This month I want to talk about organizing your wires. Many people just run the wires from one place to another with no thoughts of organizing them until they are already run. I'm here to tell you that organizing wires should be on your mind every step of the way. I don't care if you are adding a blow dryer to fend off stray cats or a pair of bright lights to make sure that deer doesn't leave the road, you need to think about organizing wires before running wires.
Oh yeah, I'm Randy. I figure most of you already know about me and what I'm doing here, but let's beat a dead horse. That's a funny thing to say, isn't it? Who would beat a dead horse? And what does beating a dead horse have to do with someone talking about something you probably already know?
Where was I? Oh yeah, I'm Randy. By a life of trying and failing, trying and failing, until I get things right, I have learned how to do things. I don't know why dad let me near the Mustang in the first place, or why my brother thought I could fix the Subaru. Maybe because they see how hard I try, and how I occasionally come up with the right way to do something.
Running wires is one of those things I am really good at now, thanks to always being told to run this wire over there. I have learned that keeping the wires together that go to a certain thing, or go to a certain area not only looks better, but makes it easier to figure out why something went wrong later. Look at it this way, what is easier, going through a bundle of 20 random wires or a bundle of two to four wires to find something wrong?
So, here are some tricks I have learned to organize the wires. It makes for a little bit more work at the beginning, but it can save a lot of time and headaches in the end.
If you don't have a drill,...
If you don't have a drill, or don't want to twist the wires, another good way of keeping order is to wrap electrical tape around the wire every 4 to 6 inches. This will go allow the wires to go around corners too. After you get everything run and working properly, then you can cover the wire with split loom if it is in danger of being rubbed or chafed.
Inside, for wires that are...
Inside, for wires that are close to the same size, I like to stick them in the drill and twist them. This works well if you are wiring a relay or something that requires both switched and constant power. Later if something goes wrong, you can easily figure out where the wires go because hopefully the colors in the twist are unique to whatever doesn't work. This doesn't work so well with big wires, and is only really good for up to four or so wires at a time.
There is this thing called...
There is this thing called a screw-down zip tie. I like to use them under the hood for keeping new wires in place. I try to stay away from the factory wiring. It makes it easier to keep track of what wire goes where. If a factory item dies, the wire to trace is in the factory harness, if an added item dies, the wires are in the screw down zip ties. I use them every foot or so, and if I need more organizing, I use a regular zip tie between them.
After the wires are all run,...
After the wires are all run, and all the circuits are working the way they should be, then use split loom tubing. It should get used to protect all the wires under the hood, and under the Jeep. If you run with no carpet, top, or doors year round, use it anywhere you can see exposed wires. Under the dash is usually OK to not use split loom. If you have a Jeep with doors and carpet, it can be OK to not use it inside. If the wire is run under carpet or a floor mat or anywhere feet go, use split loom and wrap the loom with tape every 4 to 6 inches like I showed you above.