pull the bed back off, plus I would rather slide under the truck just to plug it together rather than trying to run the wiring direct.
it can with almost everything you would need from a universal kit. I still have my old factory loom so if I need any specific plugs for it I already have those too. I wire up elevators almost everyday so wiring my truck shouldn't be too bad right? (As I am knocking on my wooden table I say this )
it really depends on what you feel comfortable spending on your harness is what matters whether it be the 169.95 ez wiring or the 400.00 + harnesses mentioned earlier. I shopped ALOT and they are all just the same wiring, although the extras is where they differ, so ask this: for 300.00 can you find all the plugs/connectors you need and still take the wife to dinner to explain your purchase? LOL, she liked dinner by the way.
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[Russell Ashley]

I used the EZWire 21 in my truck and feel like it was a good deal. The quality looks as good as some of the others I looked at at shows and it was less than half price. I don't know how may hours I spent on installing it.

[Kabwe]

Originally Posted by roger55

Yes it does come with those.

The fit, quality, ease of installation, customization options and the completeness of the kit are what I liked. It is a must to have the right crimpers for the double-crimp type of terminals. I bought 2 pairs from AAW at the time I bought the kit for the '55.

I agree I have the AWW kit for my truck and a Ron Francis for my 55 210. I like the AWW kit way better for the reasons you stated, but with that the price tag goes up.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by fabguy

I just bought an EZ wiring harness for my truck at the Pomona Swap meet on Sunday. I paid 169.95 and after going over the wire layout, the very basic drawings, I think it is a good harness. I can't say how long it will take to install and wire as I have about an hour into just trying to figure out where to put the fuse block and it still isn't mounted yet. (Firewall is shaved and painted)

fabguy; truk was painted when i wired it too
i mounted mine on a bracket that uses the 2 hood hing bolts and a sheet metal screw that goes in below the bend in the firewall
i may have used longer hinge bolts to mount the bracket (i'm getting oldtimers disease )

$169? i got ripped off

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by fabguy

I can't say how long it will take to install and wire as I have about an hour into just trying to figure out where to put the fuse block and it still isn't mounted yet.

I read lots of places that said it takes 40 hours to do it right, planning, mounting fuse panel, sorting wires, routing, rerouting, rerouting again, running to the store to get one last connector, backtracking to add one more wire run, etc. I thought they were just slow. That is just about what I have in mine (two weekends plus a few evenings) not counting the extra hours over the last year planning and the time during install second guessing EZ's set up. I am so glad I did mine now instead of one of the last tasks, the time would have tried my patience.

[roger55]

Time is where the AAW will pay off.

I doubt if it took anymore than 10-12 hours for my harness install in my '55 Bel Air. Since it comes with everything, you wont be spending time running to store for things.

[Kabwe]

Originally Posted by roger55

Time is where the AAW will pay off.

I doubt if it took anymore than 10-12 hours for my harness install in my '55 Bel Air. Since it comes with everything, you wont be spending time running to store for things.

Once again I agree. But the price is way north from 169. I paid 349 for The AWW Highway 22 kit and that was with a discount. I got something like 50 bucks off. But it does have everything. I paid another 549 for a LS Engine harness so the wiring alone has eaten up a chunk of my build money.lol
But hey I never got into the hobby to save money.lol So it is what it is.


If you are asking what is the best kit imo its AWW because it complete you don't need anything else, but if you are asking if other kits will work Yes of course they do.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by Kabwe

But hey I never got into the hobby to save money.lol

lately no, it's probably cheaper and less aggravating to go to the dealership and buy a 2 yr old truck
definitely less aggravating
i may have started out driving old trucks to save money
i considered it survival mechanicing, keeping my junk running

[hammerdog57]

I have been looking at buying the ez wiring kit but i am concerned about finding the different end connectors that plug into the switch,gauge cluster etc. Are they available? I am using stock gauge cluster,light switch etc.

[dubie]

I had to buy all the ends for my 56 and got them all at my local parts store for under $20

[_Ogre]

if the wire end terminates in a plug, chances are it is a packard 56 terminal, napa carries them
use a small pick or a stiff wire to release the old connector from the plug, once you see the connector you'll understand how it comes out.
same packard 56 terminal for the turn signal plugs in the inner fender
ezwire has headlight plugs but i reused the old plugs, they fit better in the can
the instrument panel has mostly eyelet crimp on connections
headlight switch uses female spades
the only one i had trouble finding was the temp sender pin connection. i found something to work digging thru a friends junk

[OrrieG]

http://www.repairconnector.com/produ...Connector.html

[_Ogre]

yep, that one
too bad it is $4.29 for the part and $4.50 to ship
i'll stick with my make it work part