In car lighting/ things not to remove from your wiring harness

Ok so i'm clearing the wiring harness of all the things I wont need and I paused at the map light and the trunk light. Should I ditch these or will they become useful for say... the co driver or if I need to grab something out of the trunk on a night stage like tools or a spare tire?

Anything else I should consider keeping that would be of use. Currently im ditch central locking wiring, ac wiring, ciggie lighter, console wiring, radio/ speaker wiring, door dingers and a few control bits off the dash. Also anything that should get ditched that I missed.

The rally harnesses I have built from scratch all include a trunk lamp, and a dome lamp

Sean,

Where do you get your wire for your harnesses? I'm interested in tearing out the interior harness on my Volvo and making my own. Not sure where a good source for wire is though.

I would get wire from John Reed: http://motorsportwiringsupply.com/

Thanks sean, Ill make sure they stay. I unfortunately am not confident with electrical work to build a wiring harness, so modifying the stock one will have to do for now. On that note is there any particular technique to thinning a harness? My thoughts are trace said wire to its root, and remove.

I get wire from Waytec. They have some lightweight stuff that has beem holding up well.

The cig lighter circuit is usually heavier gage, is well located in the center of the dash or console, and can be useful as an accessory feed point in the future.

Be on the lookout for for the occasional regulator series dropping resistors in the harness and don't eliminate them if you are using the stock alternator. Refer to the car's schematic to spot these.

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Eric Ewert
My thoughts are trace said wire to its root, and remove.

That's what I did. If I hit a splice, I snipped it there, if I hit a plug, I depinned it. In theory, I could put every wire back in it's place ...or sell it. Most likely it'll be spare wire, though.

Cig lighter is good for charging your cell phone. It's nice to call the crew when you need them to drag you back home from some ditch in the middle of the woods.

If you can, keep the fan wiring and resistor pack, and rear defroster.

Tim.

The cig lighter is a good candidate circuit on which to wire in a 2m ham radio for emergency rally use; at full 50-70W transmit power, a ham mobile will draw 15-16A or so, so you you need a heavier circuit than average. Just don't go through the socket; direct hardwire it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/03/2013 11:50AM by starion887.

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TronDD

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Eric Ewert
My thoughts are trace said wire to its root, and remove.

That's what I did. If I hit a splice, I snipped it there, if I hit a plug, I depinned it. In theory, I could put every wire back in it's place ...or sell it. Most likely it'll be spare wire, though.

Cig lighter is good for charging your cell phone. It's nice to call the crew when you need them to drag you back home from some ditch in the middle of the woods.

If you can, keep the fan wiring and resistor pack, and rear defroster.

Tim.

Tim if you hit a splice and snip it there what is the proper way to cap the open wire off?

I used liquid tape and just dabbed it on. I may have stretched sheath a bit too sometimes...

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Grant Hughes

I need to go grab some of that liquid tape as well.
One thing I did learn from playing rally wrench monkey.. Interior lighting is nice.

Nothing like having to change out the belts in a car the night before a rally without much more than the light of the moon. (flashlights back at the hotel).

I'm planning on rigging a few led strips up so that the inside is very well lit when needed.

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This isn't floor mat anarchy

Good to know!
Thanks for the input Grant. So basically just something so its not a bare wire and you should be good to go right?

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Eric Ewert
Good to know!
Thanks for the input Grant. So basically just something so its not a bare wire and you should be good to go right?

If there's the slightest hint of doubt about a wire, at least leave a small section that, a) tells you its color and b) you can tap back into when you discover how vital it really was.

I agree with the advice about retaining a decent power source. Eventually you may find yourself adding: ham radio, intercom, rally computer, map light, GPS, camera power. So a goood source or two is recommended. I even added a power distribution bus behind the passenger seat in the Focus for some of that.

Simon

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Simon Wright
Owner/Driver USUK Racing - Home of the USUK Racing LED Light Bars!

North America Rally Map

Well I think basically I will only be removing the central locking at this point. I don't see any use for the wiring going into the door/ trunk motors. Regardless I will leave a small section of wire in case.