Hold tight! Little things make the big things work.
Securing wiring looms into vehicles should be such a simple task, motorsport teams in particular like lightweight, robust and reusable mounting points.
Here is my rundown of cable tie bases and connector mounting points.
Hellerman TY3G1S
This base is great, it is low profile and compact but with a decent slot for 4.8mm wide cable ties. The slight curve to saddle holds rounded bundles well but it’s not so curved that you can’t hold something like an ASC or AS connector. The down side is the adhesive pad, its OK but a patch of 3M VHB double-sided tape really improves it.
T&B TC105
A classic, this aluminium base has been bonded into almost every race car since the 90’s! The base can be gently formed and trimmed to fit roll cages, curves and tight spaces. They need to be bonded to the surface and most mechanics like a fast setting adhesive like Loctite 330, the adhesive can be applied to the base and only the mounting area is sprayed with the Loctite 7388 activator, this method ensures minimal bleed of adhesive for a quick and neat job.
Hellerman LKM
There are many bases that are designed to be pop-riveted in place, these Hellerman LKM are no different but the raised and curved cable slot makes them excellent for fixing larger bundles to.dles to.
Aluminium Cable Clip
More suited to pit equipment but handy to have a few on the race truck, the self adhesive base can be poor but where they excel is that they can be opened and closed multiple times. The aluminium is very soft, making it simple to open and add or remove a wire from its grasp. Great for small gauge cable management in computer racks and equipment.
Edge Clips
If you have a panel edge, this cable tie clip fixing is a great solution and they grip the panel like hell. They dont seem to have a generic Hellerman part reference but RS 447-288 is a good place to start and the datasheet they provide lists the many variants from Hellerman.
If your in Silverstone, drop into the ever helpful guys at Silverstone Factors, they hold many of these products in stock, then throw a few on your design teams bench and the next car they design may actually allow for cable mounting during the design phase! haha 🙂 Silverstone Factors – Silverstone Factors
Rubber Tube Spacers
It is common to have cable bundles or pipes that need to be protected from excessive rubbing against the vehicle body and each other, over the years mechanics have developed their own tricks. Firstly, using just cable ties you can make a simple cable separation system. Secondly, short off-cuts of tube have been employed as an effective separator, this technique can also be used to make a simple stand-off.
Specialist motorsport connector mounts
We have all seen custom connector mounting solutions designed into the occasional sensor box but the cost and time for your favourite ‘mouse pusher’ to do this can really add up. If you looking for an off-the-shelf solution, take a look at the new range from Mullan Racing, the guy behind these designs has spent many seasons prepping and running race cars at all levels, this experience has resulted in a range of connector mounts that ticks all the boxes.
Designed for specific shell sizes of Deutsch AS connectors (and Comparible Souriau versions)
They are 3D printed from high quality and tough commercial materials, not hobby PLA
The connector is mounted such that is can’t unlock once in place.
If the installing mechanic has failed to fully click the bayonet ring home, it wont fully seat, giving a visual and tactile feedback on the error.
A single design will accept both the flange and inline versions, no matter which the wiring supplier decided to fit this time!
From large shell sizes to small, Mullan Racings range is growing all the time. They even have some for DTMs
And best of all, Pricing is a darn sight cheaper than rolling your own. Mullan Racing
