Personalizing your truck

[lrymal]

There it is, that nice new truck.

 

It doesn't take long for that shiny $35,000 truck to lose its new truck smell, and you begin thinking, "Hmmmm, I'd like to add roof-top cab lights, a different radio, 4-way head lights., and more things that make the wallet go 'hmmm' ".

 

So, there you go, you buy STUFF, and more STUFF, and it occurs to you, "Hey, I have to hook these things up." So, you whip out your pocket knife, start hacking into the existing wiring, twist a few wires together, get out the chewing gum and masking tape, and hope it all comes together. And, of course, you try to get the dealer to repair your mess for free under warranty.

 

Well, ok... that's kinda silly. Most of us are very careful and hopefully a bit fearful when hooking up aftermarket equipment to the factory wiring. And it even gets a bit more involved when we have to expand that factory wiring by running extra lines, such as accessory wiring and B+ wiring. Done professionally, the modification will be just as secure as the factory wiring. Done haphazardly, and in a compromised amateurish fashion, then you and your truck may be opening up a world of hurt.

 

This message thread will hopefully blog out a discussion on wiring techiques. I'll prime the pump, so to speak, as best as I can.

 

My background is an educational technology specialist for K-12 school teachers, have a cattle farm, and for years, did electronic assembly work. I formerly manufactured aftermarket wiring harnesses as a side job. It pains me that we don't have the access to so much of the upfitting material that was available, but we can still make do.

 

The next message will start this off.... grabbing voltage or accessory access by way of the fuse box.

[lrymal]

Often it easier to get B+ voltage or even an accessory voltage source by way of the fuse box. A fuse will be mounted, and the lid label will identify it. So, you pull that fuse, get your Bell wire #18 (noooo!!!!!) wire, skin back the insulation, wrap the wire around a leg of the fuse, and cram all of this back in the fuse receptacle. Better yet, just cram the wire into the fuse receptacle, and then get the fuse to push it all down. Yeah, that'll do it!

 

NO...

 

Better yet, get one of these:

 

 

You not only have the functionality of the original fuse, but also have your NEW wiring fuse.

 

The URL where you can purchase this critter is:

 

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.c...tnumber=071-580

[budhayes3]

I'm a fan of good, clean, secure connections. I try to stay away from butt connectors whenever possible. If the wire is in an area where there won't be much movement, i.e. in the dash, I like to twist the wires together, use a good rosin core solder, and heat shrink. If the wire is in a place such as the door jamb, where there is much movement (as a technician you make alot of repairs in that area...wires break there from the constant movement), I don't use solder, just make sure that the wires are twisted together good, and heat shrink. through the years I've seen many repairs in those areas fail due to the wire breaking right after the solder point, solder doesn't bend well. And always remember when soldering, heat the wire, not the solder. Touch the solder to the soldering iron to "tin" the tip, then put the soldering iron under the wire, the solder on top of the wire, and heat the wire until the solder melts in nice and even. It should be smooth and shiny.

[lrymal]

Speaking of soldering...........

Done appropriately, and combined with heat shrink tubing (see below the URLs), it can easily be the preferred way of connectivity especially in t-junctions. But, there may not be room to solder, to move the solder pencil in place, etc. But, pretending that it is a perfect world and soldering can be done, here are some URLs for soldering techniques:

 

http://www.balakracing.com/soldering.htm

http://www.explosivelabs.com/articles/soldering.shtml

http://www.chem.unc.edu/undergrads/2001fal...h/SOLDERING.htm

 

Heat shrink tubing: whazzat????!!!!! " Heat Shrink Tubing can be used for many different applications. Due to the wide range of uses there are many different heat shrink tubings which each meet the demands of an individual application. Instead of standard approaches to insulation, such as taping or molding in place, tubing, when heated, shrinks to conform to the size and shape of the underlying material making installation fast and easy. Tubing comes a in wide range of sizes, colors, and materials. "

 

 

Ok, that's it for me tonight. Next message will address connectors, starting off with the ones that I do NOT like, the ones I tolerate, and the strategy on WHEN to use a connector vs. soldering.

[ManyCamaroz]

A butt-splice is good if the wire is stripped and cut to the proper length and applied correctly for he correct application.

[GM-Tech]

A butt-splice is good if the wire is stripped and cut to the proper length and applied correctly for he correct application.

 

GM prefers butt splices over soldering, believe it or not. This may be because they don't trust everyone to do a proper solder connection, but it probably also has to do with vibration causing the stiff joint to fracture, as mentioned.

 

The butt splices we use have heat shrink insulation that has a sealer in it. When heated, it shrinks down to the wire and sealer oozes out, indicating a good, weather tight seal.

[Elwood 2000]

Whatever wiring you do, be sure to enclose ALL that you do with wire loom. First, it looks neater. Second, it protects your wiring from rubbing, elements (to a degree), pinches and is easier to fasten where you want it to be than just bare wire(s). Third it is CHEAP stuff to buy. If you can afford a few hundred bucks for new lights or stereo equipment, you can afford a few BUCKS for wire loom.

 

[mcreyaufmiller]

I prefer to use solder connections where ever possible. If it is not a good place to solder, you can use an old technique called a western union slpice. This was developed by western union to repair broken telegraph wires and it is strong. Strip back both wires you want to connect, bend the bare wire in a 180 degree in the middle of the bare wire then loop them together and twist each wire to itself. Make sure the wires are twisted tightly. Put a piece of shirnk wrap on the connection and it will be just as strong as an uncut wire (if done correctly). the key here is to make everything as stock as possible, this will keep the whole thing strong.

