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How To: 5th gen wire tuck - basics

74K views 168 replies 49 participants last post by  dtt02278 
#1 · (Edited)
***Disclaimer: Myself and the owners of PreludePower are not responsible for any damages caused by anything done within this writeup. If you are not comfortable about doing something - by all means do not attempt that step of the writeup. Some portions of this writeup are in need of updating and others could use improvement - for example; ways to extend the wires to the relocated fusebox. Take your time and do not shortcut anything.***


So i've been slacking for awhile now... Did this back in September and decided to finally post up some of the pics. Alot of other 'luders have done this but i've yet to see a writeup on it. Hopefully this will contain enough to be the final wire-tuck thread :)
This is a work in progress, I will continue to update this as I go. I have some new ideas i've yet to see ;)

What parts you will need / body panels required to be removed based on what you are tucking:

Battery Relocation:
Materials -
10' of 2 gauge wire for power (if fusebox is relocated) 12' if fusebox is still in bay
4' of 2 OR 4 gauge wire for grounds
6' of 2 OR 4 gauge for starter and alternator extensions (if fusebox is relocated and you decide to extend the lines vs replacing alltogether)
(x) amount of lug ring connectors/ butt splices, depends on how you hook up to your battery and if you use a distribution block
shrink wrap / or RUBBER electric tape
regular electric tape

What needs to be removed -
passenger door sill
glove box
back seat
passenger side back seat panels
trunk mat

Driver side shock tower:
Materials -
(dayco) 80210. It's 5/32 i.d. x 6' windshield washer hose. (i got mine from pep boys) for egr solenoid
zip-ties

What panels need to be removed -
IF removing fluid reservoir and relocating relays, remove front bumper and driver-side fender.

Passenger side shock tower:
Materials -
zip-ties

What panels you will need to remove -
-none-

Fusebox: (if NOT done with battery relocation)
Materials -
electric tape
ring lugs / butt splices for power and alternator wires
5' 2 gauge wire for battery feed
3' 2 OR 4 gauge wire for alternator

What panels you will need to remove -
glove box



- Would like to also thank Biglegs with his tips for the fusebox relocation that will be included in this write-up

I'll include pictures as I do more

Everything is pretty self explanatory, I've got some step-by-step pictures and will try to keep everything in some sort of order

What you will start with (intake depending)



Finished:







Passenger shock tower







Driver shock towerDepending on how far you want to go with this - you will have to remove the bumper and driver-side fender


















Dizzy






Horns




Firewall






Fusebox This will require you to extend or completely replace the starter/alternator wires going to the fusebox and replace the battery wire unless you did a battery relocation where you already have a longer wire - use your best judgement on this part since you will be passing these wires through the firewall, last thing you want is to cause a fire if something comes loose while driving.










Battery















----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

extra odds n ends i've done since the original post:

Before and after:







How to get there:

Alternator wire:

Remove the battery so there's no charge - then remove the alternator wires and pull off the top plastic cover. Wrap the wires with some high heat tape for a little extra protection and run it over the side motor mount and around the oil dipstick. Zip-tie it to the bracket towards the bottom/front of the alternator and call it a day :)






Power Steering hose:

Remove bracket on top of the Valve cover - wrap the metal part in some tape, and push it down between the timing belt cover and shock tower. Then take the extra slack and carefully push it down the bracket on the backside of the head.






Slimfans:









Traction bar installed:


 
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#77 ·
I don't see it being an issue.

as far as pulling the motor

You still have all your harnesses etc right near the evap cannister - just tucked lower.

If you do the battery and fusebox relocations - depending on how you re-connected your alternator and starter lines, you may/may not have an issue disconnecting them. The way I've got everything setup currently, I can pull the entire harness off the motor and pull the entire motor easily, since it's only attached at 2 points in the entire bay (under the intake manifold).

(Best way to do the connections is use ring lugs and a good bolt/nut for where you extended the wires. That way you just need to remove that bolt to pull them apart) - this is something i've done more recently, realizing that flaw in the writeup.


Relocating the alternator wire to the side of the head vs top would give a bit of an issue with doing a timing belt job since it's in the way of the cover - but you can easily just disconnect the wires on the alternator and pull them back out.


