Anyone used an EZ wiring kit?

I am NOT a fan of EZ Wire - I have one in my truck and still chasing problems. Here are a few of what I have found;

The wires for the ignition switch are too short to go to a dash mounted switch (granted it's to the right of the column) so i had to lengthen them.

The wires are mislabled coming out of the block, me and my son traced the one from the coil hot to the power windows.

I would have been better off buying my own fuse block (Fat Hack now makes them) spools of wire and wire tags and doing it from scratch.

Plus like Desoto was saying, buy a decent crimper and double check the factory crimps.
I still have grounding issues to figure out which isnt there fault.

 

Aren't the terminals on the blocks of American Autowire like this as well? I have seen their blocks, and was thinking this would be a good way to do things, as you would (seemingly) have a better chance of a decent connection... as opposed to worrying about a correct crimp. Plus, this keeps things looking tidier (and more compact) than the Ron Francis style.

It's interesting to me how issues come up on certain manufacturers' quality. Personally, I have installed 3 EZ Wire kits with zero problems (one of them in my daily driver), yet many people have had serious quality issues with them. Yesterday I posted about a bad experience I've had with Posies springs, but those also seem to be a 50-50 split on good and bad experiences. Even though I've not had any "first person" issues with EZW, yall are sure making me skittish about using them again.

 

American Autowire uses a different type of lugless crimp system. The wires won't fall out ot theirs as one of it's advantages is the fact that it is compliant with stranded wire of all gauges. The Enos and Dakota Digital systems use a blind hole that won't let the wire into the opening far enough to get a good bite on it. Also, once you clamp down on teh wire, the metal shroud they use is permanently deformed. Getting the wire back in (and getting it to stay there) is tougher than the first time around.

 

Ben..... you & LeadSledMerc don't know who Desoto is , do you?

 

i was thinking the same thing...

 

OK, that makes sense. I've installed some Dakota Digital stuff for some people, so I sorta know what you're talking about there. I have seen the American Autowire blocks, but no personal hands-on in installing or t-shooting. Thanks for clearing that up!

 

I guess I should provide a clue.

I'm still getting royalty checks and am writing a second one.

 

hey skip, you gonna have anything on efi (and distributorless)stuff in the new one?

 

Tony, I know Desoto and I also know and respect the craftsman and field expert that he is...have you ever heard of pushing an argument from the other side even if you agree? It gets the creative juices flowing!

In all honesty, I have used an EZ panel and have seen the same poor quality. This has been a great thread and will sure help my next project.

 

Nope, can't say I do. Seems like a stand up guy though. I have been eyeballing the EZ kits for my F-100, which is why I asked so many questions pertaining to the situation... Sorry 'bout that!

I am really mixed on what I'm going to do... I mean, man I can't afford a Ron Francis kit for my truck, it'd be 1/5th the total cost to get it rolling!

On the other hand, I plan on using it for a daily driver, so maybe I can't NOT afford one...

Ben

P.S. I am guessing desoto is the author of the book above? I'm real quick that way... but no, I do not know him personally!

 

I had good luck with their harness, but their directions aren't very good so I spent a lot of time figuring things out. Not bad for the price.

 

Yea, I wrote it a few years ago.

Have you looked into an American Autowire or Painless kit? Both are orders of magnitude better than a Ron Francis kit.

 

no shit!


hey,by the way, summit is about as cheap as i can find painless.
nobody around here can even buy 'em for what summit sells 'em for.

 

I have looked at both, but I was under the (apparently false?) impression that the Ron Francis kits were the end-all and be-all for wiring. Wrong again... Michelle tells me it's a habit!

So give me the shameless plug for your book desoto! Does it tell me how to build my own harness from scratch, or does it help me install a purchased kit? etc.

I may have to pick up a copy if it is the former, and if it's the latter, I'll at least have to page through it, I'm sure (from seeing the knowledge you display here) that it would help me out!

Thanks for keeping me informed,

Ben

 

Again, I have zero experience with American Autowire, but I am wondering why you say Painless is better than Ron Francis. I have installed one Painless kit, and several RF's, and I think the RFs are way easier to install (by orders of magnitude, as you say)... but I guess I'm too inexperienced to make a call on the quality of the actual components. (I'm not saying this to disagree... I'm just trying to get a better understanding of automotive wiring. So take me to school, please.)

^^^I second this request^^^

 

I used a Painless and it was pretty easy. Got it at a swap meet for $125.00. Probably one of the best buys ever.

