Wiring Harness journal

[Dleslie212]

We did my daughters truck with a American Autowire kit after I kept finding terrible wiring decisions while troubleshooting stuff. At the end of the day it was worth the price of admission as everything is neat, labeled, and no unnecessary joints. If you really want to get sporty crimp then solder those connections.

That's how ive done most of my connections. Wire to wire is all soldered and shrink tuned. Connectoes that were non insulated were crimped, soldered and shrink tubed. I'm hoping I never have another electrical issue for rest of my life.

Wait till you see the pictures of the massive grounding overkill that I'll post later

 

[kkgp81]

LOL the grounding struggle is real. The 78 I had was a problem child when I got it, after applying some grounding straps it really fixed a LOT of issues.

 

[Dleslie212]

LOL the grounding struggle is real. The 78 I had was a problem child when I got it, after applying some grounding straps it really fixed a LOT of issues.

I ended up drilling holes in the frame, bed and body at 4 points and bolting in 3/8 studs. I ran ground straps to each and then thick battery cables to daisy chain all the grounding points together

 

[Dleslie212]

Tracked down the fuel pump issue - I had the 12v wires for the fuel pumps and the senders crossed. Got that fixed up, turned to key on and both pumps now activate, depending on the switch selection.

I wasn't planning on it until I could change the oil, but I got impatient and cranked it. It started up immediately after the first time in a year.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Great news!

 

[Dleslie212]

Couple weeks more gone by, and getting close to buttoned up. I've taken her for a few spins around the block. I thought it'd be fun to list a few of the screw ups I made during the process

- I had the fuel pump power wires wired into the sending units. Kept popping a fuse every time I turned ignition on. That one was fun to track down

- I had the High Beam Indicator wire not hooked up and loose under the dash. Popped a fuse every time I tried to switch to brights. Took me surprisingly long to figure that out

- I had the reverse light and brake light sockets in swapped positions in the tailight housings. Poured over the manual and wiring for hours before I realized I just needed to swap the positions on the housings. That one is embarrassing

- Since last time I'd started her up, I went through the steering column completely and replaced the shift linkage. After starting up, I couldn't get the Trans to shift into gear. Spent about 4 days thinking my Trans was fried before my cousin suggested making sure I hadn't shifted the transfer case into neutral, which I must have in the course of working and totally forgot. Another super embarrassing one.

That's it so far. I'm sure I'll find more, but everything seems to be working great. I even have courtesy and dome light, although the door switches don't seem to want to turn those on

 

[Juggernaut]

I have something like your dome light issue. My dome light comes on with the jamb switches, but the lights at the floor do not. I have yet to figure that one out

 

[Dleslie212]

I think I have short in my dome light socket, so ordered a whole new assembly from LMC.

I got the shift linkage put back together this morning, as well as the steering wheel with horn contact parts and installed two new Hella horns

 

[Dleslie212]

Dome light fixture and socket replaced and working. Pass side jamb switch working, drivers is not. It's brand new but luckily cheap.