All of the old trucks that I've owned have had some kind of wiring issues. The majority due to mice. The old cloth insulation makes for good nesting materials, and the rubber type of insulations not only get brittle, but they are made from vegetable oil which also makes them attractive to mice. Almost all of the wiring on my '48 2-ton needs to be replaced. I actually don't know how it's running on acount of all of the bare and broken wires. I can't afford a complete wiring harness yet, so I will be replacing the wires one by one.
One thing that I've seen done, and I know works, is running either a four wire heavy cord or two of those heavy round three wire outdoor extension cords with the ends cut off, from the firewall back to handle all of the lighting duties at the rear.
Sounds weird, but this way you have all of the wires that you need for stop, turn and running lights, in an easy to install outer protective covering. Just tie in the ends where needed.
Not exactly what a restorer would want to do, but works perfect for a working truck.
Rezman
