Rats nests/wiring problems

[1970CamperRanger]

Alrighty then, I've talked about this before but I'm going to be trying another route. I want to run through all the wiring on my truck, where would be a good place to start? I have a rats nest off of the sylenoid, one under the cab, one under the bed, and another under the tailgate that is the worst of all. What would be a good way, method, or technique to run through all the wiring and try to sort it out? I have splices that go nowhere and electrical tape that is falling off, needless to say it needs to be done, even without mentioning that none of the turn signals or brake lights work, HELP ME! Please?
Is there any way to run a straight feed to the brake lights and turn signals without frying anything, or would that be a really bad idea?

[kaptnkaos]

1970CamperRanger

The best thing would be to figure out where the wires go and what they do.
I have had my share of rats nests... the best thing to do is figure out you need and what you don't..
Weed out what you don't need, and clean up what you do.
sometimes, it's alot easier to just start from scratch...

KaptnKa S

[xxxtina63]

Rats suck! Also, many of these old trucks have been rewired several times, usually under the cab and bed areas. Mine was so bad and had so many extra wires of every color of the rainbow, I didn't know what to do with it. The factory wiring was spliced under the cab, so with the help of a friend and a test light, we went through the wires, tagged what they went to, such as brakes, right turn signal, ect., tagged the wires at the tail lights, and ripped out the rest. With the wires tagged under the cab, it wasn't too tough to run them to the tail lights. Did have to clean up the tail light buckets for proper grounding and a few of the wires had been replaced on the sockets, so they didn't match anything. Getting the first side done took some time, but once you figure out which wires go in what spot, the second side is easy. Most were cut off away from the socket, so they still had factory color like what was under the cab, so it eliminated most of the guessing. Also, if you do your own wiring, you may want to include a junction for trailer lights as it's easier to do at the time than later when you need them.

[basketcase0302]

CamperRanger,

Easier to start here:

http://www.fordification.com/wiring.htm

Pick your proper wiring diagram and troubleshoot it yourself.
Start with identifying the brake light fuse and verify power there.
You don't ever want to run additional "hot" wires unfused to power anything.

Basketcase

[Crackpot]

Solder your connections and use a heat shrink covering to protect them. This is the only real way to keep tape from falling off.

[Underdog97]

Wow, where do we begin? Everyone of these guys who've already posted replies gives great advice. I do have a couple of things to add though. Camper Specials had a lot of differences from the regular model trucks. From Experience the wires going from the firewall to the rear lights are bigger in size and have accomodations for camper feed plugsin the center of them. The Alternator and engine harnesses were also heavy duty! In looking at the diagrams remember you have a Camper Special and some accessories might not be shown on it, not that someone's has added them or butched the harness.

[kaptnkaos]

Hey Underdog97...

Thanks for that tidbit of info... I didn't know that myself...
Would you happen to know about where the camper plug in connector would be on the harness?
I have a diagram but can't seem to find the connector that is shown.
None of the wiring appears to have been changed or messed with, except that the wires going to a 3 way plug that's attached to front of the bed on the the driver's side.
Nothing seems to be hot there, with or without the turns signals or lights on.
My camper has a 6 pin round plug on it in that same front corner.
I've got about 2 weeks to get the camper wiring figured so I can use my camper for a big medieval event.

KaptnKA S

[Underdog97]

Hi: Kaptnkaos. It's located right behind the drivers side of the cab and is bolted to the top of the frame rail with a 3/8 nut. It's about 4x5 rectangular ( flat connector) and they came with a plug for the connection so they didn't get dirt etc on the terminals. There's also an extra wire that plugs in on the firewall end, should be either red or brown depending on the year. I have one disassembled in front of me that someone butchered up and took the connector off of to try and hook their camper up to, what a nightmare that harness is, resembles (regurgatated spaghetti) The wires for the for the camper lights are the same as for the tail /running lights of the truck, factory tapped off of. the power wire is the extra wire running to the firewall and I believe is tapped into the main battery feed going to the solenoid. I have to double check on that one though to be sure. I just picked up a nice 69 Camper Special with Factory air conditioning ( that works) and a mint grille. It's had a canopy on it I'm probably going to end up parting it out and using the bed & grille on my 72. let me know what you find out on your harness and if need be I think I can get my hands on a 70 to 72 CS tail light harness if you need one, or at least we can figure out yours! Jim

[Underdog97]

Just a thought on the subject in a previous thread I was discussing how to make and add an auxiallry(sp) harness to the 67 to 72 trucks without butching into the factory harness. It would have been simple for Ford to have designed all the tail light wiring harnesses the same as the CS's and then design an additional harness running from the connector to the rear of the truck for trailer lights. It would've been so much easier and we wouldn't have all of the splicing done by electrical geniuses with splice connectors and electrical tape. Now my designer light bulb is burning again and I may try to figure out a way to do just that!

[Crackpot]

Blasfimy! Ford engineers never get it wrong.. NEVER

Rust in the roof, shorted out wires, I can go on..

[kaptnkaos]

Thanks Underdog97,

I'll crawl under the truck and check it out if it ever stops rainin'.
I am so sick and tired of this rainy weather...
One thing I absolutely despise is tryin' to work on a rig in the rain...
Since I don't haveta depend on the CS to get groceries I'll wait until it stops.
It's supposed to get 90+ here this weekend... just what I love..
Going from 40 to 90 in one day... not !

Hey Crackpot... don't know if I said hi to ya before or not...
But a big welcome to ya from one webfoot to another...

KaptnKA S

[Underdog97]

Whew for a minute there I thought you were HawkRod and it took me a minute to regain composure . We're fortunate here in the NW not to have as serious of rust issues on our trucks. The engineers do have their faults, that's why there's people like us to figure out how to cure them and improve upon what the pencil pushers never thought to do the right way

[Underdog97]

You know what they say about us Oregonians and Washtonians. We don't tan, We Rust!

[Crackpot]

Thanks for the welcome!

Hey we dont rust, we float. My truck spent 36 years of its life in central / eastern Oregon.. so its not too bad. just the corners and some floor rust.. I can handel that. My 81 bronco came from back east, and its got cancer something fearce!

Its not the 90F thats bad, its the $3.79 a gallon a gas with a boat in the drive way. Its got an 80 gallon tank, so It dosent really matter how hot its going to get, its going to be beached for awhile.

Glad to see all the Pacific NW guys here. We got the best looking rigs arround..

[kaptnkaos]

Hey Crackpot...

I don't know if we got the best lookin' ones or not 'cause there are some really sweet trucks from all over the country...
We do, (I think), have the best representation for our part of the country.
I think there are more members from the NW than from any other region.

KaptnKA S