Minimalist harness

[Blmpkn]

I'm thinking I'd like to make/buy my truck a bare bones wiring harness. Super minimalist. Its a manual door truck, no a/c or cruise or any of that fanciness.

All I want is power to the cab (radio, dome light, blower motor, guage cluster) and the exterior lights.

What's the easiest way to go about this? I hate electrical stuff. I'm convinced it's witchcraft and am near hopeless at ever gaining an understanding of it. If you have a 4 year old daughter, she probably understands this nonsense better than I.

Simpler the better.

 

[WP29P4A]

There is a guy on this site that makes them, I believe even custom made to order harness. I don't remember the name off hand but I know someone will come along soon and answer the question.

 

[WP29P4A]

@gmachinz is his member name, Harnessworkx INC.

 

[Big Chip]

@gmachinz is his member name, Harnessworkx INC.

I thought he was banned for ripping people off. I know he was from a couple other forums I'm on but I can't remember about this one.

 

[Doppleganger]

@gmachinz is his member name, Harnessworkx INC.

He's long gone.....maybe banned? He was banned on several other sites I know.

Painless Wiring has some $300 "kits" for GM columns. Thats what I got to redo mine. They have turn-key square body replacements but they are $700ish.

 

[WP29P4A]

I thought he was banned for ripping people off. I know he was from a couple other forums I'm on but I can't remember about this one.

Well, Chit. I didn't know that. Is there someone else on this site that does wiring harness?

I had read the posts about him making that harnesses, but didn't see the posts where he went to the dark side and got banned.

 

[nvrenuf]

I know that that this member -

@gmachinz is his member name, Harnessworkx INC.

has been banned and had transaction and communication issues with people so I will just tell MY experience (via FB).

I wanted a super minimal harness. When I contacted Painless they could only offer me a “buggy” type harness and if there were extra wires/circuits that were unused I just needed to tie them up out of the way. They would not custom build a harness for me, they’re idea of custom is adding or deleting stuff like a/c.

Harnessworx built me a totally custom harness exactly the way I wanted, it was plug & play and looked like a GM harness. No extra wires, no cut to length, no installing my own connectors (after cutting to length).

I did have slow, minimal communication from Harnessworx and delivery was about 3 weeks late from our agreed deadline. I would probably order from him again but I would be very cautious.

 

[Big Chip]

I know that that this member -


has been banned and had transaction and communication issues with people so I will just tell MY experience (via FB).

I wanted a super minimal harness. When I contacted Painless they could only offer me a “buggy” type harness and if there were extra wires/circuits that were unused I just needed to tie them up out of the way. They would not custom build a harness for me, they’re idea of custom is adding or deleting stuff like a/c.

Harnessworx built me a totally custom harness exactly the way I wanted, it was plug & play and looked like a GM harness. No extra wires, no cut to length, no installing my own connectors (after cutting to length).

I did have slow, minimal communication from Harnessworx and delivery was about 3 weeks late from our agreed deadline. I would probably order from him again but I would be very cautious.

I heard he was very good at the work and very poor at the business end of it. I thought at the time if he would just build the harness and charge when done or a very minimal deposit to build it he could have saved himself a lot of headaches. I was going to send him a couple intermittent wiper modules to rebuild at that time and decided not to send them to him because I was afraid I would never see them again.

 

[Originalthor]

I just redid my harness on my suburban. Took it all out with the steering colum so I could turn the key on and off to see what all gets powered up. I ended up deleting all the fasten seatbelt stuff and the headlight warning stuff. That was a few wires there. Mine is a non ac truck so nothing there. Was fairly simple to do.

I did add power windows and door locks but its a completely different harness. I also have my stereo harness which is separate from the main one aswell.

 

[Matt69olds]

In my opinion, the easiest way to ensure a reliable electrical system is to completely remove the harness, lay it out on a large work surface, and repair/replace any of the Mickey Mouse half assed “repairs” and modifications made by previous owners over the years.

Work slowly, one wire at a time. It’s helpful if you have a spare harness to match wire colors and size. Use proper wiring repair methods (absolutely no crimp butt connectors!!!) solder and heat shrink each connection. A decent service manual is helpful. Find a cheap factory manual for a mid 80s GM car, while the service info will be useless, GM cars of the same vintage use very similar wiring methods. The wire colors are almost always identical, and thinks like charging systems, power windows/door locks and cruise work the same.

