Rebuild - But not Restore, K3500 Farm Truck

[BuiltToWork]

What is driving you to rewire the truck? Is there damage to the harness? I have found that many times as long as the tape or covering did its job the wires were in good condition. Now I would suggest replacing the wire loom and retaping if you have everything apart. Like was mentioned having factory color coded wires makes diagnosing or adding circuits much easier down the road. One of the first cars I wired I did not color code as much as I should have and have come to regret it.

More advice about not using a solid color. Eric already had me sold on the proper colors and I bookmarked the site where I can buy them. (Thanks Eric!)
I agree with Eric and Tree about the colors. Blue is how I have done it in the past, but I also didn't have a support forum with wisdom to pull from.

I am re-wiring the truck un-necessarily because of rats. Rats got in (not bad) and rats chewed random things. The truck runs, but I fear random problems surfacing in the future.

 

[fancyTBI]

More advice about not using a solid color. Eric already had me sold on the proper colors and I bookmarked the site where I can buy them. (Thanks Eric!)
I agree with Eric and Tree about the colors. Blue is how I have done it in the past, but I also didn't have a support forum with wisdom to pull from.

I am re-wiring the truck un-necessarily because of rats. Rats got in (not bad) and rats chewed random things. The truck runs, but I fear random problems surfacing in the future.

What’s the site that you can buy the wire from?

 

[BuiltToWork]

Harley Stripe Automotive Wire - 540 Colors Available - Custom Len

We sell stripe automotive wire and harley wiring harnesses 540 + colors available same day shipping with lengths from 5 to 500 feet of made in america gxl txl wire for all vehicles Harley, Ford, Chevy, Dodge, Cat Trucks, cars motorcycles and more

4rcustomswire.com

credit: Eric

 

[Erik the Awful]

There are more sites like that popping up in the last few years, but they were the first I found. They do have limited selection because they're catering to Harley rebuilders, but their prices are fair and their customer service is great.

Instead of rewiring from the ground up, consider taking the dash all the way out and pulling the harness to splice it with a junkyard harness. I have a bit of bodywork left on Roscoe, and the next step is to repair the rat-chewed wiring harness with a harness I picked up at Pull-A-Part. I'll pretty much guarantee my rat damage was worse than yours.

If you don't already own these, buy a bucket. There are plenty of guys who will whine that these don't make a reliable connection, but when I was a Nissan tech, Nissan directed us to use these for wiring repair. There's a seam in the underlying metal, and you want to crimp perpendicular to the seam, i.e. you want one of the arms of the crimper to clamp down over the seam. That way the metal curls into the wire as it closes. If you have it parallel it makes two concave surfaces and the wire can pull out. Then do the tug-test before you heat shrink them. If it passes the tug-test, you have a reliable lifetime connection. If you have to use more than two of these in a wire run, I'd replace the wire entirely.
www.amazon.com/Haisstronica-Connectors-Gauge-Insulated-Waterproof-Electrical/dp/B07L29DLGN

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[Xinamo]

You have an excellent plan for rebuilding your K3500 farm truck. Having a plan is a great way to stay organized and on track.

 

[TreeGeared]

Rat damage would certainly be a good reason to rewire. One last piece of advice would be to get some heat shrink with the adhesive on the inside. Be sure to use that on any of the splices as they were originally just taped. One of the few areas that I have found problems on the original harnesses was the tape not sealing well at ground splices.

 

[BuiltToWork]

Ok, it's been a month and I think I will be able to work on my truck this weekend.
Swapping out the bad gas first.

Now I need a name, as I see many others have done so.
Something Farm or Work related.
Something that will the wife will lament over.
She already hates the truck and calls it ugly and noisy.

"Blue Ox"
nope. not blue.

"Built to Work"
nope. too long and that's my handle not my truck's

"Egg sucking dog"
nope. farm related, but no flow to it

"Thunder Thighs"
maybe if I put a bed on it

"Barney Google"
taken already

"Francis the Talking Mule"
close, but to long. one to two words

suggestions?

 

[TreeGeared]

"Donkey" my favorite Shrek character. Also a bit annoying which would sit well with the wife. I bet you could even find a hood ornament.

 

[fancyTBI]

In my experience they typically earn a name over time. You’ll think of something funny/unique and it will stick.

 

[Pro439]

Please don't take this as a whining session, but rather advice learned the long, hard way.

Are you color blind, or just cheap? I'm a card carrying cheapskte, but PLEASE DO NOT REWIRE YOUR TRUCK WITH ALL ONE COLOR. If you're color blind, please consider that you may not be the next guy wrenching on it, and wire numbers rub off. The Air Force wires all our equipment with white wire with numbers, and we spend a lot of time reading wiring diagrams to see which terminal a wire is supposed to go to because we can't read the wires. I had to re-wire a nitrogen servicing cart control box that burned, and even with two example boxes, a wiring schematic, and a wiring diagram I had to guess what a couple wires were. Go here and order the wire colors you need. https://4rcustomswire.com/

I'm re-wiring my race car from scratch. The previous harness was a mish-mash of colors, and wrong wires got cut and spliced when other people installed stuff in the car. I spent about $200 on all the wire I need to build the harness from scratch. It's completely worth it because I'm going to put a laminated wiring diagram on the firewall. If anybody splices into a circuit that's not the white accessory circuit, they're gonna get shanked.

Use frame grounds. Keep them clean and tight and they work. Ask anybody who's had to wire a fiberglass car. Running separate grounds is more troublesome.

There's a reason the industry standard is colored wires and frame grounds. It works. You're not going to "beat the system" by deviating in this area.

Also, #14 is big. I'm running nearly everything on 18 gauge. Circuits that need more current, like the radiator fans, are getting quality 12 gauge wire. A stock alternator needs at least 10 gauge. Consider 4 gauge for a big alternator. The battery cables are 1 gauge.

Here's my wiring diagram if you'd like a reference.

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Ha the Army uses all black wires with metal tags stamped with a number which is just as useless