Those are the only issues you could possibly run across doing this and needing to pull the motor. I have enough room that I was actually sitting in my bay while working on it the other day lol.

as far as the transmission

no matter what though, nothing in the writeup will effect the way you would need to pull the transmission (in a bad way) if anything, it gives you more room to access the transmission. :)
 
#78 ·
my wire tuck makes it easier to pull motor. also all the stuff that is deleted on my motor helps as well
 
#79 ·
Yeah, having no ABS/PS/AC/EVAP stuff would help... but I need my EVAP shit for emissions, and I refuse to give up my luxuries of ABS and AC. PS is a maybe.... lol


time for an S2K clutch resi and to toss that fusebox to finish it off ;)
 
#82 ·
Quick little update everyone:

If anyone decides to attempt their headlights - you can do the driver side WITHOUT cutting any wires. However - on the passenger side, you will need to extend 4 wires.
 
#84 · (Edited)
just to be a whore :rofl:


welded. rywire engine harness. all new brake lines. only thing that wasn't deleted was the brake booster


You know i love that bay Jesse :) congrats on getting it all together finally!!!





You also know i'm addicted to tucking lol - there's a few other things you could "move" ;)
(not like anyone but me would even notice anyway :p )

Just some thoughts -

*wiper wires can be re-routed through the hole from the fender to the cowell (there's a small access)
*driver headlight wires can be ran under the headlight, just pull the main harness in the fender up over the bracket it's zip tied to and undo the loom, and re-tape everything. it'll give you an exrtra 3-4" or so.
*remove throttle cable bracket on firewall and re-install the small cable support bracket ontop of the IM
*s2k clutch master cylinder
*hood shocks
*alternator relocation bracket to drop it lower in the bay
 
#86 ·
Yeah that's normal - it's a really tight squeeze if you just push them between. My ac line is only held up by that one clamp so i had a bit more room to flex it up. You could just unbolt that bracket, it's just one 10mm bolt under it. Then put it back so you can ziptie everything to it.
 
#89 ·
Looks like a 4th gen bay..... not a 5th o_O'


Must be hard to shift without a master clutch cylinder..... Unless he made a bracket to mount that and the resi inside and raise the clutch engagement high enough to hit your knee on the steering wheel lol.
 
#90 ·
I started to do this yesterday, but only did a little bit of stuff due to me not knowing what to do because my car is an automatic and I am not getting rid of anything lol. I did a couple of things but not much lol this will be a long process xD
 
#92 ·
^^^that will help but I really can't do anything about it for a while. lol I am at an $8/hr job and get about 10-15 hrs a week. Once December hits, I will do the swap due to me being in coast guard for 2 months of basic training @ about 1,200 a month ;)
 
#97 ·
it's starting to get cold here and i think i have another good project for the winter;) this thread will be very helpful! repped in advance!!

(just tried to rep but apparently i have to spread it around first!) but otherwise... imaginary rep! lol
 
#98 ·
haha yeah it's a fun little winter project - I did it over winter last year.


Just take your time, it's not a perfect writeup so maybe you'll find something new during your fun exploration in the bay lol.

And if you're not comfortable with something - don't do it. I know alot of guys don't do the fusebox relocation because of all the wires involved passing through the firewall.
 
#100 ·
so i'm starting my tuck with some baby steps and i was wondering if there is an easy way to get that nasty mass of wires off the passenger tower and out of the way without doing the fuse box cause i don' thave enough time to tackle that today. i just don't know if the wires will be long enough....
 
#101 ·
I never cut any wires for the fusebox. The only ones that needed to be extened/replaced are the ones for the starter/alternator/battery. So the main feeds basically.



You can just remove the bracket that all of the connectors are mounted to and cut the zip ties nearest it. Move the mess of wires down on top of the bracket that holds the AC line (lower down on the shock tower) and zip tie part of the harness to that bracket.

Check back on page 1 under "passenger side shock tower" Everything is in sections - maybe i just didn't make the words large enough to stand out o_O'
 
#104 ·
I want to let people know...I used 4 gauge wire for the battery to the fuse box. My mechanic told me the startup issue I have is because I did not use 0 gauge. Save some hassle and just go with 0. Due to the distance and resistance 4 is not enough and 2 should be ok but again just to save hassle go 0.
 
#108 ·
The shame!!!!!



I'm using the stock wire from starter to fusebox- with a 6 gauge spliced on to extend it. Used 6 gauge to extend the alternator as well.

But the wires were undersized on the label, since really the ones I used are the size of 4 gauge.

I'm getting the itch to work on a bay again.... There's only one thing left for me to tuck in mine :(
 
#111 ·


 
#112 ·
Glad to see you still visit man, miss seeing updates for your old 'lude :'(



I've not updated this in awhile, my bay looks nothing like the finished pics i've posted in the past :)
 
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