There really isn’t much to the electrical systems on these trucks. For the most part, the main harness IS minimalistic. There is just enough in the main dash harness to run the truck. Each option is a add on harness that plugs into the dash harness. Things like cruise control, power windows/door locks and A/C are separate harnesses. For that matter, the primitive ECM and emissions controls are for the most part independent of the main harness.

 

[LateOnTheBrakes]

Painless.

 

[WP29P4A]

Work slowly, one wire at a time. It’s helpful if you have a spare harness to match wire colors and size. Use proper wiring repair methods (absolutely no crimp butt connectors!!!) solder and heat shrink each connection.

What about the majority of the DIY crowd that can't solder two wires together if their life depended on it? Soldering is a learned skill, that not all people can do. Crimp on connectors simply take common sense to do correctly. If a person has the common sense to match 16 gauge wire with connectors made for 16 gauge wire, and crimp them on with the correct tool, and pull on the connection after to verify the connection is secure. A little shrink wrap and they are good to go.

Now picture the DIY guy/girl trying to figure out weather to use a soldering iron or a gun, what wattage, what type and size of solder. How to hold the two pieces together while they are soldering them, how to keep them from moving (while they are hot) until the solder sets so they don't end up with a cold solder joint. Do they put the two pieces of wire side by side so it's twice as wide as the width of the wire and looks like a inline turd? Or try an inline twist to keep the splice as small as possible before soldering and heat shrinking.

Imagine the nightmare if the DIY'er used acid core solder not knowing the difference?

I think if someone was going to take on this task they might want to try both methods to actually test which one works better for the person doing the work, which one they can do the best job with and then make the call between butt splices and soldering. Personally if I lived someplace with humidity or above average rain (or near the ocean) I would use butt splices, then solder, then heat shrink. But I live someplace where the humidity gets down into single digits often. That's my 2 cents based on 45 years of doing low voltage installation, trouble shooting and repair on a daily basis. The only thing I have not and will not touch is airplanes.

 

[richard A lindner]

They have new connectors put wire in each end heat with heat gun .solders and heat shrink at same time

 

[Matt69olds]

What about the majority of the DIY crowd that can't solder two wires together if their life depended on it? Soldering is a learned skill, that not all people can do. Crimp on connectors simply take common sense to do correctly. If a person has the common sense to match 16 gauge wire with connectors made for 16 gauge wire, and crimp them on with the correct tool, and pull on the connection after to verify the connection is secure. A little shrink wrap and they are good to go.

Now picture the DIY guy/girl trying to figure out weather to use a soldering iron or a gun, what wattage, what type and size of solder. How to hold the two pieces together while they are soldering them, how to keep them from moving (while they are hot) until the solder sets so they don't end up with a cold solder joint. Do they put the two pieces of wire side by side so it's twice as wide as the width of the wire and looks like a inline turd? Or try an inline twist to keep the splice as small as possible before soldering and heat shrinking.

Imagine the nightmare if the DIY'er used acid core solder not knowing the difference?

I think if someone was going to take on this task they might want to try both methods to actually test which one works better for the person doing the work, which one they can do the best job with and then make the call between butt splices and soldering. Personally if I lived someplace with humidity or above average rain (or near the ocean) I would use butt splices, then solder, then heat shrink. But I live someplace where the humidity gets down into single digits often. That's my 2 cents based on 45 years of doing low voltage installation, trouble shooting and repair on a daily basis. The only thing I have not and will not touch is airplanes.

I really wish I could argue with you, unfortunately you hit all the valid points head on.

We have all seen screwed up under dash wiring harnesses in these trucks, taillight harness hacked beyond belief from numerous trailer light plug installations. If the installer thinks proper electrical work involves the cheap crimp butt connectors and the 2.99 harbour freight crumpets, or god forbid, wire nuts, close the toolbox and walk away.

The only butt connectors I will use are the insulated type with the glue and heat shrink built in. Those only work with the proper crispers.

As for soldering, get some scrap wire, the proper gun and solder, and practice. There are enough YouTube videos demonstrating the proper process.

If you have no clue what your doing, leave it alone.

 

[Blmpkn]

Appreciate all the input! Thank you.

I'd like to replace the factory instrumentation with aftermarket stuff, utilizing the factory dash piece.

Can I simply start removing the factory guages and replace them one by one as budget allows and still have the rest function? Or would that cause issues?