Recommend a rewiring solution

[K30Blazer]

While my truck is down for the LS swap I figured I could address the wiring. I will be pulling all the old AC system (non functioning) out and the dash has come out with a DIY4X dash going in its place.

I am swapping over to a LS harness obviously and bought a Ron Francis gauge harness for all the autometer gauges going in.

Question is what should I be considering for the harness. I have looked at the painless, American auto wire, EZ wire etc and they all look good.

I really like the look of the American Autowire Highway Highway 22 kit but the painless come with a bulkhead in the firewall.

Can't really find any reviews specific to our truck. I have an 87

 

[ktmoutfront]

I have installed more than one of each of those in various vehicles. They all work well. The bulkhead block is really nice. But any work well for our rigs. Just make sure you have enough circuits available with a couple of extras.

 

[The Butcher]

I'm starting to go through the mess that is the wiring in my donor dually body and I can't count the number of splices/shoddy connectors that have been done to it in the past 30+ years. I think most of the accessories (wipers, turn signals, etc) run off of toggle switches someone butchered into the dash. The taillights are an unholy mess of wires, with one side being "newer" wire spliced into place with the old wire still running right next to it, and the other side being a mangled mess that makes very little sense as well.

All of that being said, I'm going to have to do a considerable amount of hacking to get the wiring untangled from the frame/body so I can get the bed off, and with all of the other wiring issues in the cab I'm thinking it is just easier to get a new harness from Painless, EZ Wiring, etc.

My question is, why is there such a huge price difference between a Painless 27 circuit harness and an EZ 21 circuit harness? The EZ harness lists for $185 on their site. The Painless kit is about $700. I see that the Painless harness comes with the bulkhead connector, and I assume the EZ does not. So is that the only difference, and why pay an additional $500 for a bulkhead connector? I'd like to keep the install as simple as possible (mostly because this tedious wiring crap gets very monotonous and can slow down my progress significantly), but not sure I can see the advantage of spending an additional $500. Any suggestions/help is appreciated.

 

[big dan]

I used an ez wire in my 85 and fixing to put another in my scout. I liked it, was super simple. There are a couple things I didn't like but for the price I can overlook. First off no bulk head, not a big deal but would be nice to have.

Second some of the wires were a bit long. I know, cut them off right? The problem is something like headlight wires, you've got one wire coming off the switch and splits in to two wires to cover both headlights and there was like 4 feet of extra wire before the split so I had to cut and splice. Same deal on tail lights. Again not a big deal for the price and it is a universal harness so what was a pain for me might have been good for a different install.

My last problem which is another "universal" issues is that it had some circuits I didn't need and was missing some I did. Again easy solution just use the extra circuit in place of the missing one. Works ok but might cause later problem diagnosis work when there's a wire that says "fuel pump" but it runs to the heater switch.

I love that the wires are labeled every few inches. Was nice to run a a bundle of wires out and still be able to identify/remember what they go to. Mine also came with new headlight connectors, the turn signal and ignition switch connectors wires in (was for gm column) made it almost plug and play. Overall Im satisfied enough that I'll use another in my scout and again when I wire up my 77 k10. The minor issues I had were all just byproducts of a universal harness and easy to get over for the price and quality of the harness.

 

[The Butcher]

Thanks for the feedback. In terms of not having the bulkhead connector, what are the issues with that? I assume the bulkhead connector makes the connection between the wire in the cab and the wires that run to everything (lights, motor, etc.). Without the bulkhead connector where/how do you splice it all together?

 

[ktmoutfront]

I have used both brands. The Painless bulkhead is nice but unnecessary for most applications. Hot rod guys like Painless because they can brag about it. Ez wire is for the money conscious guy. Just run in through a grommet in the fire wall. Nice tight fitting one. Depending on how many circuits, will establish the size.

 

[6872xtc]

If a bulkhead connector is something that you want to add, there is a 22 pin weather pack one available. It's want International uses. It takes up some space though. I installed one for a friend and had to work to get some space next to the fuse panel.
I don't see it as a must use, just an option, but you could fill one quick with a complete rewire job.

www.diyautotune.com

It's in their weather pack stuff. And the weatherpack crimpers that they sell are the best!

 

[The Butcher]

$108 for crimpers?! Holy cow!!! Looks like they are quality though.

I don't care about bragging rights. Particularly if I can save $500 on the harness. Snaking it all through the FW isn't a problem as there seems to be a pretty decent size hole in it already. Might need to find a bigger rubber grommet though if I end up having to put a bunch of wires through it. Do either of them come with at least rudimentary instructions? I can chase down wires, and I assume labeling everything I cut/remove would be the best route for when I go back to rewire the whole truck. Having some guidance in the form of instructions would help though.

 

[6872xtc]

Yeah the price on the crimpers is high, and they only do weather pack. But they do the terminal and the seal in 1 shot.
A buddy bought a set for me to use doing the install, now I dislike the crap out of my set.

 

[K30Blazer]

I ended up going with the highway 22 and it was awesome. The bulkhead is unnecessary as the amount to demolition I did to my wiring it was gonna be all new anyway. I have nothing but good things to say about thr kit. There were a lot of connectors and stuff that I didn't use but I did use the ignition, the headlight switch and they are great. The painless wasn't as complete as I would have liked it to be.

On another note painless does have a really cool option for doing all your gauges. They basically pull the info from the pcm and run it up to analog gauges. Waaaay cool. I saw it when I was helping Fred rebuild the Alabama army truck for dirt everyday but didn't get to install it. Not sure if it made it into the build but it was pretty sweet.

 

[The Butcher]

Now I have 3 options to choose from... and they all vary in price! Does the Highway 22 kit have the labeled wires every 4-5" like the EZ and Painless kits do? I assume so, but couldn't find that specifically (Edit: after reading it again I see they mark theirs every 2"). It did note they are GM color coded. Looks like they offer a nice set up too, but once again they are twice the price of an EZ wire kit.

Edit 2: I found yet another option from Speedway Motors. 22 circuit for $179. There's a guy with a several series You Tube video that covers him putting it into a C10. Looks like this kit is pretty nice too.

I don't recall if Fred mentioned the gauge kit from Painless, but I think I do recall the truck not starting during the hasty build due to some grounds not being tightened down. Was that your fault? J/K.

 

[K30Blazer]

Now I have 3 options to choose from... and they all vary in price! Does the Highway 22 kit have the labeled wires every 4-5" like the EZ and Painless kits do? I assume so, but couldn't find that specifically (Edit: after reading it again I see they mark theirs every 2"). It did note they are GM color coded. Looks like they offer a nice set up too, but once again they are twice the price of an EZ wire kit.

Edit 2: I found yet another option from Speedway Motors. 22 circuit for $179. There's a guy with a several series You Tube video that covers him putting it into a C10. Looks like this kit is pretty nice too.

I don't recall if Fred mentioned the gauge kit from Painless, but I think I do recall the truck not starting during the hasty build due to some grounds not being tightened down. Was that your fault? J/K.

ha ha. no. I was wired the relays for the fans.

 

[The Butcher]

I've watched 22 of the You Tube videos of the guy that did the Speedway22 on his C10 (they are short 5 minute videos) and I'm leaning pretty hard towards that one since it seems to have just about everything I would need. There is no circuit for back up lights though which I thought was strange. You can rob one of the accessory circuits for those, but I still don't understand why they would leave that one out. I need to sit down and look real hard at what the EZ harness has (or doesn't have) as compared to the Speedway one. I just can't see spending 3x as much on a Painless kit just to get a bulkhead fitting.