The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay wiring harness differences

I'm about to buy a new wiring harness for my 1950 1/2 ton truck. Several of the specialty suppliers have wiring harnesses costing in the $400 range. What is the difference between those and the EZ wiring kit for $165? Are there additional components included?

IIRC, the $400 is done as original, i.e. with cloth insulation and loom.

The $165 version is done with modern materials, i.e. rubber and/or vinyl insulation and loom.

Both should work equally well in your truck.

There is a thread on this at hotrodders.com. Several of the manufacturers have responded. You may have to sign up to read it.

wiring harness thread

I checked the hotrodders.com thread. Don't get caught comparing apples to oranges. I followed one of the most popular recomendations made in the thread (Painless) and they sell hotrod harnesses and they don't offer one for your application anyway. If that's the type of harness you want then go for it. If you want a restoration harness with period correct materials, I've had personal experience with http://www.ynzyesterdaysparts.com/. Nearly all of the restoration harness sellers buy from YNZ & resell to you. YNZ will sell direct to the consumer. First rate product & excellent technical support.

I personally went with the EZ Wiring kit because I wanted the fuse box. Not original, but it works for me.

If you decide to go with the EZ Wiring kit, check out Alan Horvath's website to see his electrical project.

When you installed the EZ Wiring harnesss, was there anything you had to buy separately? Did you have to use any of the original wiring?

I'm not looking for original styled harness, so I'm definitely leaning towards the EZ or Painless wiring.

Thanks for the response.

RedGreen, also check out hotrodwires. Basically the same as EZ and Painless but less $. Google their website.

Hey, RedGreen

I'm real happy with the EZ-Wire kit I put in my truck. I added AC and plan to put in power seats, etc., so this kit made good sense for me.

The wires and coatings are all top-quality materials, too!

Click Here to check out my checklist of all the things you may want to get before you start.

Click Here to check out my photo-diary about my rewiring project.

Have fun!

Look at Hot Rod Wires (www.hotrodwires.com). Little things like soldered connectors in the fuse block make it a quality kit, direct form the guy that makes them.

We have looked at the various vendors for harness, but since I'm doing a big bolt truck none of them appear to fit the need. I'm restoring to orginal, with some small changes, like using a plastic coated wire. I beleive that if your orginal fuse panel is good, then reuse it. I didnt want a bunch of extra curcits in the new one, as theres no plans for things like power windows and AC. I have all the factory harness, so I'll just make it wire for wire, solder the ends, and should end up with a nice looking product.

redgreen, I recently stripped a 84 K5 Blazer in prep to build a mud pit truck. I stripped all the wire loom, underhood, dash, and wires to the taillights etc, this is a good easy swap wire loom along with fuse block for the old AD trucks. You could also use the tilt column if your not restoring to original. About anything will work from 63 up, if it had an original alternator.
resto44