Hey DeSoto what's your gtx look like?

 

look here t-slik , for painless wire harness:

http://www.rjays.com/index.htm


gawd damn good price

 

EZ wire is O.K. ,they all need to make the lettering bolder, painless has the easiest to read print

 

Quality-wise, Painless, Centech and American Autowire are orders of magnitude above Ron Francis.

Let me put it this way. Painless, American Autowire, Centech and a host of other kit manufacturers run the starter wire direct to the neutral safety switch then to the starter.

Wireworks, on the other hand, runs it
from the ignition switch to the panel then
from the panel to the neutral safety switch, then
BACK to the panel and FINALLY
down to the starter.

You wind up with so many connections you might as well have wired the whole circuit with 18 ga. wire. And when your car won't start when it's hot due to all the resistance he's added with all the connections, he whacks you AGAIN for his hot start kit.

If you'd eliminated all the connections in the first place, you wouldn't need the Rube Goldberg fix.

He does the same thing with the lights. There isn't any need, whatsoever; to run the wires from the switch (signal and light switches) back to the panel. Run them directly to the lights.

Factory set-up.... Light switch - dimmer switch - headlights.
Ron Francis set-up.....Light switch - panel - dimmer switch - panel -left and right headlights (2 wires for each)

Factory set-up.... Light switch - Parking lights, tail lights and plate light
Ron Francis set-up..... Light switch - panel - a pair of wires to each tail light, another 2 pair of wires to the parking lights and yet another wire to the plate light. That's FIVE wires to the rear of the vehicle, inside 2 heavy sheaths, when everyone else uses only THREE just like Detroit did.

When it comes to finding a place to tuck the harness out of harm's way, the LAST place you want to look is at a Ron Francis kit.

BTW, the book helps you understand how to build your own harness. The new book deals with a lot of similar stuff but also goes into depth on how to choose the right kit for your needs. Still sorting the pictures and writing the captions.

 

No, Centech does

 

Wasn't there someone on the HAMB making wiring kits? I can't remember who, but not too long ago I thought I saw some posts about it. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=68740&highlight=wiring+kits

There it is, I don't know if that would work for you or not

 

Thanks, desoto. I know exactly what you're talking about as far as the power-panel-switch-panel-device routing of RF. I think they do this to make it easier to install their kit, even though in reality it's a more complicated system. They make it so you know that every wire you run hasta go back to the main panel, and you really don't need to understand why orange wire #57 goes to orange terminal #57.

Your point about the added resistance is very valid, and I'll add that with more connections, you also have increased the chances of having a bad connection.

Thanks again for your help! I'm learning a lot!

 

Excellent... I think I will be picking up the new book when it's out. Which brings up another question... when will the new book be out?

Thanks for all the knowledge shared Desoto (and everyone else).

Ben

 

DON'T CRIMP!
SOULDER AND HEAT SHRINK TUBING ALL YOUR WIRES.

-DANNY

 

To solder or not to solder (just crimp) is a debate that's been going on forever!

Soldering increases the chance of making the wires brittle, thusly increasing the chances of the wires breaking.

But few people know how to properly crimp a terminal... and few actually use a decent crimping tool... one that costs more than $4.99.

I'm a huge fan of shrink tubing, tho... especially under the hood.

 

I used the EZ wire kit to do my 51, because it was basically free. The instructions are kinda crappy and lacked some of the detail we needed I also had a hard time getting anyone to answer the phone when I needed help. It was also my first time wiring a car, but even my Dad wasn't sure what some of the wires were for because the instructions are kinda vague.

My dad almost exclusively uses Centech kits, and he wires a lot. He says that the Centechs are better than anything else he's used.

I have a thermostat for my electric radiator fan from Ron Francis that we got with a gift certificate my Dad won at a car show. That thing is terribly noisy! It makes all sorts of clicking sounds when it clicks the fan on and off, and is totally annoying.

I have a bunch of things I need to sort out on my EZ kit, little anomalies and gremlins. I'm going to check the block for connections now that I'm aware of the wires pulling out. That might explain why some of my stuff is acting goofy.

Stacey

 

if a guy can't manage to properly operate a crimping tool, no fuckin way he is gonna properly solder wires!

every car that i've worked on has come from the factory with crimped wires, never seen a factory crimp fail, so there's nothing wrong with the process.

 

So, Desoto, is the new book out yet?

Ben

 

we have probably used 50 of them in the last few yrs , very good luck with them