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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

Anyone make their own wiring harnesses?

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Phil from Maryl

06-13-2005 16:59:45




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I am redoing the wiring on my IH 404 and wonder whether or not anyone has been successful at making their own harnesses. I called around and got pricing in the hundreds of dollars range for a replacement harness.

Making the wires is simple... but what about the rubber casing the wires run in? and the plastic plugs used to connect the different harnesses together?

Thanks

Phil




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bobinKY

06-14-2005 05:43:11




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 Re: Anyone make their own wiring harnesses? in reply to Phil from Maryland, 06-13-2005 16:59:45  
I have made many wiring harnesses and it is not nearly as hard as it seems. Get youself a schematic off of the internet. I cut the old harness out with wire snips leaving all of the original plastic clips and fittings intact. When I wire, I solder the wires together with a soldering iron and then shrink wrap the splice. Leaving the plastic ends in place will give you a clue where they go when you rewire and may clue you to any wires that you may have forgotten. Just remember to leave enough of the wire in the plastic fitting to splice to. In a lot of cases, you can use a small screw driver to slip the old clip out of the plastic fitting and replace it with a new clip that will go right back into the plastic fitting. Once you are done, check your harness for function with an electrical meter or test light and then wrap the harness in old style friction tape and/or use the spiral wrap available from J.C. Whitney or Radio Shack. Use wire ties to hold the harness out of the way and you have saved yourself a bunch of money. It is not as hard as it sounds. If you mess it up, you can always buy the production harness as a bail-out. A good source for an assortment of colored wire spools is National Tool Catalog or J.C. Whitney. Good luck.

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Pajamafied John

06-14-2005 05:27:52




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 Re: Anyone make their own wiring harnesses? in reply to Phil from Maryland, 06-13-2005 16:59:45  
Go ahead and make your own. I just made one for a 25yr old 50 Everrude. I used the crimp type connections (crimped real good) shrink tube and a little liquid electric tape as a final seal. If you really want it to look good use that corrugated wire tubing to run the bunch through. It ain't authentic but it does look good.



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Nolan

06-14-2005 04:23:48




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 Re: Anyone make their own wiring harnesses? in reply to Phil from Maryland, 06-13-2005 16:59:45  
If you're looking to duplicate oem, that can be a bit hard. If you're just looking to make an effective harness, that's not hard. Zip ties work well at holding the wire bundle together, though you can get the corregated plastic tubing at RadioShack and the like. Various end plugs and such are available at electronic supply stores or some automotive stores.



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Hal/WA

06-13-2005 21:16:04




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 Re: Anyone make their own wiring harnesses? in reply to Phil from Maryland, 06-13-2005 16:59:45  
It isn't that hard on something as simple as an old car, truck or tractor. I haven't had the best luck with crimp on terminals, so I usually solder the connections, especially on wires that will be carrying lots of amps or those that might vibrate loose. I also really like heat shrink tubing for insulation over a soldered connection.

One mistake I would mention. Don't use sticky electrical tape to cover a group of wires. I have had bad luck with it coming off and leaving the wiring underneath a sticky mess.

Making a wiring harness may be your only option, depending on what you are working on. If you are doing a "correct restoration" the right factory colors of the wiring insulation are needed. If you are just getting the machine to work, color is less important. I would suggest using several different colors for different circuits, as it is much easier to track down problems later. Plan your wiring harness with wire at least as heavy as the factory used.

If you are changing from a generator to an alternator, the parts store should have the correct plastic wiring plug with short wires that plugs into the alternator. A real pain to do without that part...

Good luck--it isn't that hard to do, or all that expensive on an old machine.

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Oklahomatractorrebuilder

06-13-2005 20:50:45




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 Re: Anyone make their own wiring harnesses? in reply to Phil from Maryland, 06-13-2005 16:59:45  
We always make our own wiring harnesses even for the auto restorations we do. Always replace any fuses in the originall with ciircuit breakers and use larger wires than was used from the factory. Makes for less problemms in the future. Just our feelings about it. Tim



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Rod F.

06-13-2005 19:21:13




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 Re: Anyone make their own wiring harnesses? in reply to Phil from Maryland, 06-13-2005 16:59:45  
I always make harnesses..... I did this on my old IH 615 combine a few years ago. This was also a complete redesign of the electrical system. I used a lot of trailer cable (7 wire) for most of the job, with various other bits and pieces along with some 4 ga cable for the heavy runs. As mentioned in other posts, just get a terminal kit from the heavy truck supply or somewhere like Princess Auto, and use it creatively. You can also get the shrink tubing and other coverings to protect the wires. I the case of my combine, it just had a poor system that almost burnt the machine because of the way it was fused, so I wouldn't have put a new factory harness in anyway. I didn't even check price or availability. I'm often rewireing as much as repairing anyway... more than just patching. That's why I make my own harness. Cost is seldom the reason. Lets face it; theses machines are 30 or 40 years old, have had lights added, generators and regulators fired away, and a whole lot of other old nuisance wires hanging around. It makes more sense to make a new relevant harness. My 2 cents, FWIW.

Rod

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TDK

06-13-2005 18:12:57




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 Re: Anyone make their own wiring harnesses? in reply to Phil from Maryland, 06-13-2005 16:59:45  
I get mine at waytekwire.com . They have a really good assortment of everything electrical, even the expandable sleeving that's used on replacement harnesses. Log on and request a catalog, you'll probably find every thing you need !



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Rustyj14

06-13-2005 17:40:40




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 Re: Anyone make their own wiring harnesses? in reply to Phil from Maryland, 06-13-2005 16:59:45  
go to an auto parts store, get a wiring end replacement kit, with male and female ends, decide how long the wires have to be, put the ends on with the tool in the kit. I believe you can buy the plastic loom material to cover the wires. If not, go to the local auto wreckers and ask if you can buy some of the used wiring from them. the plastic loom material is split down one side, and after you get all the wires sort of bunched together, you push them into the loom material, and it will close around it! NOTE: You may have to buy a few other wire ends that aren't in the kit! by: Rustyj

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Glen in TX

06-13-2005 17:36:02




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 Re: Anyone make their own wiring harnesses? in reply to Phil from Maryland, 06-13-2005 16:59:45  
Phil, You might check with the guys making harnesses in NY if you haven't already. Maybe I got the link right for them. What I do to build my own harnesses is get the asphalt sleeving at NAPA or a Belden dealer. They should carry it in bulk rolls and cut what you need and can order it in even longer lengths if needed. The carry some connectors too but won't have many of the special ones for ag equipment. As for the connectors if they are special you will have to change them or bite the bullet and go with the OEM harnesss.

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