alarm and starter mounting excess wires

kcfitz78 wrote: As far a mounting everythig I have done that but not happy with all the wire bundles. Is it typical to cut the length of the wires down so there is less? I think I may go back and do this, at least to the unused wires.

I usually remove completely from the alarm socket the unused wires.  Just press with the tip of a screw driver the metal conector and you can remove them completely from the sucket. This way you have a clean instalation and does not have wire bundles.

Good luck,

Isaac

KPierson wrote: Any unused wires, on a customers car, I cut down to about 6" incase they ever have a need for that feature/function in the future.

I completely remove the wire from the alarm sucket.  I have a box were I put all the wires that left from all the intalation I do every day.  If a customer come back to activated a feature, I just insert a wire on the alarm sucket.

Isaac 

KPierson wrote: An alarm is only as effective as the install.  If the install is sloppy with a lot of excess wires it will be easy for a thief to find and disable.

i would say a sloppy install is probably harder. if its a birds nest of wires, it takes a lot more time to get at what you need. not to say a sloppy install is a good thing by any means...i agree 150% with the "an alarm is only as good as the install" though. pulling the pins in and out makes them loose, as long as you cut them at staggard lengh and tape them, your good to go. also try to prep your harness' outside of the vehicle. saves time and makes for a cleaner install.

Mount your module were it's going to go first and then run your wires to where they need to go and there won't be any excess. Mike

Yes, pretty much every installer trims the wires to length. For me, it goes like this: 1. Take car apart, find/test all wires, select an approximate mounting location for the brain. 2. Open alarm package. Take all the wires that won't be used at all, and either pull the wires directly out of the plug (like airwolf). On occasion, I'll just cut them down to a few inches, and tepe up the ends (like KPierson). If you have access to an inventory of new alarms/plugs, it'll look nicer if you rip all the wires out.......on the other hand, if it's the only unit you have, maybe better to leave a few inches, so you can easily add features later. Anyway, then I plug all the plugs into the alarm brain, position them so they're all coming out of ONE side of the brain for convenience, and zip-tie or tape the bundles together. I take all the wires that will be going to the car's ignition switch........constant, ignition, starter kill, horn, etecera.......bundle them together with tape, eyball the length I'll need, and cut them to length. Next, if I have multiple wires that are going to the same location...........say, the lock and unlock wires......I twist them together with my drill. Some people prefer to tape them together. At any rate, if they're going to the same place, put them together somehow (but don't cut them short). 3. Lay/jam/tuck brain in its approximate mounting spot in the car. (You don't have to permanently mount it yet.) 4. Connect my ignition wires, the ones I had already cut to length. 5. Take all the other wires, one group at a time...........for example, choose a nice way to run the doorlock wires over to where they're going.......cut them to length.....connect them.   Continue with the other wires in the same way. 6. Install/connect LED, valet switch. Program alarm. Test that it works. Mount brain permanently. Put car back together. Test AGAIN before putting tools away. P.S. In one of my cars, my work vehicle, I installed a brand-new alarm/starter that I really like, but the car is old, and I don't know how long I'll have it. For this reason, I left all the wires at their full length. I managed to roll up and tape all the unused wires into one semi-neat bundle, and tuck them away somewhere in the car........and also, for example, the doorlock wires weren't cut short either; where they are connected, I ran the extra wiring back and forth and zip-tied it to the car's doorlock harness. I made the best of the situation, but it definitely wasn't possible to do a really nice job doing it this way.

P.S. In one of my cars, my work vehicle, I installed a brand-new alarm/starter that I really like, but the car is old, and I don't know how long I'll have it. For this reason, I left all the wires at their full length. I managed to roll up and tape all the unused wires into one semi-neat bundle, and tuck them away somewhere in the car........and also, for example, the doorlock wires weren't cut short either; where they are connected, I ran the extra wiring back and forth and zip-tied it to the car's doorlock harness. I made the best of the situation, but it definitely wasn't possible to do a really nice job doing it this way.[/QUOTE wrote: same here I left all wires to lentgh but didn't like the big bundles.

same here I left all wires to lentgh but didn't like the big bundles.