Fender Harness/Full Lock

[OBEEWON]

Im sure everyone has dealt with the fender harness at some point. The issue Im having seems to affect either S14's only or people running man sized wheels and offsets in the front.

I have relocated my harness to the point there is no chance of it getting eaten by the top of my tire. But at full lock I rub the harness where it enters the firewall to go into the cabin. What have people done to fix this issue? The only thing I can think of is bolting/welding a plate over the entrace.

Thoughts/solutions?

[PoorMans180SX]

Run it through the engine bay.

It's not exactly easy, but it works.

[nieko]

please come up with another solution than that lol

relocating through engine bay seems like pretty gay ass tedious work...

i like the plate idea



by the way, to the OP.

what is your caster at? idk what your setup is so im not sure if u just have stock tension rods and ur wheel is super far back in ur wheel well. or you have the caster exactly where you like it haha

[projectRDM]

I've seen the plate idea. Easy and quick.

[qt_240]

I did the plate thing.. its easy, fast, and it works..

[lightsource]

Any links to this plate method? (s13)

Do you weld the plate or how does it work, because I actually have exposed my wires already, and I haven't figured out how I want to fix the issue.

[NiSilS14]

You can also completely relocate the fusebox to somewhere inside the cabin, however it's even more tedious work. Either way you're looking at some work. Never though about the plate idea but i guess that would work too.

[OBEEWON]

Im not sure what my castor is but I went pretty crazy with it to see if I could miss the harness.

The engine bay method solves nothing as thats not where the wheel is rubbing, and relocating the fuse box wont help as wirse to the lights and etc must come through. You could relocate the harness to come through a higher point but that would be stupid silly work.

You guys with the plates. Do you tack them on or rivet or what?

[r6_240sx]

Relocating to engine bay actually does solve problem because there's no more fender harness in the wheel well area. Tedious, but it works.

Edit - Maybe this will help you:
http://zilvia.net/f/1162200-post34.html

As for the plate method just get some sheet metal and screws and lift up the harness and cover it with sheet metal.
Here's the one from BOSS (discontinued):

Let the tire rub the metal all day, no prob. In your case you'll have to cover the back side where the grommet is.

[nieko]

i was going to call you an idiot until i read the ending of your post haha

yea, metal plate on that back part, probably what im going to do

[BoostedCoupe]

I want to see some pics of peoples plates in the back.

[SoSideways]

Yes, the grommet is where everyone is talking about rubbing.

I had 235/40/17s on my wheels, and at full lock to the left, it would rub the grommet and the part of the harness where it's coming out of the grommet.

Even with a lot of caster it didn't help, because at a point, you run out of caster adjustment both from the LCA contacting the mounting bracket (unless you have a rod end type adjuster there) or your wheel will hit the front wheel well hardcore, requiring a wheel tub.

Even then, you're going to run into problem with excessive positive camber on the outside front wheel at full lock during a drift, and you might as well be riding on sidewalls or the lip of the rims then. You'll probably need like 7 or 8 degrees of static negative camber to correct that situation...

Anyway, I want to see some of the grommets that people have put on their cars, along with their alignment/wheel/tire specs if they can remember, please!

[projectRDM]

I don't understand why people need pictures of this. Imagine a piece of steel, tin, anything cut out into a plate. Usually it's bought in sheets anyway, so imagine it a little smaller. Now look at where the harness is exposed to the tire exiting the firewall. Put the plate over it, blocking the tire from contacting the harness. Secure with welds, rivets, screws, zipties, anything to just hold it still. The tire will rub against it and being smooth it won't interfere with either the tire or the harness. It's really not that complicated guys. You can even get creative and buy a piece of pipe or tubing, cut it in half length wise and make an actual sheath for the harness, welding it to a plate. There's a million ways to do it, none of them better than the other if they all work. Get creative.

