Good, automotive GXL wire source

[astroracer]

Having done a lot of research building the van I have found some excellant suppliers and products out there. With McCarthy Performance and Mr. Candela's pair of books being at the top of the list, here is another to slip onto the pile.
I posted this is the build thread but thought it may get a bit more traffic if I also posted it here in the wiring section.
If anyone is in need of automotive wire give Nate Garland at www.wirebarn.com a look. He sells a number of different types with GXL cross-linked polyethelene being one of them.
He also sells it in 25' lengths in multi-packs of six or eight colors. This is perfect for a home builder like myself as I don't need 100' spools of wire laying around. I just bought 1 ea. of 18ga, 16ga and 14ga 8 color packs from him and paid about what I would have for four 100' spools of 16ga. This is more then enough wire to finish up the van and probably a couple more projects down the road. With 8 colors and three ga sizes I am pretty well set for wire for a while. He also has 12 ga and I'll be picking up a selction of that this week.
Here are some pics of the wire he sent me. It is very nice stuff. And it is made in the USA!!!


Mark

[rb70383]

Thanks, was just searching for some txl 20ga wire for the megasquirt project. This is cheaper then what I have been able to find.

[astroracer]

Very good price for quality, USA made wire. It's also cheaper to buy it in shorter sections.

If you pick it up from him tell him I sent you.
Mark

[ScottRoddy]

Mark (Astroracer), you're a life saver! I feel like I owe you one! I found your comment here on this site last week and I ordered that wire you mentioned above. You are right! great stuff and they shipped very fast. And FWIW, gorgeous colored wire. They have a 10 pack of 18 Gage GXL that I bought and it worked out great (25 feet of every of the 10 colors). I looked at Autozone and other stores and the wire was crap! I soldered this wire from the wirebarn and it didn't even melt when I put my soldering iron at 800 degrees (and I held it there for about 30 seconds straight without moving it).....and I mean I held the soldering iron on the OUTSIDE (casing) of the wire - not on the copper. My generic stuff melted INSTANTLY! Anyway, GXL and TXL are the only wire we need for our cars and fortunately they have both. wirebarn.com definitely rocks! Thanks again Mark! Oh, BTW, the price was better than anything I found online (well, without buying 100 feet of every color anyway).

[Thephranc]

Wish I had saw this before going to NAPA the other day.

[Twentyover]

Another Option

http://www.riwire.com/Catalogs/sup/pages/wire.htm

[droptop62ss]

http://www.delcity.net/ is another good one have used them in the past .They run sales often or free shipping .
never had anything back ordered from them .

Andy

[sjaroslo]

Does one need both TXL and GXL wire? It looks like one is recommended for engine compartments and one for interiors, but they both seem to have the same temperature spec. If someone was going to be happy with just one kind, which kind would that be?

[astroracer]

Gxl

[Coburn_Performance]

Does one need both TXL and GXL wire? It looks like one is recommended for engine compartments and one for interiors, but they both seem to have the same temperature spec. If someone was going to be happy with just one kind, which kind would that be?

The difference is the thickness of the jacket...TXL is thin, G is thicker and the S is thickest. You run TXL for engine harnesses to keep the bundles smaller than your leg :-).

[ScottRoddy]

GXL wire has a thicker jacket. TXL has a thinner jacket. SXL is used for alternator leads and heavy battery cables.

@ Mark: Wirebarn.com rocks! I checked the price at other wire stores and Wirebarn is HALF... I repeat HALF the price of AWC, DellCity, and others. That is great news for us modders. Thanks Mark for turning us on to them. The savings will go into my new exhaust sytem I need to buy.

Also, wirebarn sells wire down to 10 footers! I don't need 100 foot of every color/gage.

Mark, I bought some more wire and this time I told them you sent me and he said he owes you half off a new wirepack. He said he's waiting for you to redeem it. He also said that he would give our forum members a discount, but didn't say exactly how that might work. I think we would need some code to make that work, but he didn't give me one....hey, maybe I'll redeem yours! ...I'll just tell him I'm you.

Thanks again, Mark. Now to figure out my new custom exhaust.

[Motown 454]

Thanks Mark.

[astroracer]

Thanks guys! Glad I could point you in the right direction! Nate is a great guy and he will take of you!

[Jetfixr320]

I needed this contact last summer. :(

Still good to know. LOL

Thanks

[sjaroslo]

Just ordered the "12 Gauge Sampler Pack." :-) Shockingly quick service (ordered and received shipping confirmation ON Sunday, arrived today), nice product and good prices.