New wiring harness....

[Physh1]

I've started digging a but through my 83 sierra and needless to say I've got enough confusion under there that I'm considered a new harness. I found the one that Painless is offereing specifically for 73-87 GM trucks (part number 10205) and wondering if anyone has a) installed it, b) had any opinions on it, and c) found any other options for harness upgrades or replacments?

This truck is power everything if that is a concern.

Thanks for you input, Cameron

[low 84]

i would definatly go fo the painless kit. i haven't used one myself but everone i've heard of that has has been pleased with them. i think mike used one of their partial harnesses for his guages. welcome to the board cam

[BaggedC10]

If "bigblock73" doesn't reply, shoot him a PM.

[Physh1]

Cool...thanks guys. Ryan....I've installed a few of their universal kits and they've been great but just wanted to check on their year specific ones....if they are even close to the quality of their others I'm sure I'll be good.

Thanks guys, Cameron

[bigblock73]

Hey there, welcome to the board!

I have purchased the very same kit you are talking about...18 circuit 73-87 GM truck kit. I have not yet installed mine but I have pulled it from the box and checked it over closely. This is a 100% complete kit and the quality of it looks awesome! It bolts to the factory fuse block location and every single wire is labled so you know exactly where it goes. I suggest purchasing it...you won't regret it!

Keep us posted.

...Jeff

[Physh1]

Excellent! Is there anyplace that may have it cheaper than Summit or Jegs? I don't mind spending the cash but saving a few doesn't hurt either.

Cameron

[bigblock73]

I bought mine from Summit..if you use their discount code you save 10%...that is roughly $50! Look on this forum for the Summit discount thread...it had a few codes in it for people to use.

...Jeff

[N2TRUX]

While I have never heard anything bad about painless, I still want to know why? Is the stock harnes that bad that it can't be repaired? It seems like pulling a harness from a donor truck would be cheap enough. It should be a plug and play deal, rather than starting over...

[Physh1]

In some places it's really bad especially under the hood. There is quite a but of junk under the dash. I plan on still going through it and seeing if I can repair it. If I can than I'll save the cash. Depends on how much I can clean it up.

Cameron

[bigblock73]

Originally posted by N2TRUX
While I have never heard anything bad about painless, I still want to know why? Is the stock harnes that bad that it can't be repaired? It seems like pulling a harness from a donor truck would be cheap enough. It should be a plug and play deal, rather than starting over...

Ken, here are my reasons...

1. My factory wiring was hacked, spliced, diced, knifed...basically it was a big mess, amazing the truck ran when I purchased it.

2. It is sort of a PITA to remove a wiring harness from a JY truck...that is if you can even find a clean one.

3. With a Painless kit you can run the wires wherever you want (I want to "hide" as many as i can) since they provide you with more than enough wire to route it however you want.

4. With a new kit there is zero spliced wires...less chance of problems further down the road.

5. The Painless kit uses blade type fuses as opposed to the glass tube fuses...more modern and easier to replace.

6. 18 circuits.

Those are my reasons, YES the kit is expensive, but that is a very small price to pay for peace of mind, a modern wiring system, and a wiring job that you can run & mount any way you want.

-Jeff

[KIILew]

Jeff:

This is a very interesting topic, and one that I am wondering about in light of my own '79 Big 10's "modified" harness. But I have a specific question for you to answer if you can.

I am wondering if you could tell me a little more about the quality of the Painless harness compared to the original GM harness. Specifically, is the Painless harness any more "robust" than the original equipment stuff? I can appreciate the extra wire length you noted, but I am wondering if Painless uses heavier guage wiring, better insulation, etc than GM?

Just thought I'd ask, since I have experienced near disasterous results of shorted out under-dash wires!

"the other Ken"

[swervin ervin]

Not to hijack this thread but, Ken, what's the update on the truck?

[KIILew]

Originally posted by swervin ervin
Not to hijack this thread but, Ken, what's the update on the truck?

Mike: Thanks for asking...unfortunately there is no update. I am going to be in Dallas most of next week and some of the week after that, so that truck is just going to have to sit for a little while. After that, I am sure that I won't have the guts (read: cash) to do anything drastic, so a new timing chain will probably be my limit.

Oh well.

Ken

[Physh1]

Originally posted by KIILew
Jeff:

This is a very interesting topic, and one that I am wondering about in light of my own '79 Big 10's "modified" harness. But I have a specific question for you to answer if you can.

I am wondering if you could tell me a little more about the quality of the Painless harness compared to the original GM harness. Specifically, is the Painless harness any more "robust" than the original equipment stuff? I can appreciate the extra wire length you noted, but I am wondering if Painless uses heavier guage wiring, better insulation, etc than GM?

Just thought I'd ask, since I have experienced near disasterous results of shorted out under-dash wires!

"the other Ken"

I've installed a few universals on classics and they have been in improvement over the stock ~30 year old harnesses. It really is hard to say comparing to an aged system but these painless kits are comparable to newer generation GM vehicles. The insulation is exceellent IMO and actually a little hard to bend occasionally. Not sure about the wire being heavier in certain placed but it most certainly is adequate everywhere.

Like bigblock73, these harnesses by Painless offer lots of excess and I've never seen one with anything missing, poor quality, or undersized circuitry.

Cameron

[Izzy]

Originally posted by Physh1
In some places it's really bad especially under the hood. There is quite a but of junk under the dash. I plan on still going through it and seeing if I can repair it. If I can than I'll save the cash. Depends on how much I can clean it up.

Cameron

Yeah I never had the funds to clean up that wiring. FYI that motor/tranny is from an 86.

[Captkaos]

I purchase a Painless for mine a while back and it was for the same reasons that Jeff posted. Of course it hasn't been installed, but I have pulled it from the box and checked it over.

The main reasons I went with it was I could add power acces. later if I wanted to, blade fuses, longer wiring so I can hide them, and my current setup was chopped/hacked.