keep it clean wiring (1 Viewer)

[Ethan]

Well I ordered the cheap wiring harness from keep it clean wiring ( $150 www.Keepitcleanwiring.com ) has anyone dealt with this company? Has anyone heard if it is any good. for $150 if it is good then its a good deal compared to painless. if not I will see in a few days.

 

[dustin]

I redid my harness a couple years ago with an ez-wire kit. I dont think your harness will be much different than the one I used. Its hard to get fancy with a wireharness. Its wires, and a fuse block. About the only fancy things mine had, and yours might too, are the wires are labeled every few inches with what they are powering. I have not been able to figure out why Painless and the other companies are so expensive.

-Dustin

 

[badkarma]

perfect timing with this post. Sorry to hijack, too.

Yesterday I finally got my guage cluster back to stock and while I was in there, I figured I might as well get started on the re-wire...YIKES what a mess the PO had under there. anyway, I was going to go with EZ, but i'll check out keepitclean, too. Thanks!

 

[Ethan]

Don't you love hack jobs. Mine has wire from a chord that looks like it came from a lamp in a house. plus i have a cross wire that keeps my rear lights on if the batt is connected. How much is EZ? I think painless is nike of wire kits. If you want to be cool like the guys on tv you can pay for the name. I could see maybe the connectors being better but not $150-200 better. The kit I got is only a 14 circuit I think, its small but all I need. How long has it taken people to do the whole thing???

 

[osagecruiser]

the po of my rig wired the rear lights using romex...house wire..they worked but it sure looked crazy.

 

[Ethan]

I suppose there would be less resistance and you could supply a lot of current but I think I would rip that out first think. that sounds like something I would have done on my old LJ20. I sure do miss that rust pile...

 

[DSRTRDR]

How long it takes depends on your preparation (identifying and tracing existing wires and sorting the new wires) and the wiring diagrams you consult. It took us (2 people) about a month working every other evening and at least one full day on the weekends.

Some things I learned:
- the diagram in the Haynes manual was closest to OEM (at least for pre-73), the FSM had a diagram onloy for later models (there are some diagrams in the etch section)
- the aftermarket wiring kits are based on GM's way of thinking, Toyota had a different philosophy: major differences are the ground circuit and few actualy ground connections in the stock harness and the lack of proper consideration of Toyota switch functions in the aftermarket wiring kit; you will find that Toyota's approach to coloring the wires for the different functions was quite rational
- do not cut wires between hazard switch, brake switches and turn signal switch; at least before you do, figure out where each goes because you will have to reconstruct these connections, they do not come with the wiring kit; otherwise, your switches will not work
- even though the wires themselves are labeled, you will not be able to see much once you have them under the dash, better to label each with flags you can actually read, take a light colored tape
- you are better off to keep each wire until you have the new one in place, then pull the old one; even my husband was finally convinced that this was the way to go (rather than cutting everything out in the beginning, we would have had some major problems)
- get those flex tube looms and use them liberally as soon as you have a group of wires traced, you won't believe the rats nest you will create behind the gauge panel if you wait until the end (I had to disconnect and restring a number of wires to clean it up)
- some small things you will have to make yourself, such as the connections to the side marker/blinker lights
- best to ground every device, can never have too much ground, the instrument cluster will need its own ground
- working with relays for the bigger consumers is highly recommended (horn, headlights, accessory lights, amplifier/equalizer, electric fan, ARB compressor etc.)
- have spare fuses and relays handy for the time when you test; relays for blinker and hazard lights should be same frequency (same manufacturer)
- if the number of circuits in your replacement fuse block is not enough, you can mount an accessory fuse block
- most of the ordinary parts store rubber grommets do not fit the stock holes
- yes, do disconnect the battery

I may not remember everything, PM me if you have questions.

I found the heat shrinkable connectors the best (spendy); waterproof connectors can be had at auto parts stores and Ace (no one store has all you want), they are also vibration resistant. I wrote all the tracing down and every step as we re-strung as well.

Good luck, Claudia

PS: it is NOT painless or EZ!

 

[80fj40]

Hey great advice! I've got something to add:

Check out a marine store for high quality electrical stuff - like sealed splices and splice packs, 100% water / salt proof shrink tube. etc....

 

[nuclearlemon]

the ez wire kit ran me $165...i just started running it a couple weekends ago, but have been wheeling since then and no time...maybe this weekend i'll get more done. claudia's right about dividing up the harness and running it through loom ahead of time. also, the aftermarket harness are set up for the fuse block to be on the left, not the right (my 45 had it on the right side of the center cowl section), so if you mount on/near the passenger side, none of your left side wiring will be long enough (my entire light circuit will be backwards to alleviate this). i'll be using weatherpack connectors...if you do this, it's worth it to get the correct crimpers for the connectors. unfortunately, i didn't have an old harness to work with...all my wiring was gone except for a few strands that were unhooked or cut.

 

[Ethan]

DSRTRDR: wow thats a lot of good tips. Thanks for the heads up. I think I will be ok (that does not mean happy the whole time). I do a lot of wiring in my line of work (electronic tech) and the one thing I have learned is document everything! sounds like this is what you did and worked well. it looks like it might be a while befor I get to wire it and only on week ends. I need a shop.

 

[dustin]

- the aftermarket wiring kits are based on GM's way of thinking, Toyota had a different philosophy: major differences are the ground circuit and few actualy ground connections in the stock harness and the lack of proper consideration of Toyota switch functions in the aftermarket wiring kit; you will find that Toyota's approach to coloring the wires for the different functions was quite rational.

I believe quite the opposite! Nearly every wire in the Toy harness (1971 FJ40) is green, with some different color stripes. It was way easier for me to know which wire was what with the GM colors. Also, I was not interrested at all with keeping the harness looking stock, so the colors and labels on the wires were a good thing for me. Proper consideration of a stock Toy harness doesnt apply to a one size fits all harness like the EZ one. Are any of the switches on the Toy dash grounded? I don't remember any of them being grounded anyway.

Youre advice is pretty right on though!

I would also add that you should avoid using zip locks until youre done, and instead use twist ties. I cut tens of twist ties off durring my install.

I also used the weatherpack connectors and suggest using them too. And as Ige noted- GET THE SPECIAL CRIMPER! It probably took 4 times longer to do the crimping with with my regular crimper than it would have had I used the correct one. Also, I got all my connectors and relays from Wayteck. They have a good website too.

Good luck, its a huge project!

-Dustin

 

[Ethan]

Well I got the kit today in the mail. took it out of the box and then it hit me......I wont have to deal with half assed wiring, shorts, opens, splits, cracks, and just plain ugly rats nest of a wiring job any longer. I don't know why I put it off. You do have to use your head a little bit to make the kit work on a cruiser but man this is going to be so much better. so far the kit looks good. when I put it in I will know for sure how it does as far as length but I don't think I will have any problems.