DIY wiring harness replacement
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jan 2021
Posts: 141
Likes: 46
From: Austin, TX
DIY wiring harness replacement
I apologize if this is searchable or a FAQ, I promise I searched!
I'm considering rewiring my 76 F150 for the usual reasons. Shops say that's about 80-100 hours of labor, so at that cost I'm considering doing it myself. A few questions:
1. Am I crazy?
2. I assume I could do it in portions, like do the lights, then do under dash, etc? That way I can do it on weekends and still use the truck.
3. Again, am I crazy?
Thanks for your input here - I suspect 1 and 3 are yes, but I'll do it anyway to avoid the massive labor costs.
I'm considering rewiring my 76 F150 for the usual reasons. Shops say that's about 80-100 hours of labor, so at that cost I'm considering doing it myself. A few questions:
1. Am I crazy?
2. I assume I could do it in portions, like do the lights, then do under dash, etc? That way I can do it on weekends and still use the truck.
3. Again, am I crazy?
Thanks for your input here - I suspect 1 and 3 are yes, but I'll do it anyway to avoid the massive labor costs.
Thread Starter
|
Mountain Pass
Joined: Jan 2021
Posts: 141
Likes: 46
From: Austin, TX
Thanks! I'll probably order one today then. Most shops are saying 80-100 hours at $100/hour... I'll try it myself to save $8-10k.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 178
Likes: 44
Wiring takes a lot of patience. You can mess some stuff up quick if you don't take your time and hook everything up correctly but if you follow directions and have basic understanding of how voltage flows and has to have grounds then you will be fine.
Tuned
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 458
Likes: 123
From: Arkansas
If you do it get the American Autowire one and not some painless or kwikwire one size fits all kit. And save all of your connectors, don't rip all of the wiring out at once, do it in sections and match it all up.
Thread Starter
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jan 2021
Posts: 141
Likes: 46
From: Austin, TX
Weird shorts when driving, vibration-related. The cause is multiple previous owners have left many cut and reconnected circuits, all without soldr, sometimes just lightly twisted, sometimes with scotch tape, and a horrific rats nest under the dash. Sockets need replacing, figured I should run new wires while at it, then started thinking about actually replacing everything and starting from a known-good state.
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jan 2021
Posts: 141
Likes: 46
From: Austin, TX
Noted! I see that Painless has a vehicle-specific kit with Ford switches, etc as well now. Def will get a vehicle-specific kit rather than universal.
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Cross-Country
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 64
Likes: 19
I just finished using american autowire and it was very user friendly and they have great tech support. You will need a couple of connectors (upper dome light harness, and connector for neutral safety switch) from your original harness. I installed digital dakota gauges and vintage air as well as running MSD ignition, which they have instructions for. I also installed 3g alternator and got the AAW adapter for it.
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jan 2021
Posts: 141
Likes: 46
From: Austin, TX
Cool - how long did it take you if you don’t mind my asking?
Cross-Country
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 64
Likes: 19
I dragged it out working on it during the week about 4-6 hours a day for about 4-5 days. That was the entire AAW kit nose to tail as well as wiring the vintage air, new retro sound radio and digital dakota gauges with proper clamping, spiral wrap and good grounds.
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