Wiring Harness Question

[LIVELY5R]

After chasing electrical gremlins caused by a horrid PO in my 1980 CJ5 , I'm tempted to break down & get a Painless Wiring Harness. I was hoping to hold off a few years due to funds but I may bight the bullet.
My question is can you install a new wiring harness without removing the body from the frame? There are rusted areas so I'm not ready to take those apart.
Id get the Painless from what I've read, it's fairly simple & straight forward.

Any suggestions are very welcome!

 

[caveman]

You do not need to take the body off the frame to replace the wiring. All the wires to the front go through the firewall beside the steering column and all wires to the rear run along the inside of the tub to the rear drivers side corner and then down and along the bottom of the tub.

 

[mtnwhlr]

When I did mine I only removed the dash to get to everything back behind it.

 

[LIVELY5R]

Which model would you suggest? I want it as easy & pain free as possible. I'll only have headlights, marker lights, blinkers, stock gauges in the dash, and brake/ tail lights. The heater/defroster stuff was all torn out & no radio or other accessories will be added. I'd rather buy once & cry once so whatever y'all could suggest, I'd appreciate it. When I looked online they had several different models.

Thank you

 

[mtnwhlr]

I've alway thought Painless is the best and easiest.

 

[hdgapeach]

I put a Painless harness in mine about 11 years ago and have never regretted it. Their price back then was way less than it is now and I'm sure there's more options now than then too.

I'd do it again if the need arises. I believe I'd go for a harness that included all the circuits that I needed now plus any future upgrades I thought I may need in the future. I have a bunch of unused circuits in my harness now that are coiled up and wire tied out of sight in case I decide to add stuff later (like a radio and a third brake light......none in mine right now, but I have dedicated wires available if the notion hits me).

 

[ThisGuyUKnow]

You.could.always save money by pulling the.harness, getting a good diagram,some beer, and electrical supplies and repair the original harness. It would cost only a fraction if that of a manufactured kit.

 

[Posi]

I like the ez wiring harness, good kit for about $200 less then painless kit.

 

[ThisGuyUKnow]

I like the ez wiring harness, good kit for about $200 less then painless kit.

Hmm Maybe I should start building dash harnesses.

 

[LIVELY5R]

The Painless harness seemed to be the easiest. My one friend who knows electrical stuff is willing to help me with it. He tried fixing my stock harness but literally every wire is worn about every 4" and it has been so bastardized, everything needs to be re-done, hence the need for a harness. I can find no one willing to do anything other than install the Painless Wiring kit.
One dealer wanted over $800 for the harness but I found Summit Racing has one for $530 which is the cheapest I could find.

Guy You Know, I was going to inquire about your skills until I knew mine was so bad. I appreciate all your threads I found while searching. I'm sure there is a market for head light harnesses, dash harnesses, & rear harness based on the shenanigans PO's pull.

 

[Posi]

Wow, didn't realize painless was that expensive, $530 (lowest price) . Let me correct my last post, ezwiring is not $200 less then painless it's $360 less.

ezwiring most popular kit is $170, well made and easy to work with.

 

[Jimbos76cj]

I've installed several of the ezwire kits and they are like it says.. EZ. Price can't be beat, wires are labeled well.. No complaints. Highly recommended.