Okay, so you may remember this thread:

https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/a...o-install.html

This was a self-install of the stereo components that I had bought for my DD. Well it was all fine and dandy, except that the stereo would cut out from time to time, and there were wires EVERYWHERE for my electronics gear (Nav, Cell Charger, Blue Tooth Charger, Radar & Laptop). Not to mention that I had my bass knob just tucked between the driver's seat and the center console. So of course, I'm OCD, and that shit got to me! Not only that, but I was driving down the road and my truck completely shut off one day, and I had no power. I was like WTF?

So I had just recently met the guys over at MCOR Automotive on US41 just north of SR54... So I made the call & Matt got me in that Saturday to get things diagnosed, fixed, and cleaned up!!

Here are some Before & After Pictures:

Here you can see the wires everywhere in the center console area...




Now it's all cleaned up! The tri-plug has been neatly tucked into the little pocket tray there, and has been hard-wired directly to the trucks ignition/power sources! When I fire the truck, powers up; turn it off, powers down! CLEAN -- CLEAN -- CLEAN! I love it:



Also, MCOR got rid of my "plug-in" Power Inverter and installed this one to the floor up under the dash in the center hump of the truck so that I can plug my laptop in to this instead! Again, this has been hard-wired, and all the wires neatly tucked away and out of sight! Score:



They went ahead and also hard-wired my Radar Detector, which eliminates another plug needed to be down there in the way, and also allows the detector to come on/off with the truck's power as well:



And as mentioned before, here is my custom Bass Knob install lol...





And now in its new home ...





Prior to visiting with the guys at MCOR, I had just had the box shoved behind the seats and a few pieces of wood acting as a brace to keep it from moving (ghettttto)...





Now, it's all fastened into place w/bracketry (no more wood blocks, lol)...





One of the main reasons why the power kept cutting in and out, or so we thought, was the Cap - and it not being wired correctly, or not working properly... Turned out the Cap was fine - it was my power source (lead) wires. So I had MCOR upgrade all the wiring and fuse links, and what a difference! Not a single issue!!!!

This is the wiring on the Cap before MCOR:



After:





The power lead was actually what wound up causing the issues with the cutting in and out. The fuse holder cracked and the fuse kept arcing the power somehow and actually burnt up inside the fuse box and was almost welded to itself... Weird shit! Wiring under hood before MCOR:



Cleaned up, all new fuse, wires, etc - installed at the power box instead of at the battery:









So for $100 here is what I got:

All new power wires
All new fused link
All new RCA's
All new stereo wires
All wires loomed and neatly tucked away
Box fastened with bracketry
Bass Knob installed correctly
Radar Detector hard-wired
Power Inverter mounted and hard-wired
Tri-Port Power Strip mounted and hard-wired
Cap diagnosed, re-wired, and re-installed correctly
And a clean, neat, setup that works like a charm, and does everything I asked of it and the guys at MCOR!!

So, I got a TON of shit done, and a ton of cleanup on misc bologna that I hated, and the results were definitely worth the price! My truck doesn't cut off, the stereo doesn't cut out, the electronics are all neatly tucked away and fire on when the truck is turned off, and shut down when the truck is off... This shit was well worth the $100 I paid the guys at MCOR to get the truck right!!

 

only one thing i have to say is the electrical tape on ends of wire loom will fall off- should have been shrinkwraped.

 

Yeah, maybe so, but either way - not a big deal to me. For $100, I have ZERO complaints If/when I upgrade the stuff, and spend a little more money on doing mids/highs/etc, maybe at that time I'll make sure I have them upgrade to shrinkwrapped wiring, etc. But at the cost I paid, I'm luck to have even got electrical tape

 

GradeA TireFryer-look a little closer-this "tape" will NOT fall off. It is factory Ford wire loom harness tape and is the textured type (ask the owner about the quality-this is not your everyday Vinyl tape). We were factory Senior Master Technicians for Ford Motor Company for 12 years and we have LOTS of connections (and backstock)!

I know with your experience you have seen this stuff before and if you look really closely at his photos, you will see the texture to the tape. This TR member has been around for a while and I am sure if we ask him a year from now, he will verify the Ford wire loom tape is still completely intact (also keep in mind, we had no idea Josh was going to take photos for the web-this is our everyday practice-most customers never even notice). This is the same stuff we use for "high security" alarm installs and you can't buy it off the shelf. When we put in a "high security" alarm, and with the help of this factory tape, you will NOT even be able to detect ANY alarm wiring has been added-completely stealth. I even have two other shops that actually buy these rolls from us by the case (pretty high profile shops I might add).

We usually would shrink wrap but there was quite a bit of work for the $100, the time line, and the customer was looking for everyday practicality on a budget. So this was a "get it fixed safely with no frills but clean" repair. He is not looking to win any shows and for what he's got, the system sounds great. If it were show budget, we would have just built a fake wall and you wouldn't even have seen the wires at all.

My installers are instructed to wrap every wire loom with the Ford Loom Tape just as the factory did so that there won't be any future failures EVER. I am sure you would agree, most shops do not put forth this extra step (especially at this price).

 

On one hand, it looks cleaner minus the capacitor - there should be a distro block and one set of terminals to the cap.



On the other hand, you spent 100$ on simple stuff you could have done yourself.

 

Dude you got a great deal with all you got for your $100

Props up to MCOR for doing that job at such a good price and at what looks like good solid quality work.

 

one thing that should never be done in wiring the amps and cap power wire to that stock battery cable it should have been installed right to the battery now on top of all the trucks stuff running off the lil stock 5 ga wire you got a amp and cap too.Thats how fires can start.But other then at A++ work and I have seen some good and some very bad shit work for best buy.

 

work looks clean, i know the tape you are talking about - never see a shop use it corrctly - 2 ++ if you do, and for $100 - you wont be in business long. TOO CHEAP, next you will be building boxes for free like many others on here.

 

You guys are great!!

Matt will have my business 10-fold from here on out. I think he was well aware of the intentions that I have w/several other projects that I have lined up to be completed & that may be why he went out of his way, and over & above what "the norm" would consist of...

It's called paying it forward, and great customer service... Word of mouth advertisement = referrals = money = increased revenue, etc... Matt's a great business-man and knows what he did and how it was priced!

Thanks again Matt, I'll see you this week for the Vinyl & maybe we'll talk about those speakers you are considering carrying.

-Jo$h

 

This was discussed with the owner prior to the install. As we all agreed, since his truck does not have ANY power options (these "stripped" trucks draw less than 30 amps under full load where as a fully loaded Escalade draws almost 100 amps and GM uses the same skinny battery cables), and he is only running those two 8's, it wasn't necessary to install the gold lug for the GM battery terminals that allows additional accessories to be installed.-this would have been a waste anyway since we wouldn't be upgrading the ground cable at this time=bottleneck.

His next stage will involve the ground upgrade, the power terminal upgrade, 2 guage wiring back to a dist. block, and addition of all new mids/highs and another amp. Later time, Later budget.

There is no safety concern with this cable setup and it is extremely common for a setup this small. Total amperage drawn in under 60 even with system turned all the way up!