Painless wiring harness

[drohweder]

So how easy is it? I am for the most part an electrical bafoon so be honest. I'm thinking a whole new harness with an auxillary fuse box would be the best thing for my truck right now. Currently not everything work and its just a jumble of wires under the dash (like most old cruisers).

Give me your insight, particularly those who have done it before. Thanks.

Dan

 

[lx450landcruiser]

well i bought my 71 fj40 as pretty much just a tub so there was no wiring or lights or anything. i bought a painless wiring kit off ebay for a chevy truck. the harness had a ton of stuff i didnt want like radio, dome light, electric fuel pump ect.. the reason i bought a chevy painless kit was A it was really cheep on ebay and two i installed a chevy tilt steering coulmn so the chevy harness as far as turn signols and such just pluged in.
the harness was the first thing i ever did as far as wiring a car. the harness that i got came with a small book called How to wire your hot rod it was a small book that game me insite as what to look for. to be honest with you the harness was great every wire is labbled so when it comes time to trouble shoot its a breaze.

 

[dd113]

Painless is worthless; and it is not painless. Unless your truck has been in a fire just fix your existing harness. Pull it out, buy a meter and go. It is no more difficult than installing a painless and much cheaper and you have an OEM guide to work from.

 

[IDave]

I agree with David. I pulled a harness from a parts truck so I can use the oem colors to replace missing/bad bits, but it seems a lot easier to go that route than to start completely over with no guide!

 

[lx450landcruiser]

well if your harness was like mine its was junk no matter how u looked at it. i would have spent months trying to repair is if i was to go that route but with the painless and that book i had the whole thing installed in 2 days and that includes all grounds and soddering and taping all connections. To each his own way but for me the painless was worth the money in my opinion.

 

[bsilva132]

www.centec.com or www.ezwire.com (I think that is the names of the companies) are about the same as the Painless and are about half the price. Be sure to get one with extra spots so adding additional accessories in the future is easy (12 or 18 circuit).
-Brian

 

[IDave]

well if your harness was like mine its was junk no matter how u looked at it....

You have a point. My FJ45 is almost completely rewired using the standard 4 color hardware store wire method. I may pull things apart and wish I had an ezwire or painless set.

 

[Officer Friendly]

Painin the ass

Stay away I had mine done by an automotive electrishion and it has all kind of problems. He said you could make one of better quilty for cheeper and have less problems

 

[thorvald]

i used a painless. definetly not the easiest solution, but I like having brand new wiring as opposed to melted together 33 year old wires. if i was to do it again, would either make my own harness or buy the ezwire. do a search on painless and wiring, theres afew good threads with other options people have come up with.

whatever you do solder all your connections. being new to wiring I used all the buttconnectors supplied by painless, but while working on it over and over, kept having a few of them come apart. I went back and soldered/shrink tubed it all.

oh, and i do like having the bigger fusebox also.

 

[nuclearlemon]

www.centec.com or www.ezwire.com (I think that is the names of the companies) are about the same as the Painless and are about half the price. Be sure to get one with extra spots so adding additional accessories in the future is easy (12 or 18 circuit).
-Brian

uh, i think you have the wrong links...one is a global media place and the other is computer stuff

 

[Markh]

I guess I'm one of the few that thought my Painless harness was very good. I guess I just don't understand how it could get much easier. Every wire is labeled for its function. There are wires that your not going to need but I can't see why that is a bad thing. I haven't seen any other wiring harnesses but I can't see where they would differ a whole lot. They would still have to have their wires maked for where they are supposed to go.
Maybe I had an easier time since I started from scratch. I installed a new fiberglass body so I had a clean slate. I am still using the Toyota steering column and it works fine.

If you are going to install any harness the main thing is to TAKE YOUR TIME. The Painless instructions said to plan on around 40 hours to install the harness and they weren't too far off. I planned on doing one or two circuits a night, make sure they work and then move on the next night. Going slowly is a whole lot better than getting frustrated and giving up.
The last thing is to get a good electrical schematic for your year Cruiser so you'll know what the original colored wires were for especially the steering column and assorted switches.

Just my .02

 

[drohweder]

Thanks for your comments. Is it better to get a harness for a chevy since I have a sbc or stick with the toyota model? I wouild like to replace my steering colume as my turn signal switch doesn't work right now and I wouldn't mind having a tilt column.

I'm going to check those sites. Thanks.

 

[bsilva132]

Sorry ez wiring's web site is www.ezwiring.com. I am not sure exactly what centec's is but a quick search should net you the set. These don't have all the pretty colors, but they are labled every ~6" I think.
-Brian

 

[lx450landcruiser]

i dont recall what year your cruiser was but if it has the later steering box (the one without the steering coulum bolted directly to it) then a chevy tilt steering coulme is a very easy and nice conversion. just some body trimming and one easy bracket to fab from the existing one and your set. i could shoot you some pics and info if your intrested. very slick setup.


mike

 

[toycrusher]

I have installed 7 centec harnesses in cruisers now from stock F motor to TPI 350. It takes time an patience but in the end it is one of the best things you can do. It takes me 2-2 1/2 days to completely install one. A quality multi-meter is a great thing to have as well. Good luck and remember patience is a virtue

 

[TJDIV]

I used an EZWiring Harness on my 45LV. I got the 21 Circuit, and should have gotten the 12.

I would go with them again in a heartbeat. CHEAP. $160 and it comes with everything you need. Go to Orielly's, NAPA, whereever and get you a cheap little electricians kit and go to town.

Painless Wiring is so fxxxing expensive I would recommend a global boycott of their product.
I have no experience with Centec.

For the money, my EZwiring kit was the bomb. I'm very, very glad I told Painless to eat s***.

www.ezwiring.com

 

[TexomaFJ40]

Painless ain't so damm painless. Pull your original wires and replace bad connections with new leads.

 

[trw]

I used an EZWiring Harness on my 45LV. I got the 21 Circuit, and should have gotten the 12.

I would go with them again in a heartbeat. CHEAP. $160 and it comes with everything you need. Go to Orielly's, NAPA, whereever and get you a cheap little electricians kit and go to town.

Painless Wiring is so fxxxing expensive I would recommend a global boycott of their product.
I have no experience with Centec.

For the money, my EZwiring kit was the bomb. I'm very, very glad I told Painless to eat s***.

www.ezwiring.com

Is there something you're not telling us

 

[IDave]

Yeah, Tommy. Don't hold back your feelings.....

 

[trw]

since I'm looking into upgrading my electrical would you explain why you would opt for the 12 over the 21 if doing it again?