Originally Posted by Fordplatty15

Vandalism or theft is covered under comprehensive and comprehensive claims does not hurt rates. Therefore yes, if his deductible is under $1,000, he comes out ahead. I'd much rather have the harness replaced then Micky Mouse it together. Now warranty may not cover certain failures with a harness pieced together.

Originally Posted by Poncho450

Did you ever consider that those posting about turning in an insurance claim were trying to help the guy get a factory or dealer type fix without paying out of pocket?
If you're worried about topics that occasionally veer off course, you'll be pissed at most any internet forum on any subject out there. What's not needed here is another forum cop, the current moderators do a good job.

Originally Posted by TeddyD

Just imagine freaking out cause you had someone vandalize your vehicle and you make a post like OP did. Every email notification he gets to notify him a reply on his thread was made, he has to check it out and be even more frustrated that a simple picture wasn’t posted.

Originally Posted by Y2KW57

I for one, am quite glad that we have forum members here who are so willing to pitch in and save me from myself.

Originally Posted by Y2KW57

Just imagine if no one posted anything at all.

There are a LOT of forums out there that are ghost towns. A month or two might go by with no response.

And then there are the forums that are not unlike what you might find during recess period on any given K-12 school playground. Lot's of cutting comments, but no constructive content.

Here, on FTE, things a different.

A brand new member reports that his tailgate harness was cut, and within less than 20 minutes later, a photo is promised by Alaskan Warbird as soon as he can get to it. Then Alaskan worries that his truck might be too different than the OP's truck for the wiring harness connectors and circuits to be relevant, so he asks to see the OP's truck. Then another members offers an opinion about two of the wires. Then another member provides a Ford part number and a price to the harness. Finding Ford part numbers, especially to a wiring harness, is not always easy.

In the meantime, rather than "freaking out" (as the quote above suggests), the OP instead interacts with the offers of help immediately tendered by FTE's members, and provides more information about the wires he is dealing with and trying to piece back together. From this supplemental information, it appears possible that the OP is out of his depth, not understanding that two of the wires he is working with are a twisted pair data line, with X numbers of twist per foot to maintain signal integrity from inductance when running concurrent with power wires, and another wire appears to be coaxial with a foil shield, and there is quite possibly a drain wire that is intended to not be terminated, as it is a drain wire. How would the OP be expected to know these things?

So several more appropriate suggestions were made. One was to consult the Ford wiring diagrams in the factory service manual, so that the purpose of each wire could be understood, rather than just the color. Knowing the purpose would not only answer the question about what the "extra" wires are for, it would also inform the OP how to best mend the wires, maintaining the twist on the data circuits, and the shielding on the coaxial circuit.

Perhaps the best and wisest suggestions came from several respondents. On a truck this new, with multiplexed circuits, where one wire can serve many functions, and with several computer modules on board sharing data on the vehicle's network in an electrically noisy environment, why not use insurance to allow the service professionals who have the access to Ford factory information to restore the truck to original function and verify correct and reliable operation of all circuits as originally built?

I for one, am quite glad that we have forum members here who are so willing to pitch in and save me from myself.

Originally Posted by Y2KW57

Just imagine if no one posted anything at all.

There are a LOT of forums out there that are ghost towns. A month or two might go by with no response.

And then there are the forums that are not unlike what you might find during recess period on any given K-12 school playground. Lot's of cutting comments, but no constructive content.

Here, on FTE, things a different.

A brand new member reports that his tailgate harness was cut, and within less than 20 minutes later, a photo is promised by Alaskan Warbird as soon as he can get to it. Then Alaskan worries that his truck might be too different than the OP's truck for the wiring harness connectors and circuits to be relevant, so he asks to see the OP's truck. Then another members offers an opinion about two of the wires. Then another member provides a Ford part number and a price to the harness. Finding Ford part numbers, especially to a wiring harness, is not always easy.

In the meantime, rather than "freaking out" (as the quote above suggests), the OP instead interacts with the offers of help immediately tendered by FTE's members, and provides more information about the wires he is dealing with and trying to piece back together. From this supplemental information, it appears possible that the OP is out of his depth, not understanding that two of the wires he is working with are a twisted pair data line, with X numbers of twist per foot to maintain signal integrity from inductance when running concurrent with power wires, and another wire appears to be coaxial with a foil shield, and there is quite possibly a drain wire that is intended to not be terminated, as it is a drain wire. How would the OP be expected to know these things?

So several more appropriate suggestions were made. One was to consult the Ford wiring diagrams in the factory service manual, so that the purpose of each wire could be understood, rather than just the color. Knowing the purpose would not only answer the question about what the "extra" wires are for, it would also inform the OP how to best mend the wires, maintaining the twist on the data circuits, and the shielding on the coaxial circuit.

Perhaps the best and wisest suggestions came from several respondents. On a truck this new, with multiplexed circuits, where one wire can serve many functions, and with several computer modules on board sharing data on the vehicle's network in an electrically noisy environment, why not use insurance to allow the service professionals who have the access to Ford factory information to restore the truck to original function and verify correct and reliable operation of all circuits as originally built?

I for one, am quite glad that we have forum members here who are so willing to pitch in and save me from myself.

Originally Posted by TeddyD

Yes. This is a good forum. The way you described it is how an ideal situation should work. Nobody helped OP out with the actual problem stated and jumped right into alternative correcting measures for a problem that was not diagnosed yet. Help out with the problem first, then let’s get the discussions going about alternatives. I will be the first to say that I have learned a lot of neat tricks from reading this forum but come on, When I guy asks Am I missing something?” And the replies are go through your insurance. He doesn’t know he’s missing anything. He’s asking what he’s missing.

Originally Posted by Busa 1 Dave

Well I think you are missing one of the biggest concerns that the OP has even if he was not aware at the time of initial posting. Splicing wires into a wiring harness and then using solder (Even if you can may need to be a specific type) and shrink tube to repair is not a good idea unless you know what the hell you are doing. To just put it all together and hope for the best is quite possibly detrimental to the OP's objective to get up and running. It may have caused another problem more costly that the one he has now regarding harness replacement.

Ford will not I repeat not splice into a Harness..

Excellent advice given....

Originally Posted by TeddyD

OP asked for a pic and nobody gave a pic is my point. He needed the pic to know what was going on.

Originally Posted by 305element

2 wires left tail gate opens closes. led works. no back up camera

Originally Posted by 305element

@Y2KW57
Teddy D
Busa 1 dave


Guys thanks for contribution to this post. I read everything. This is not a big deal. wires were cut, they need to just be reconnected. simple fix. My truck has the 360 camera system. teddy hardness was different from my truck because of that. Yes ford will just change the hardness. to ensure no problems in the futures. These butt connectors are water proof and marine grade. These connections will never get corroded or fail in anyway. like i said guys those two cables might not even go to the tailgate. They might go to something else that they took from my truck and did not want the tailgate. I am going to go ask a friend that works at ford to send me the wire diagram for my truck. once i get that, everything will be fix. and the victim can easily fixed this. without making a insurance claim and having the truck stuck at ford for a couple days.

Originally Posted by wb6anp

you cant just but splice a coax cable, and expect it to work, Coax cables have 2 parts. if your are going to splice it back together it will take 2 separate splices, the center conductor has to be reconnected and then the coax shield has to be reconnected in a separate connector. The way it is splice in the picture will short the shield to the center conductor, so the camera will not work. And I am not sure you can splice DATA cables, the twisted pair, with butt splices and expect them to work as they don't current they pass signals, too much resistance and those signals wont pass through.