Ok stayed up real late reading various posts about different subjects and have come to the conclusion that there are alot of people who want to help out others seeking knowledge. Thats why i like reading and posting on this site.. alot of great info and honest answers.

Ok so i read through about 12 pages in the electrical section till the text started getting blurry and i started yawning. So here is my question.... Is there a company that makes an oem replacement wiring harness for my entire truck??? I would like to replace all the switches and things from lmc and thought a plug and play harness would be ideal. Universal kits are nice but don't know about crimping some of the strange ends i see on the whole harness. I want to go heavy for the gauge of wire in places so i can drown out the circus music and roosters crowing all the time where i live. I am ok with my wiring abilities but just think a pre made ready to use one would save so much time. Has any company or anyone ever made a nos wiring harness for the cs??? Steer me in the right direction to companies or maybe people you know who can shed some light on this project i have in mind. Thanks to all the people on this site for taking the time to share their knowledge even if some of it gets forgotten over the years haha. Some have probably forgotten more than i will ever know.

 

This is about the closest thing you are going to get, and it doesn't look plug and play. I have never used this wiring before, but a few other people on this board have.

Ford Wiring Harness Kits

 

Thank You very much Dave, this site is invaluable to someone like me. Your avatar kicks @$$!!!!

 

Quick question on the gauge of wiring...have a battery isolator on the truck and it looks like someone at one time used 10 gauge wiring where the second battery connected. The wiring was fried and melted right after the battery post connections. Now from previous posts that i have read on here 4 guage seems to be the right guage to use. Am i understanding correctly as the 4 gauge connects right to the isolator?? I would rather go overkill on the gauge of wire rather than have an underhood fire cause i skimped on the wiring. Thinking of something similar to welding cable cause of the greater current carrying properties. If i am guessing this right fine strand wire is able to carry better current that the big large strands of wire. I have always liked the idea of giving people jumps cause i like helping people out. Thank You for any info provided

 

Isolate the cause of that problem - melted wire - first.

Gauge needed is a function of current and distance.

Use the link below to calculate.

Also --- be sure you throw in a fusible link --- and use a bigger wire if needs be to allow some safety margin.

 

You usually match the size of the isolator and the gauge wire close to the alternator size on your engine. 4 gauge should be enough for any type of setup.

I would contemplate though, seeing if you can find a large circuit breaker. Something around 50 amps. I know I have seen 40 amp circuit breakers hanging on the rack. I say this because the isolated battery should be a deep cycle. It can be run very low on charge. When the truck is started, this isolated battery with the very low charge tends to be a power hog, and will try to suck lots of current from the alternator through the isolator. This scenario is probably what overheated the smaller wire. With the circuit breaker, if the isolated battery starts sucking too much power, the circuit breaker will overheat and break the circuit for a little while. It will cool off and the process will happen again and again till the isolated battery charges up enough to not cut the circuit breaker off. This will tend to crudely regulate the power going to the isolated battery.

 

Very interesting combo, never thought of that a very good idea. Been looking at the 100, 140, or 160 Amp 1-Wire Alternators with the internal voltage regulator but wonder about the existing wiring being able to handle the extra current. Now what exactly is the purpose of a relay? Seems like alot of the newer wiring has it but i admit sometimes my memory retention isn't as good as it used to be (drank away all my memory cells). Is the relay meant to take the load instead of a switch say like a headlight switch?. Electrical section in LMC is pretty nice cause nothing like extra oomph when you want high power lights and a stereo to drown out certain language music. I just can't help but stop for someone who has their hood up and says they been waiting over an hour just to get a jump from someone. I am the guy that will stop and help out, think we all need to help each other out now and again. As always thanks for sharing your knowledge, problem today is kids don't listen to advice giving to them. Think it all comes down to respect which is something that i see less of nowadays. Thats why some guys get reemed when they come on here disrespecting everyone. Ok time to get off the soapbox, just find this site invaluable. Just my .02

 

You are correct, if you put one of these alternators in place, you should run a new 4 gauge or so wire for it also to the battery(isolator if you are still going to use one). If you have a special piece of equipment that this larger alternator will be running(like the isolated battery or a winch or something) you should run separate wiring for that also, and have a tie point under the hood with their own large fuses or circuit breakers.

A relay's most common use is a remote switch. It has a small coil inside that turns into a magnet when power is applied. This magnet pulls down a spring loaded set of contacts which complete a circuit just like a switch would. So it does the same thing as a switch, and you usually use a switch to activate the relay coil, so why use a relay?
1. The switch in the cab used to activate the relay can be small, with small wiring. The coil for the relay draws very little power. The single switch in the cab can also be used to turn on multiple relays all at once, so you have more options for your controls.

2. The relay can be mounted out near the action under the hood, or wherever the larger equipment is located. For example the headlights; The factory runs the power from the battery all the way inside the cab to the headlight switch, through the dimmer switch, and then back out to the headlights. This is a long path for the current of the headlights, and they use wire barely big enough for the job. With a relay, you can mount the relays near the battery, and then run the new headlight low and high beam wiring directly from the battery through the relay, and then to the headlights. This pathway is a lot shorter and you can use larger wiring. The original high and low beam factory wiring is used to trigger the coils in the relays. This makes the headlights much brighter than they were before.

 

Would you look at that? I done larned me somfin haha. Now i have to find a cork to put in my ears to keep this new knowledge from faliing out.