The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Big Truck Question: Wiring Harness

The electrical system in my 2-ton flatbed is shot, and needs replacing. I am looking at getting the wiring harness kit from Chevy Duty, but I'm not sure if it will be the right size, that is, if it will reach all the lights. If this doesn't work, I don't want to have to spend $100 finding out. Is there a good aftermarket harness that might work? If nothing else, I will resort to replacing one wire at a time, but I don't want to have to do that. Any help would be appreciated.

don't see why it would be much different, Teen - the back lights will need extensions to make the length, but that's easy, and all else should be the same

Bill

That's what I figured. I think I'll give it a try, and modify it if I need to. Thanks.

I bought the Chevy Duty kit for my '53 6500 and enough bulk trailer wire to run to the rear. I'm using the white wire for the brake lights and the yellow, green and brown as usual. I haven't gotten it all hooked up yet but I imagine I'll need a ground strap from the rear of the frame to the dump bed where the lights are if it doesn't already have one.(haven't been under that end yet) I don't know if the hinge point will make a ground.

I don't know how long your truck is, but I had wire left over from the Chevy Duty kit on my 19.5' panel, and I had to route the wires up into the body to reach the taillight pods. If the wires are too short, it won't be by much.

My '53 2-ton 6500 has 179" wheelbase and a 16' bed. After looking at my shop manual I find the '48 2-ton was only offered in 137" (6100) or 161" (6400). But the point is, the harness will work.

I have the 6400 and it does have the 161" wheelbase. I went ahead and bought the harness, which comes itself with extra wire for "accessories" that I may end up using. OlBlue is out of town, and I think I'll need his help, so it may be a few days before I start redoing the wiring. From the looks of the harness it appears quite generous. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

When in doubt, add a ground wire.

I'll double-dog guarantee you that there is enough paint, rust and grease on your dump bed to interfere with grounding tail lights, marker lights or whatever.

Just for those that are interested, it fit, although we had to use the extra wire that came with the kit, and we had to pull wire from another harness to wire up the turnsignals under the dash. I assume the extra lengths of wire were for that. Still need to do a little troubleshooting, but it seems to be working great.

Great to hear it. Mine's still on hold mainly due to the heat.