T-taps, for RS

I use t-taps for everything... hate me forever... how do you get the batter wire in older dodge caravans like late 90's where the battery wire is in the top plug at the bcm?... and how do you solder onto the lock wires in those same vans when I can only pull out MAYBE  a 1/2" of wire... How do you test your install if you solder? what if you accidently tap on to the wrong wire that tested as it was supposed to? We use t-taps for everything except some tach wires and security wiring like vats especially... We've never run into an issue of a tap cutting a wire in half... If you use the good 3M taps and not the gross knock offs You should be fine I strip the wire that is getting the male spade maybe 3/8's to 1/2" and twist the wire tight and crimp on a 3M insulated male spade. and plug it into the corrisponding (spelling?) tap. We do alot of de's and re's where I am so soldering would take longer to install and to pullout. But to all you who solder especially to the big guy who says he dosen't have a problem getting any wiring... I wish I could too but i've only been doing this for 2 years and was trained on t-taps not solder... Please don't hate me... i'm just saying it can be done but alot of people out there don't like to

I know of the arguments here..but, I personally use t-taps, scotchloks and butt crimps. I do use 3M exclusively..especially if you can find the dual tooth scotchloks which grabs a wire in 2 places. I also use a good dab of di-elec grease in the whole connector before making the crimp. I wrap it up tightly with electrical tape (3m 1700 vinyl) In the last 8 years never had one come back from my backyard install for friends/family. The cars have died..the alarm brains have miraculously survived...no complaints.. I use 3 different crimpers, an ideal ratchet crimpmaster, a klein J1005 journeyman crimping plier, and a craftsman stripper/crimper. The Ideal does the red or blue butt crimps insulated..the klein does the yellow and blue insulated..and the craftsman does the non-insulated crimps (very rarely) Never had a crimp fail on me..trust me..I have suspended things from crimped wires to see if it will hold...nothing short of a tug-o-war will.. Also I use the right connectors for the wire guage...no shortcuts.. I always wonder how folks managed to get into tight places and solder everything..especially with 18-22 guage doorlock wires.. Not a big fan of poke and wrap method..makes no safety sense to poke a wire with plastic bordering it..especially with voltage situations. Also, solder can and will react with various elements...surely a tech has heard of cold joints.. To those who solder and wrap..to each his own..more power to you.. I'm also amazed at how folks can complete a car in 4-5 hours from start to finish with soldering..I guess everything is clockwork orange for a pro.. It takes me sometimes an hour just to find a concealed siren mounting spot.. Glad I'm not doing this for a living and I have respect for the pros..

solder. nuf said.gcorrea

Just to respond to the caravan questions above. I just got home from doing a 97 caravan and there is a Red wire in the ignition harness to tap into and the door lock relays are right in front of your face when you take the knee bolster of so you can just pull the relays and solder trigger wires on there. Its far easier than using resistors and relays and just as reliable. Hope this helps out in future jobs.double-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer

who really cares what anyone uses. connect one wire to the other is really the only requirement. It's not like one way is gonna make the car run better.   I use whatever I have laying there. It's more fun that way and it makes me feel like MacGyver.

Forbidden.... I completely agree. In over 10 years in this circus, I have not found a single vehicle where I have been unable to make a proper connection. Yes,I have spent a lot of time on some of them doing the "hmmm.... there's got to an easier, alternate location to get this". Yes, I have also taken apart many many cars, and havehadto spend far too much of my time fixing scotchlock damage, intermittant connections, etc. They have no place under a dash as far as I'm concerned... they also shouldn't havebeen used in the $8000 featherlite trailer I bought 3 years ago, and have spent several hours completely rewiring due to the fact the factory deemed scotchlocks a-ok to wire the lighing with. The intermittant nature of the lighting system made for a nice lightshow at night sometimes, however, if I could, I would willingly kick whomever thought of those cursed POS square in the junk, with a running start. Ugh. Gus PS: We have the duboius honour of having a total of 3 shops using those damn things... and 2 of them are mechanics. Iget to fix many of them..... and haveactually sent the scotchlocks back to therespective shop, with a bill....Wherever I go, that is where I end up......

Hi, I have been reading the debate of weather to use "t" taps or not. Personally I found they work very well. I have had little to no problems with them at all. I don't use them under the hood of a vehicle those wires are always soldered. However I have never found them to be troublesome under the dash of a car. I don't use them for high current connections because I don't feel that they can carry enough current. My reasoning is this I have soldered many connections in my life. Having to go back and remove a soldered connection can be more damaging to a wire than the taps. Simply unpluging a tap is a better way. When I put in a remote starter I prefer to make the install removable so the dealer can unplug things he feels necessary for troubleshooting instead of cutting wires and pulling the starter out. Vehicles come from the factory with few if any soldered connections. Everything I have ever seen in electronics radios to bypass kits use crimp connectors on their leads. Heck the telephone industry uses punch down connections When "t" taps are used in a smart way they make life easier. Just my opinion though and 20 years of experience. Jon