Who Wants Some Extra Cash and Knows About Decks?

[Sayton]

@offroadzj

How I make my connections:

1. Strip roughly 3/4" off ends of each wire.
2. Slide shring tubing on (making sure for proper sizing)
3. Divide each wire into 2 sections (making a “Y” on each end)
4. Make the wires scissor each other (giggity)
5. Twist wires together so that there is roughly 3/4" of bare wire.
6. Tape the wires TIGHTLY starting and ending at least 1" from the connection. Using a single piece of tape for the entire distance is better but if you must “piece” the tape together, make sure to overlap by atleast 1/2". Also be sure to use real tape. Not the $.25 roll crap. Spend the $3-$5 on 3M Super 33… it holds up MUCH better over time through both hot and cold.
7. Slide shrink tubing over taped connection and heat it until it shrinks into place… being careful not to melt the tape. (If I don’t have shrink tubing, I skip this step)
8. Throw just a small piece of tape (single wrap) over each end of the tubing to keep moisture from seeping in. (and this one)
9. Repeat for all wires.
10. About 1" from the end of each connection (after the tape) I like to put a small zip-tie on each side. Make sure to tighten it with some good force, but not enough to cut through the wires. This will help to hold the wires together making them more like a single wire instead of multiple wires. (Think of the single stick vs. multiple sticks story you were always taught in gym class… lol). Sometimes I’ll use tape instead of zip-ties if I don’t have zip-ties handy.

It can be time consuming… even possibly as long if not longer than soldering, but will hold as good if not better.

There is so much stuff that can go wrong with soldering (cold soldering joint, over-heating the wire and yielding its strength, stiffening of the connection causing it to be brittle, obviously the whole burning yourself/your car, etc) that I prefer to stay away from it unless I have to.

However if there is ever a tight place that I cannot do the above, then its solder all the way. Like when people came in for a radio install and their buddy who knows all about installing and chopped their factory harness, leaving only an inch or two of wiring that I have to reach 3" into the dash to even feel it… yea, that just plain sucks.

Damn you Krazy… now I just wasted my damn lunch break writing this book… lol. Thats why I didn’t want to get into it. I hate your life. lol.

+1 rep for not eating lol…

I think I will see you at 6 ish today