Barry Maxwell Posted April 18, 2014 Report Posted April 18, 2014 I am in the process of routing the Body and Tail Light Harness from RI Wiring on the rolling chassis of my '51 B3C. The front part of the harness has leads for the tank sending unit, the stop light switch on the MC, and 6 other leads that will ultimately connect with another harness after I mount the cab (when ever that will be). My question has to do with where the left tail light wires exit the rear of the frame rail, and where the tail light and bracket (bought from VPW) mounts. Before I attach the harness to the frame with clips, I want to make sure I am exiting at the correct location so that I will have enough of the harness up front for the stop light switch and the other 6 leads. I would appreciate photos of the rear routing of the harness through the frame and the tail light mounting. I hope all this makes sense. It does to me, but I am not always sure that it will to others. Any and all photos will be appreciated. Many thanks. Barry Quote
Merle Coggins Posted April 18, 2014 Report Posted April 18, 2014 At the rear of the frame there are 3 holes in a row. The back 3 are for the bumper bracket. The forth one from the back is larger. This is where I passed the wires through to get to the tail lamps. If you have a connector there for the tail lamp I can't tell you where it should be as I make up my own harness and set it up as needed. I suppose it will depend on how long the wires are from your tail lamps. They will sit a good foot away from the frame. I don't have an exact measurement. Merle Quote
HanksB3B Posted April 18, 2014 Report Posted April 18, 2014 Barry, You should have come to the Clements BBQ, then Merle could have told you in person. There were a bunch of trucks, some stock (some otherwise) that would have the original set-up. I used a terminal block near the tail end of my frame to facilitate the addition of turn indicators. Have not solved the "LED" "not enough draw" problem for bright brake lights and am not sure how to setup Backup Lights. Now is the time to really plan it out. I make extensive use of wire ties and do a lot of temporary routing. Ideally you set up everything then remove and wrap the wires with materials and methods of the times to really get a sharp looking (and durable) wire harness. No shame going straight to Rhode Island wiring either if you've got the scratch. Hank P.S. Barry got the fittings yesterday and it's kind of interesting that I have one Brass and one SS. Yes the particular part threaded as such is an obsolete part and also a critical part. Next time you are there if you'd be so kind as to ask if either the brass (doubt it) or the stainless (maybe) fittings are available in a box of ten so to speak. Quote
Brent B3B Posted April 18, 2014 Report Posted April 18, 2014 don't know if this will help or not.... (don't know if it is correct or not either off my 53 parts truck) Quote
pflaming Posted April 19, 2014 Report Posted April 19, 2014 1) be sure to ground the bed to the frame or the tail lights will not work, I ran a #10 wire from the bed to the frame 2) I put an 8 bolt 'bar connector' on the back cross member of the bed and ran the wires from the front to that bar. 3) The tail light wires then went across that bar to the lights. Now if I ever want to mount a trailer light socket I just connect to that bar. It's not text book but it sure is practical. Quote
greg g Posted April 19, 2014 Report Posted April 19, 2014 As an adjunct to the advice above, I found that i neededto run a dedicated ground wire from the bed to the frame in order to get my rear lights to work. This was on my Studebaker project, but you might find it worthwhile also. Quote
Barry Maxwell Posted April 19, 2014 Author Report Posted April 19, 2014 Thank you guys for your responses. In particular to Merle for the suggestion to use the hole directly above the 3 holes for the bumper bracket and to Brent for confirming it with his photo. Also to Paul and Greg for the tip to ground the bed to the frame. I am sure that I would not have thought of that. I will use that rear cross member for the wires that lead to the right tail light. Thanks again. Barry P.S. to Hank. The brass fitting I sent to you is the last one they had. I don't know how many of the SS fittings they have left, but probably very few. Quote
Merle Coggins Posted April 19, 2014 Report Posted April 19, 2014 I crossed my harness over to the right side along the rear cross member. I clipped it along the back bottom edge. Quote
desoto1939 Posted April 21, 2014 Report Posted April 21, 2014 suggestion to get a rubber grommet the size of the hole inthe fram where the wires will pass through. If you can get a rubber ring to fir into the opening then whenthe wires pass throught the hole there will be less chance of the outer covering wearing away aand then cutting in to the wire and then you would get a short. This is just a suggestion. Also if you use wire tires then also get the wire tie tool that wil pull the wire ties up really tight make for a nice clean look and then you also know the wires will not move and the clamps if metal would rust unless you use SS clips. Just a suggestion. Rich HArtung desoto1939@aol.com Quote
Barry Maxwell Posted April 21, 2014 Author Report Posted April 21, 2014 suggestion to get a rubber grommet the size of the hole inthe fram where the wires will pass through. If you can get a rubber ring to fir into the opening then whenthe wires pass throught the hole there will be less chance of the outer covering wearing away aand then cutting in to the wire and then you would get a short. This is just a suggestion. Also if you use wire tires then also get the wire tie tool that wil pull the wire ties up really tight make for a nice clean look and then you also know the wires will not move and the clamps if metal would rust unless you use SS clips. Just a suggestion. Good suggestions. Thanks Barry Rich HArtung desoto1939@aol.com Quote
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