Buying the wiring harness in sections?

[jwill226]

My 78 K10 is having a lot of intermittent rear lighting issues.  When I checked the harness out the whole rear section is junk.  Everything from the plug behind the bumper needs to be replaced.  All the wires are cracked, broken, or poorly spliced.  Someone added a trailer plug and just twisted the wires together and secured with tape.  Plugs arnt much better.

Is there anywhere I can by a new harness with all the plugs and connectors with out having to drop all the money for a full painless kit?  Over time I would like to re wire the whole truck but right now I cant afford the whole kit.  Every wire back there needs replaced so just patching the the bad spots isnt going to work.

[dvdswan]

I was looking at that last week and found it but don't remember where.  did you you google 1978 k10 rear wiring harness?

[Captkaos]

We sell factory replacement individual harnesses email what you are looking for and I will get you a price.  Send application with it.

Chris Lucas
73-87chevytrucks.com
captkaoscustoms.com
squarebody.biz

[jwill226]

Sorry, life has been busy latly and I couldn't get back here for a couple days.

That sounds great Captkaos.  Ill get an email out to you.

**EDIT**  I sent an email to the webmaster address.  I hope that was the right one.  For some reason when I try and load the store page here it wont load.  Not sure if that a problem on your end or a problem with the old junky work computer I'm using right now.

[Captkaos]

I got the email.  Will be getting back to you tomorrow. 
The store went down yesterday due to a space issue.  It should be working now.

[jwill226]

To bring some closure to this thread I bit the bullet and ordered the full kit tonight from this site.  Wish me luck, Ive never tried anything of this magnatude.

[darmentle]

did you order the painless kit let me know how it works out . i wouldn't mind doing the same to my truck.

[Captkaos]

he bought this one: http://store.73-87chevytrucks.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=7&Product_Code=AAW-510347&Category_Code=ELEC

[jwill226]

Having never taken part in a full rewire job or had my hands on either a painless or AAW kit I can't speak from first hand knowledge.  I will tell you this.  Google American Auto Wire vs Painless and their will be a TON of reading on the topic.  I don't remember seeing a single instance where someone who had expeariance with both companies picked Painless.  From what I was reading its not that their bad its just that AAW is better.

I read that in a lot of situations that with a painless kit you had to supply some of your own connectors.  It didn't seem to be as plug and play as the AAW kits; again from what I was reading.

I'm not sure when I will get the whole job done but I will take some pics and put a thread together of my AAW install when I get it done.

[jwill226]

Well I got the kit today.  I haven't started installing it yet so I can't give a full review at this point but I will tell you this.  IT IS NOT A PLUG AND PLAY KIT AS ADVERTISED.  At this point I'm not sure if all of the connectors are even there.  Nearly every wire will need soldering and heat shrink. 

To give an example lets take one of the pieces of lighting harness.  They are wired together but I'll have to actually solder the wiring with the bulb sockets the bare ended wires of the main harness.  It appears every circuit is this way.  I specifically ordered this kit because I wanted what was advertised.  A complete plug and play kit that was factory assembled so I could do away with all the breaks and splices from the PO.  Now if I use this kit I'll have a truck where 95% of the wires are spliced.  So am I really in a better spot with kit? NO.

Also even after asking specifically if there would be anything I needed to complete this kit and was told no; now I have to contact AAW and order one of their crazy expensive crimp tools.  I'm not happy and would advise others to stay away from this kit unless the idea of spending a week with a soldering iron in your hand appeals to you.

[Captkaos]

jwill226 the kit you got isn't plug and play, not sure why you thought that.  The individual sections for the 1973-82 which you asked about were plug and play, but are much more expensive to do the whole truck.

The Upgrade kit is made to fit all years from 1973-1982 and includes all of the connectors but requires the correct one to be added for the version you are after.  This is a custom install.  If you went with the Painless kit (I have one) you would be much worse off as the majority of the connectors are Not included.

[Greybeard]

jwill226,
  Just by looking at the picture in the ad it looks deceiving. All of the individual components are assembled so it looks like it's a plug together kit with only routing being necessary. I was wondering if the reasoning behind leaving the end connectors off is to be able to run the wires through tight spots easier? I will never try to rewire a truck again from underneath I know that much. I've rewired too many semi's and it ain't fun no matter how complete the kit.

The one thing I see missing in the picture is any protective wrap for the wires.

One suggestion....tiny little 3" nylon tiewraps will be your friend in an endeavor like this. If the wires are already tied up double the number because no company will do enough on their own to make your life easier.

I am no expert with wiring but I like a tiewrap at least every six inches. I wired semi's at work a few times and found it helps keep the wires from hanging up on every little screw head or bolt protrusion. However, YMMV

[Captkaos]

Not sure how you are seeing everything is already assembled in the picture.  That is all the components and they require assembly as it is made to fit 1973-82 and the wiring is different for many connectors.  All of them are included.

jwill226 hasn't posted again, but if he wanted he could have sent it back to me for a refund and could have gotten every portion of the wiring separately, but it would have been $900+

[Greybeard]

I'm not putting down the kit. But I will say the picture, at least on my 24" led, has a lot of clarity to be desired. That is nobodies fault however. Could be just the way my browser renders it. I never looked at it in IE I use Firefox.

I guess I see what you are saying though. I looked at it again and what I though was terminations was actually, maybe, or could have been, taped ends? Regardless I see now that the ends had no plastic connection blocks on them.

Even with that I don't see a problem as long as what the ad says about having plenty of wire length to work with. Napa sells self soldering and shrink-wrapped crimp connections that may or not be the cats meow. I've used them for many years and haven't seen any deleterious effects from the solder. A small mini-torch or a good heat gun (everybody NEEDS a good heat gun anyway) makes quick work of them. Plus a pair of auto strippers and you are good to go. Get a can of liquid tape and give the self shrinking seal a dab on both ends and they are waterproof.

[Captkaos]

To put this in perspective.  Here are ESTIMATED average cost (probably on the low side) for the seperate harness sections available for the 1973-1982  (shipping not included)

The rear body light harness is $120+/-
Dash harness with gauges is $500+/-
350 engine harness is $175+/-
Front light harness is $180+/-
Rear intermediate harness $100+/-