Wire Harness Refurb - 78 FJ40

[SliderJack]

The seat heaters I decided to feed off a switched wire from the ignition but before the fuse box. I found a factory clump near the fuse box and connected there. I used liquid electric tape. I'll wrap with harness tape separately as well. I added an additional fuse for just the seat heaters.

The tail lights were similar to the voltage regulator. I had the original lights and the connectors. I took the connectors apart. My new taillights came with spade type ends that I can slide right into the stock connectors.

I purchased a trailer light convertor. I plan to add bullet connectors to the harness wires and add the convertor if I decide to add a hitch in the future.

 

[SliderJack]

Here are a few of the tools I found useful.

• Dielectric Grease
• Power Probe (convenient but not necessary)
• Radio Shack heat gun for shrink tubing
• Wire stripper (I'll never strip wires the old way again!)
• Soldering Iron (would suggest a hotter one. I crimped, soldered, and shrunk wrap all my connections where possible. A stand would have been nice as well.)

Like most things, I probably spent 10 X more time thinking about what needed to be done and making plans than actually doing it. At some point I just have to dive in to get it done. I definitely learned a lot about the wiring on my truck. That can only help me in the future.

 

[Coolerman]

Good work! Proper planning ALWAYS takes longer than the actual doing.
The odd crimps the factory used to splice wires together may look cheap, but they never fail. I have used the exact crimps to repair and build harnesses, because they are very low profile. They are however hard to crimp correctly even with the correct tool. (That's why I don't sell that kind.)
Keep it up!

 

[SliderJack]

Thanks Mark! Thanks for the parts! I finally did find a couple bad wires last night, but easy to rebuild--the rear running lights. I finished wrapping the harness last night and got the main harness into the truck. Very excited! Thanks again!