Universal wiring harness choices

I have used 2 EZ wiring harnesses, no problems and great customer support

 

whats the price of the rebel wire compared to the equivalent ebay harness?

 

I know American Autowire is made in New Jersey and Kwik Wire is assembled in Wisconsin. I was a vendor at a show and got to know Gary the founder of Kwik Wire pretty well. Ron Francis the raw components maybe sourced off shore but I would say they are assembled in PA. If someone wanted to support the USA they have a couple of choices. Rebel Wire is about 80 miles from me as the crows flies and does appear to have a good harness and quality service after the sell. I examine them well every time I see them at a vendors both. I am torn although between Kwik Wire because like Rebel they are a mom and pop with the kids now running the day to day while Mom and Dad do the shows. I also like the American Autowire units for completeness of the kit with the switches and such. My friend wired from scratch the unit in my 55 F100.


I want to try it myself on my 56 F100. Best wishes in whatever you decide Hot Rod Chris

 

Just used the same for my 53. Great product but the customer service after the sale is what will keep me coming back. Always a quick response on email and can come up with a solution for anything I could throw at em.

 

Haven't installed it yet, but I bought the 9+3 Rebel kit. I've looked it over closely, and am very pleased with what I've seen.

 

Just to be accurate - Painless harnesses are made in Fort Worth Texas by American workers. Yeah, they're not cheap, but they are USA made.

 

Thing is...they both are USA made, basically identical harness,fuse box,wires terminate at the component...why is one "better" than the other? Price,service after the sale,quality of the wire and fuse box??

I for one like the way American Autowire systems work. Mount your fuse box, start at each component and terminate the wire at the box.

 

I am the autosparky at a Rod shop here in Perth Western Australia,used several kits to wire customers projects in the past but will not use anything else but Rebel wire now,very good product,easy to modify always looks great and importantly the customers love them!never had an issue with any of them and we must have used /sold around 100 of them,we have even sold a kit to a colour blind guy and encouraged him to wire his car himself using the labled wires,even he said it was relatively easy!
We have installed them in Rods,Customs,aussie and american muscle cars and race cars along with restored and standard vehicles
use them with confidence

 

I've used several different wiring kits, most notably EZ-wire, Rebel and Ron Francis. All 3 are pretty fool proof to me but then again, after you've done one car completely, it does get easier. In so far as technical help after you've bought the kit and you are all tied up in wires, Rebel was the best followed closely by EZ-Wire. Just my 2 cents ...

 

I've used two American Autowire kits and a Rebel Wire kit and prefer the Rebel.



Everything is bundled together. Front clip, engine, dash, rear clip, etc. Makes it easy to route the wires as a group.

Are the wires long enough?



I'd say so!

Rebel Wire is the only kit I'll use from now on.

 

I bought a keep it clean pro 15 harness, wish I would have done more hands on investigating. The instruction are vage and some of the diagrams are so small in print I used my jewlers loop to read,labeling on wire very small and sparce,customer service some what attainable!

 

I bought one of those too good of a price to be true harnesses off Ebay and while the basic stuff is ok that is all you get. There was no wire to go to the lights on either end nor any wire for any accessories. It will end up in my speedster project instead of the 48 as the speedster only needs a very basic wiring harness setup.

I found out a long time ago that the best price isn't always the best deal and that extra mile that some of the outfits like Rebel Wire go to to take care is usually worth the extra money. Being available, having answers and solutions is worth a lot from anyone we buy from no matter what the product is or what it is used on.

 

rebel wire kit is the only way to go, I got mine from glenn back in january. this kit is wonderful, the lettering on each wire is plenty big enough for you to read it easily. I used a kit from painless once and I had to use a magnifiying glass to read the lettering, hugh pain in the ass.

