?????? for those who have used universal harnesses like Painless.

[paintman]

Gentlemen, I am in the process of choosing a harness for my 46 truck. I am planning on putting fuse box under the drivers side seat. My question is, for those of you who have used these Uni. kits are the wires long enough to reach over the door along the roof and down the A pillar to the dash?

I know Rebel makes an under the seat specific harness but I was curious to know if the generic kits have wires long enough. I know I could always splice and add length to the wires but would prefer not to do that for obvious reasons. I am leaning towards a Ron Francis or American Autowire harness because from what I have read they are a more complete kit.

[_Ogre]

no they are not that long.
the front end lights maybe long enough, but the under dash will not be
that route would add around 8 feet and unless your A pillar is huge would not fit
the rebel under seat harness probably crosses the floor

i've seen some creative mounts using a hinge off the dash that swings down
or the addition of a console with the fuse panel in there

[paintman]

Hey thanks Ogre for the heads up on the A pillar. Just out of curiosity, how many wires would have to go through the pillar to the dash? This is going to be a bare bones simple system, with only a heater being an added accessory.

Maybe the Rebel harness is the way to go. Perhaps I could tape and lay them flat and cover them with Dynomat and the carpet . Or perhaps go under the cab in a piece of piece tubing.

I am trying to avoid doing the fuse block under the dash thing because of some serious back problems. Currently I have constructed a slide out tray, mounted under the drivers side seat that looks as if it would work out real nice. But again I am not sure if I like the idea of splicing a bunch of wires together to make them longer.

[_Ogre]

just off the top of my head
7 for turn signal/stop switch switch on column
1 brake switch
3 headlights
1 heater
1 horn
4 ignition
plus 4 to 10 that aren't off the top of my head
every spliced wire adds 4 crimps and possible points of failure

in reality a new harness rarely needs attending, i can't remember the last time i messed with mine
installing it is a pain and you'd be better off with having the seat out and floor clear for installing under the dash
imo you'd be better off with the panel hinged on the front of the dash and swing down
like this but with better execution

[cruisinthe34]

I realize this is an older thread, but I have been using Ron Francis panels for several Builds. Here is a shot of one I installed under the driver seat:



This is also an 'Express' panel.