Best harness out there?
- Thread starter 2000xpsd
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dvdswan
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My guess would be depending on the options your truck has. You could get factory harness or Painless with 11 to 28 circuits. Factory harnesses are completely built from what I understand and Painless ones are you suit to fit and put your own connectors on the end. Painless are labeled like every 1' for what circuit it is.
foamypirate
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American Autowire over Painless, any day.
Craig 85
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A forum member @gmachinz I believe makes them under the name HARNESSWORX INC.
MikeB
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You've got a few options here:
1. If the problem you're having is with the fuse panel itself or under-dash wiring, you can buy an OE-replacement fuse panel and under-dash harness from American Autowire (AAW). Your engine compartment connectors will plug right in.
2. If you need everything front-to-dash-to-rear, AAW makes a kit specifically for 73-80 and 81-87 square bodies. Very much like OE, I suspect, but with larger gauge wires. Very nice kits, and their instruction sheets and tech support are second to none. Downside is the $845 cost.
3. Generic harness kits by dozens of different vendors where 40-50 wires or more are already soldered to the fuse panel. No matter how hard you try, you will end up with some spaghetti near the panel. You may also need to buy connectors not included in the generic kits. Many kits do support the GM column ignition switch connector. Virtually all support the GM column turn signal connector.
4. Ron Francis Express kit which terminates the wires at the fuse panel. IMO, this makes for a much neater installation than the kits that have 50 wires or more already soldered or crimped to the fuse panel. The XP-751 kit is for our trucks, but there are still a few bits and pieces you may have to buy.
The only problem I see with the Ron Francis kit is the panel is 7-1/2" wide, which is a very tight fit between parking brake bracket and steering column, if it fits at all.
Painless does sell a fuse panel with all the wires routed to screw terminal strips on the sides facing left and right. The problem I see with that is the terminals will be very hard to access. Oh, yes, bring your own wires, and existing under-hood wires won't be long enough.
The Ron Francis kit uses heavy 8 gauge wire for the fuse panel feed. Painless and others use 10 gauge, and Painless (for some bizarre reason) connects those two feed wires to only 12 gauge wires 6 inches before the fuse panel! Also Ron Francis uses a 12 gauge wire for HEI/coil, whereas Painless uses 14 gauge, one size smaller than my 82 used from the factory!
Finally, some companies like Painless use less expensive TXL wire with thinner insulation than GXL wire, which is what Ron Francis and (I think) AAW use.
My comments above come from way too much research
, as well as having installed kits by AAW, Ron Francis, and EZ Wire. All that and I still haven't decided what to use on my 82 C10.
1. If the problem you're having is with the fuse panel itself or under-dash wiring, you can buy an OE-replacement fuse panel and under-dash harness from American Autowire (AAW). Your engine compartment connectors will plug right in.
2. If you need everything front-to-dash-to-rear, AAW makes a kit specifically for 73-80 and 81-87 square bodies. Very much like OE, I suspect, but with larger gauge wires. Very nice kits, and their instruction sheets and tech support are second to none. Downside is the $845 cost.
3. Generic harness kits by dozens of different vendors where 40-50 wires or more are already soldered to the fuse panel. No matter how hard you try, you will end up with some spaghetti near the panel. You may also need to buy connectors not included in the generic kits. Many kits do support the GM column ignition switch connector. Virtually all support the GM column turn signal connector.
4. Ron Francis Express kit which terminates the wires at the fuse panel. IMO, this makes for a much neater installation than the kits that have 50 wires or more already soldered or crimped to the fuse panel. The XP-751 kit is for our trucks, but there are still a few bits and pieces you may have to buy.
The only problem I see with the Ron Francis kit is the panel is 7-1/2" wide, which is a very tight fit between parking brake bracket and steering column, if it fits at all.
Painless does sell a fuse panel with all the wires routed to screw terminal strips on the sides facing left and right. The problem I see with that is the terminals will be very hard to access. Oh, yes, bring your own wires, and existing under-hood wires won't be long enough.
The Ron Francis kit uses heavy 8 gauge wire for the fuse panel feed. Painless and others use 10 gauge, and Painless (for some bizarre reason) connects those two feed wires to only 12 gauge wires 6 inches before the fuse panel! Also Ron Francis uses a 12 gauge wire for HEI/coil, whereas Painless uses 14 gauge, one size smaller than my 82 used from the factory!
Finally, some companies like Painless use less expensive TXL wire with thinner insulation than GXL wire, which is what Ron Francis and (I think) AAW use.
My comments above come from way too much research
, as well as having installed kits by AAW, Ron Francis, and EZ Wire. All that and I still haven't decided what to use on my 82 C10.
