Aluminum wiring? Question for SRT.

[Vic]

In the reveal press release, they mention the Gen5 will have aluminum wiring, especially for the battery cables. I'm sure they did their homework on mating aluminum to copper terminations, with properly plated connections to prevent a corrosive reaction.

And hopefully the Gen5 doesn't have that infernal Gen2 bend in the door loom, between the body and the doors. On a Gen2, the wires get nearly crushed by an extreme flexing in this area. That was a sore spot in that design.

Aluminum wiring would work harden very quickly, if it has to flex at all.

But I'm sure SRT won't make that same mistake again. Right?

Maybe they will use fine-braid stranded copper where the loom goes into the door, and I won't have to be fixing broken wires ad nauseum.

 

[REDBLACK]

Never heard that before about the GEN 2. I've had my '98 for 14 years and haven't had to fix a broken wire anywhere in the car including in the door loom yet. What year is yours?

As far as the GEN V goes, aluminum is cheaper and a worse conductor of electricity than copper. Other than that I can think of no reason to use it.

 

[ViperCollector]

Never heard that before about the GEN 2. I've had my '98 for 14 years and haven't had to fix a broken wire anywhere in the car including in the door loom yet. What year is yours?

A quick search will tell you this is a VERY common issue with Gen 2's, the later the year, the more common the problem. As they added features every year, it required more wiring - but the amount of space in the door remained the same.

 

[REDBLACK]

A quick search will tell you this is a VERY common issue with Gen 2's, the later the year, the more common the problem. As they added features every year, it required more wiring - but the amount of space in the door remained the same.

Keeping my '98 with no wiring problem forever.

 

[Vic]

Redblack,

Glad to hear you haven't had any issues! How many miles you got on yours?

I've got about 55,000, and that's a lot of door cycles. It's a 2001, had it from day one.

When I have to fix a wire, I use special high-flexibility wire. Once changed out, it doesn't break again. One by one, I'm changing out all the original wires, to high flex wire. It's got a finer braid to the strands, and more supple insulation. In comparison, it makes the original wiring loom feel brittle.