I am at the point where I need to start working on the wiring etc... and was wondering how hard it is to actually replace the entire wiring harness with new? This truck has had its fair share of hokey wiring over the years and I simply want to replace all of it and start over.

How hard a job is it and where to buy the harness?

Thanks!

Mike

 

i am thinking of doing the same thing. i did a complete replacement on my 76 cj using a complete harness from centech. they are in pennsylvania and i am pretty sure they have one for the 73-79 ford trucks. they are not cheap, but everything went as it should and their tech was pretty supportive.

 

yes the two main harness i know of are centech and painless. i think the centech is about $450 and painless is over $1000. There are a few guys on here who have used the centech. i think one guy who used it name is buckford77. its a blue 77 250.

 

Thanks and I will look at centech.

Are they pretty easy to install for someone with not a lot of experience doing that kind of thing?

Thanks!

Mike

 

I've done two of the painless kits on my other vehicles and am going to be putting in a universal 12-circuit in my 75 F250 very soon.

painless has a $100 manufacturer's rebate right now so after the rebate it will cost around $240

 

their number is 610-754-0720. i thought so. because my jeep has the fiberglass body, all the grounds had to be placed to the frame or block. you wont have that extra work, as these wires should ground in their stock location. starting price is about $400 i saw today. and you may need to purchase a couple accessory switches. they do recommend an hei distributor as well which did go with. for a ford i saw you can find them for about 50-70 bucks new on ebay, plus the spark plug wire kit. i began without the hei, and soon realized the ease it creates when placing it there.

 

cant beat a nice rebate like that.

 

Ron Francis wiring has the retro series wiring harness for 275.00 and seems to be a really well built harness that also upgrades to the blade type fuses.

 

check into Kwik wire as well.

As far as swapping out harness - while I was doing stock for stock (put a '79 harness in my '74 recently) and not doing a "new" wiring harness I easily did it in a 1/2 a day. 3 hours or less to be exact. Then again I know my way around these trucks so I could work faster than some.

 

Thanks everyone!

I will check out what you have given me.

 

Ya, I used the Centech Harness and was happy with it. It's expensive, but very easy to install. It's takes some time to run the wires but not a bad job. I can't say for other harnesses and what they supply for connectors and what and if you need to make them up. Centech supplied almost every connector which were made up. The wiring was all labeled and organized individually into "kits" with instructions with different aspects of wiring. I was impressed. But, it was over $400 closer to 5 when all said and done (including switches). I did have to use a couple things from my old stock harness (A/C, Heater connector and door jamb connectors). I don't think you can go wrong with either Centech, Ron Francis, Painless ,Kwik Wire, etc. Just make sure you solder as much as possible rather than using any cheap terminal or butt connectors. One of the things I love about the new harnesses is the fuse box.

 

thanks and this might be a silly question, but when you get an entire wiring harness will this include wiring to the back of the instrument cluster, steering column, ignition etc...?

 

Ya, the wiring harnesses will supply that stuff, its' just a matter of what is supplied. When you order the info should be asked pertaining to your truck. When I ordered mine, the guy I talked to asked about the year of column because that matters, cluster (idiot lights vs gauges), if I was running a 1 wire alternator and ignition. Then he supplied what was needed.

 

I took out my stock harness and completely rebuilt, removed wiring that wasn't needed, rerouted wiring with relays and added modern 16 slot twin blade fuse panel. It wasn't a really difficult job if you have some time and want to learn alot about the circuits and wire colors and what goes where. My harness is now much cleaner and neater and has modern relay and fuse protection. Also didn't have to worry about changing all the connectors, etc.

 

Excellent info and thanks!