 

Whatever you do, stay away from the 3M splice clips, these damage the orignal wires you are cliping to. A better way to do this is to get a pair of strippers from Radio Shack, the kind that you squeeze and they remove the insulator without pulling on the wire. Once you seperate the insulator, seperate the wires in half and slide the new wire into them. Twist this and sloder. This will give you a solid connection without damaging the orignal wire. When done slide on a piece of shrink wrap to seal the whole thing up.

[kirkRHughes]

Often it easier to get B+ voltage or even an accessory voltage source by way of the fuse box. A fuse will be mounted, and the lid label will identify it.  So, you pull that fuse, get your Bell wire #18 (noooo!!!!!) wire, skin back the insulation, wrap the wire around a leg of the fuse, and cram all of this back in the fuse receptacle.  Better yet, just cram the wire into the fuse receptacle, and then get the fuse to push it all down.  Yeah, that'll do it!

 

NO... 

 

Better yet, get one of these:

 

 

You not only have the functionality of the original fuse, but also have your NEW wiring fuse.

 

The URL where you can purchase this critter is:

 

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.c...tnumber=071-580

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

Going to order a few of those, I can never find them for the small fuses we have.

[kirkRHughes]

I prefer to strip the plastic off the butt connectors and use heat shrink instead. Makes the connection smaller and it’s easier to make sure the crimp is good. Also if there are multiple connections, I like to stagger them so I don’t have a big clump.

[kirkRHughes]

While looking for that little fuse tap I found this.

web site

[markm@depot]

As you can see I am a new member here. This post caught my eye and I thought I could add a lil bit to it as I am an Avionics Tech and do a vast amount wiring in small GA Aircraft.

 

Anyways, if there is no room to solder you might want to try solder sleeves for a nice weather tight connection. For those who don't know solder sleeves consist of a heat-shrinkable, transparent, polyvinylidene fluoride sleeve with an inner, pre-fluxed, solder preform and two thermoplastic sealing inserts. When heat is applied, the solder melts and flows to provide a superior connection between the ground lead and the shield. At the same time, the two thermoplastic sealing inserts melt and the outer sleeve shrinks to provide an environmentally protected termination. We use these for grounding the shields on twisted pairs of wires but they also work as a butt splice.

 

If you find yourself doing an abundance of crimp type connectors, it might be a good idea to get a "Good" set of crimpers. Ebay is sometimes a good source for some or http://www.alliedelec.com/ also has a decent assortment. What the connector is made of can also make a difference. Your typical Wal-Mart connector is made of plastic and is very prone to cracking and is not pliable so you crimp might not be as tight. The nylon insulated connectors are better in my opinion, but these are the only ones the FAA allows me to use, but there is a price difference .02-.10 cents for plastic to $.30-$1.20 each. When crimping it is also a good idea NOT to twist the wire, more then it was in the insulation, as this does not allow the wire to sprawl inside of the crimp making a nice tight crimp that will last for years.

 

All of these things come under our motto:

 

"If it looks good, It works good"

 

Hope this helps and that I will able to add to all the great advice above.

[budhayes3]

I like those solder sleeves that markm@depot mentioned...by the way, welcome to the site! Nice and clean and effective when properly used. As far as splicing into wires goes, I use mcreyaufmiller's method of moving the insulator back, and then I use a pick to spread the middle of the bare wire and basically put the new wire through the hole just like threading a needle. If it's a very thick wire, I'll actually use needle nose pliers to then close the hole and tighten the connection.

When I worked at Toyota, we used to have this grey heat shrink that came in a roll like tape, you could wrap it, cut it, and heat it. Expensive stuff, but also very effective. As far as electrical tape goes, I've found that there's cheap tape, and good stuff. The 3M tape, that has a yellow cardboard center, I've found to be excellent tape that won't easily come undone. The cheap tape actually has it's place too, like it you're doing something that's temporary and you don't want to struggle when pulling it back apart. I keep some of the cheap stuff around just for that purpose.

[budhayes3]

GM prefers butt splices over soldering, believe it or not.  This may be because they don't trust everyone to do a proper solder connection, but it probably also has to do with vibration causing the stiff joint to fracture, as mentioned.

 

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

Toyota actually has the same protocall now, basically because not enough people know how to solder properly, and they had to buy back too many cars (well, too many by their standards), because of faulty wiring repairs.

 

As much as I prefer to solder when possible, I'll admit that I have been doing it less and less on my own stuff, basically due to laziness.

[ManyCamaroz]

A butt-splice is good if the wire is stripped and cut to the proper length and applied correctly for he correct application.

 

GM prefers butt splices over soldering, believe it or not. This may be because they don't trust everyone to do a proper solder connection, but it probably also has to do with vibration causing the stiff joint to fracture, as mentioned.

 

The butt splices we use have heat shrink insulation that has a sealer in it. When heated, it shrinks down to the wire and sealer oozes out, indicating a good, weather tight seal.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

 

 

I agree... I work for Duke-Power at their nuclear plants as a Nuclear Maintenance Specialist on H.V. (230-550kV) breakers, xfmrs. and we use them often. Mind you they are QA'd out the ying yang. I can't ever remember one failing that was applied correctly for the correct application. We use fancy sealing heat shrink (Nuclear grade) also and it is the greatest as long as you don't have to remove it.