[fliprayzin240sx]

Umm...when and if you decide to re-route the wiring into the engine bay, you dont go thru the same spot inside the wheel well. You plug that spot up and drill a new hole for the wiring around the same spot as the engine wiring harness.

[Om1kron]

plate.

[FusionR240sx]

relocate to the engine bay.
never worry again.

[khilgers]

remove all of the plactic bends in the harness, this should give you about 1" extra of slack. Also cut out part of the triangulated metal under the fender. You can then tuck the harness up there and there is now way possible for it to rub. Plus you won't have to look at the ugly ass harness running through your engine bay. The pic below is about 75% done, I was able to trim out more and get the harness up a little more than in the pic. Good luck.

[Maiku240sxS14]

I went the tedious work of relocating to the engine bay. Don't forget your still going to have to make sure you cover all the exposed wire individually with electrical tape or something, or else you can still run into trouble with it grounding out.

Well if anyone who has done this or is going to do this (plate idea) make sure you take some pics and post them up.

Good luck with whatevar you do...

[sultan]

i screwed an old license plate in there to block where it comes out the firewall. little too big but whatever, i couldn't find my old motorcycle plate.

[projectRDM]

Originally Posted by Maiku240sxS14

I went the tedious work of relocating to the engine bay. Don't forget your still going to have to make sure you cover all the exposed wire individually with electrical tape or something, or else you can still run into trouble with it grounding out.

Well if anyone who has done this or is going to do this (plate idea) make sure you take some pics and post them up.

Good luck with whatevar you do...

If your harness needs to be taped to prevent grounding out, you have a serious problem. The wiring is all insulated.

[Chrischeezer]

I find the drivers side makes contact more then the pass. side

[Matej]

Cold import nights.


Haha.

[GSXRJJordan]

I run 18x10 +0, and was rubbing the front of the fender well and the 'seam' in the back even with 17x8.5's.

The problem is not the grommet itself, it's right above the grommet where the wiring rubs - I relocated my fuse box inside, so I had far less wires to worry about than most, but I ran the wires directly over from the stock grommet into the engine bay, along the frame rail, and up to the rad support - problem solved. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of it where it hits the firewall.

Edit: Matej that looks like doo doo (but works).

[Maiku240sxS14]

Originally Posted by projectRDM

If your harness needs to be taped to prevent grounding out, you have a serious problem. The wiring is all insulated.

What I meant was...if the wires were already exposed from the rubbing against the tire, you will still need to tape/cover the exposed wires than just putting a plate on and calling it a day....

[ryangreg]

I cut, and individually ran every wire through that triangular hole into the engine bay one by one keeping the harness flattened at this point and running through a large p-clip, then sautered back together in the bay. It took forever fuck yea. Still going to add a plate, but it will be tucked back at this point.

[Dustxking]

love this thread, going to use a plate just like stated above. Done a tuck before but after thsi weekends event of blown fuses and exposed wires i need to get a smaller series tire and a plate.

[smelly240]

u guys are all wierd.

his harness gets hit AT THE BACK - by the door.

[GSXRJJordan]

Originally Posted by smelly240

u guys are all wierd.

his harness gets hit AT THE BACK - by the door.

Yes, that's where the "running through the engine bay" solves the problem - instead of running "up" the firewall, to where it rubs the tire, you run the wires "in" to the engine bay, below where the tire rubs.

I might have to go down and take a pic of my setup.

[jorge1190]

I just did this on my car today and i went with the same method. I notched the triangular part then pulled it up the bent the rest to hold the harness up as well as zipties.

Originally Posted by khilgers

remove all of the plactic bends in the harness, this should give you about 1" extra of slack. Also cut out part of the triangulated metal under the fender. You can then tuck the harness up there and there is now way possible for it to rub. Plus you won't have to look at the ugly ass harness running through your engine bay. The pic below is about 75% done, I was able to trim out more and get the harness up a little more than in the pic. Good luck.

[projectRDM]

I cut the triangle out on my car, gives more room to pull it tight.