In our last post we talked about the benefits of a military grade wire in the harness used in your car. Today we continue to look at what's under the shrink wrap. Work that you may never see that was done when the harness was properly prepared. This hidden work goes a long, long way to ensure that your investment will serve you well and be trouble free for years to come.
LMS-EFI utilizes a technique known as concentric twisting when laying up harnesses for our customers. This process involves building up the individual runs of the wire harness with wires wrapped in spiral layers twisted in alternating directions. Not only does the finished product provide a smooth, even, consistent diameter that looks killer when covered in heat shrink, but the process also has very practical benefits that far outweigh the visual effect so many people talk about.
The photos above shows how the individual wires are laid up in layers and each layer is spiraled in the opposite direction of the layer before. This technique provides superior flexibility and built in strain relief for the individual strands of wire.
The photo above shows the benefits of concentric twisting. If you can imagine a similar bundle of wire simply bunched together in parallel runs and held together with tape, or zip ties, you can see how the wires on the outside of the radius of a curve will need to be stretched to complete the longer run and the wires on the inside of the run would bunch up, since they would be too long. In short, attempting the tight curve shown above, without concentric twisting being employed, would result in a crow's nest situation.
The only downside to employing this technique is time. These runs of wire must be hand laid. Despite internet legend, this can't be done by simply chucking your wire in a drill. In the end, like everything about your car, it's worth the extra labor to do it right the first time. Do it right, do it once.