 

I have looked at a lot od the shows when I see the different wiring vendors or vendors selling wiring kits . There are a few good ones out there but after looking at all the different kits and what they are made of , I went with the Rebal 9+3 wiring kit from Tug ! he answered all my questions and I have seen the wiring kit before at the shows . The instructions are really nice and easy to read . There are also large pictures to look at to wire up the switches too ! Best of all , the kit is made right here in the USA ! I haven't had the chance to wire the 55 Ford up yet but when I am done welding in the crossmember and get the new engine and trans installed then I will start the wiring process .
It really comes down to what each person wants and likes but I can't see how you can beat the Rebal Wiring Harness for quality and price !
Just my opinion !

Retro Jim

 

I used an EZ wire kit on my wife's '34. The IGN and ACC wires to the ignition switch were swapped and the horn does not work. I cut and spliced the swapped wires to fix the ignition switch problem. I haven't tried to track the horn problem down yet.

I'm not recommending you not get an EZ Wire as I have purchased another one for my '29. They are cheap and are fine if you have enough experience to deal with possible problems. But I'm not sure I would recommend it for your first wiring experience.

 

Cleaned up an "installed" rebel wire harness on sam navarro's 52. Good quality harness. Cant beleave someone charged him for that work. Just take your time. Simple effective tip. Buy 3000 bread ties. Bread tie everything first before using zip ties. No matter what you'll have to go back and add something to the harness bundles. Good luck!

 

I recently had the oportunity to try a Rebel kit and liked them so much my shop is now a Rebel dealer for the north dallas area. The one thing to remember is that no mater what after market universal harness you use, they are all pretty much chevy harness'. This isnt a problem if you have the wiring diagram for the type of car you have, for all the switches and such. And if you do have a problem or question they are top notch at taking care of their customers! 1 more vote for Rebel!

 

Dang, that's a lot of grilled cheese sammiches to eat.

 

Rhode Island wiring IIRC

 

I have been wiring cars for many many years and have used most of the kits that are out there. In my opinion Ron Francis is without a doubt the very best. They are great from a quality stand point, are great to install and should you need to they are omong the easiest to trouble shoot. American Autowire makes great factory duplicate harnesses for those who need that and they also make the cloth covered kits.

 

check out"Haywire" I have used them for around 10 years and they are very nice

 

At our shop we choose to become Rebel Wire dealers after using many different brands. I haven't dealt with a company/family as nice as they are in quite some time. Top notch service and price.

 

I just installed a rebel wire kit in my 49 Ford club coupe. Looks good and was a nice easy install, good product, fast shipping and an alliance vendor. You can't go wrong.

 

I've used Painless and American autowire on some OT builds. I haven't had a chance to use a Rebel yet, But I will very soon.

I like American Autowire. Would buy thier factory harness again if I needed one.

As far as Painless is concerned, I wouldn't wire an outhouse with anything from that bunch again.

 

Chris, I am using the EZ wire kit 12 circuit mini fuse. It looks real nice, I'll take pics when I install it.

 

I mounted a Painless kit in my coupe and did not hookup the wires they have far to many wires even if they are labeled. Took ou the kit and bought 2 fuse panels at the local parts store and $65.00 worth of #14 wire 9 colors plus red and black. Am in the process of wiring it now feel very good about it. Will have about $100.00 in it and did it my way.

 

Its hard to compare wiring harnesses with out comparing price. I bought the EZ wiring and had no problems.

 

I am trying to decide between a kit, and DIYing one up like you are. Most of my car's options are working already on factory wire. I'm going to remove the window switches from the doors and only run 5 switches (4 in the dash and one in the trunk for emergency/trailering purposes. Little to no interior lighting...not sure I need a kit if i'm going to be doing these mods either way.

 

I started doing my own wiring and then I discovered it was probably going to be cheaper and neater if I just buy a kit. I contacted both ez wiring an rebel and both were very prompt with replies, and they were happy to sent to Oz. Think I am gonna go the 9+3 route for my 52 sled. Overall, it was a much better deal than anything I can buy in my own country.

 

When buying wire on a roll how do you determine the quality?

I've noticed some wire of the same gauge as others but with less strands.

Some wire doesn't strip clean like some others.

Also, is there a chart somehwere to show what gauge should be used for what?

I know the kits solve most of this problem before hand but if I add things later...