So... I'm back. Aftermarket wiring into a slant nose?

Since a week before moving back to the Lincoln area my truck decided to catch fire, I have not touched it and would really like to drive it again this winter. Has anyone ever used a aftermarket wiring system like painless hot rod wiring? I was trying to get them to make us a replacement harness but have came to the conclusion that they will never come through with this. Any ideas?

I'd probably be junkyarding for simplicity sake. I know they make universal harnesses, so if it came to that I might try one of those if I couldn't find a good Ford harness.

I had a cab fire years ago. I swapped the driveline into another truck and scrapped that one. Of course the frame was about to snap in half, cracked across the bottom and side of the channel on each side just behind the cab, and blew one shock mount clean off the frame. Came down hard from pretty high in the air a couple weeks prior. My guess on the fire was a short, that truck was underwater many times... Like anywhere from to the hood to halfway up the windshield.

depending on how simple of a system you want making one would not be too complex.

Really it's not hard but quite time consuming, and then trying to get connectors for STOCK items could be complex.

However Aftermarket light switch exist, it would be like HORN. signals and so forth in column you could likely use stock and do all the rest like head/park lights, with relays now, and all the rest of the system. One thing you would likely lose is the stock gauges in the instrument panel.

Seems like a lot of work and it is...need ROLLS of wire of various colours and gage so ya a bit of work but could be kewl...

Good luck either way you go!

What year?

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I wish I had the prints for the factory harness so I could just give them to one of the avionics installation guys at work and have him make a new one with relays built in. This is what painless was supposed to be working on but it just got put on the back burner.

Build yer own...

That's funny man. But I'm not a wiring guy, I hate wiring. I still don't know why it caught fire. I'm amazed that it drove all the way home from work that night too. This truck as big of a pita it's been is one of my favorite vehicles.

yup, build yer own. Tis what I am doiung. Ebay has how ots wiring from 12-16 gauge for all your wirin needs for cheap. (like black and red wire, 100 ft 16 gauge for like 15 shipped, i got total 400 feet of 5 different color 16 gauge for 30 bucks).

Not hard since the idi has barely anything to it...assuming you are using a manual trans for simplicities sake. Can get bussed fuse and relay boxes to make your life easier too.

They have to make money. So there needs to be a large demand. Don't worry, it will probably eventually come, but I don't think these trucks are quite old enough yet. The 80-86 guys are really starting to whine about someone making one, but they haven't for them yet either.

Ford didn't make it too easy the way they changed stuff around year to year either.

The only way you are going to have a chance in making one of those universal harnesses work is to solder the old wiring connectors into the new. That's not going to be too much help, since most of the wiring and connection problems start at the connectors, not the wire. In your case, I would get a diagram and replace what is damaged. I would take it out in original sections(underhood, underdash, etc.) and lay it out on the floor, unwrap it and repair it.

This is in my 83. Just an fyi. But I also have at a minimum a 3ft section in the engine compartment where all of the wires melted together. Repairing it would be a major pita I think.

6 Nebraska IDIs said:

This is in my 83. Just an fyi. But I also have at a minimum a 3ft section in the engine compartment where all of the wires melted together. Repairing it would be a major pita I think.

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Nothing worth doing is easy. You may find it's your only solution. Probably the harness that runs over the pass side valve cover? If it is, most people upgrade that anyway, it's the one with the glowplug power feed in it.

+1 for build your own. I have majour issues with how the ignition-on circuits in the fuse panel are wired, among a few other issues. Then again, if you don't want to tear into it yourself (completely understandable, I'm an EE majour so for me it's really more of a fun job than a painful one), I'd just pull the parts of a harness you need to replace from a junkyard truck, then install it using the waterproof heat-shrink covered, adhesive lined butt connectours (Harbor Freight has them cheap in packs).

I helped a buddy rewire a 70s single cab with the inline 6 (the PO had cobbled together some combo of multiple years wiring and it was scary). Used a painless kit that was NOT 'plug and play' but was set up with the right circuits, etc. built into the fuse panel, as well as the right wire lengths (most were overly long, a good problem to have) for almost every part of the truck. I have to say that the kit was very good, ie. well labeled, high quality, and understandable for two guys who had no experience wiring a vehicle (I have an engineering degree and background in electrical from high school, but this stuff was new all the same). The best part though was the support painless provided. Prompt to answer the phone, knew their stuff, and were happy to help with every question. Even tried to ensure we talked with the same guy every time to shorten the intro process. We bought extra crimp connectors and wire tape, otherwise the kit had it all. That truck made it from Florida to Minnesota and last I heard was still going strong.

That is my long winded plug for painless. As long as the kit has your vehicle in mind when it is designed, you can do it with the appropriate amount of time. With the quality of their kit I would happily use it as a starting point for wiring any of these old trucks. Never would I do a new vehicle though haha. A total rewire takes a lot of time with our simple trucks. But every night off with some beers and a buddy can make it a good time.

Edit: I noticed guys talking about having to reuse connectors. We had to do that. Did a lot of crimping. Replaced ones that were questionable. Also bothered to look at the painless site to see what they offered for you. Surprised they don't have something listed. But reading again I guess you already mentioned that. I personally would still go to them first, even if it was a more 'universal' harness, if they said it would work. That would be a big undertaking though.

I was reading your thread about the fire and from what I can tell most of your damage was under the hood?

If your wiring is good from the fire wall inside I would fix what you have got. The wiring harness on these trucks is kinda hoky but its all simple wiring. To me this would be easier than trying to graft in some type of aftermarket system.

You mentioned putting things on relays so you have an understanding of the wiring and I think you could do it. Might take some time but it can be done.

My brother got a Painless Universal harness for his 1940 dodge truck. Our experience with it was similar to that of stealth13777. My brother is no mechanic and I hate electricity as well but the painless kit made it stupid simple. The only problem we had was that the PO had installed a newer steering column and we didn't know what it was from so we had no idea where to find a wiring diagram. Not the fault of the Painless kit, but annoying as hell anyhow. Lot's of trial and error had the signals working in a few hours though.