Split loom: Corrugated or braided? or...?

As covered in another thread, I'm doing an accessory wiring project on my truck. For you peeps that do a lot of this, I offer a battle of the split wire looms:

------Versus-------

I've always used the corrugated stuff, but I like the look of the braid.  If you've worked with both, which do you prefer? Or is there a third contender I've left out?

I much prefer the look and working with the braid. On the other hand, I usually go with the much lower cost of the convolute loom. 

Convoluted for abrasion resistance. Braided for looks and tight spaces. 

If budget is not a factor, braid all the way. The corrugated is cheap and looks cheap by comparison.

I would rather use hockey tape than corrugated, and I hate hockey tape harnesses.

Nylon braid (cut with a hot knife) and then taped at the joints with self amalgamating tape or shrink boots with adhesive works nicely and isn't too expensive. 

Good tips. I ordered 25' of braided to give it a whirl. Seems easier to work with than corrugated. 

Good idea on the heat shrink at the ends! I usually zip tie the corrugated but the shrink will look better. And I just bought a box of asstd heat shrink tube.

If you want to achieve the full Rockstar Wire rating, integrate these babies into your new loom look

There's a couple grades of split convolute; the cheaper stuff will get brittle when exposed to engine compartment heat and start cracking after a few years of use.

We've been using Techflex F6 braid on our drop-on harnesses. The one problem it has is that it can hold onto oil more than split convolute. But it's more flexible and stands up to heat very well - I once had antifreeze soak a harness and catch on fire, and I couldn't figure out where the fire had been when I inspected the harness later.

NOHOME said:

If you want to achieve the full Rockstar Wire rating, integrate these babies into your new loom look

Yeah, ima need a link on that ....

MadScientistMat - Can I ask what kind of antifreeze you were running that you set it on fire?

ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:

 

MadScientistMat - Can I ask what kind of antifreeze you were running that you set it on fire?

Just some generic parts-store mix with anything stuff. I didn't expect it to burn when diluted normally either, but there was a big radiator leak and no signs of a fuel or oil leak that could have started the fire,

MadScientistMatt said:

ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:

 

MadScientistMat - Can I ask what kind of antifreeze you were running that you set it on fire?

Just some generic parts-store mix with anything stuff. I didn't expect it to burn when diluted normally either, but there was a big radiator leak and no signs of a fuel or oil leak that could have started the fire,

Huh. Now I'm going to have to set fire to some stuff this weekend just to see.

Braided is a pain in the ass to loom and hard to terminate well.  But it does not look chintzy like split loom does, and the wires won't fall out over time.

You can get around that problem with split loom by putting a barber pole like wrap of electrical tape over the wires, and terminate the loom by wrapping the wires with tape and then threading the tape through the split in the loom and taping over the end, the way GM does it.

Braided is not that expensive from Summit.  I forget how much it was, but the difference in price was not enough for me to go split loom, so I have bags and bags of the braided stuff.

ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:

NOHOME said:

If you want to achieve the full Rockstar Wire rating, integrate these babies into your new loom look

Yeah, ima need a link on that ....

Search for 'heat shrink cable breakout boot' aka 'cable pants'. 

I will never not call these cable pants now.

ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:

I will never not call these cable pants now.

Also ruined this for me forever.

McMaster Carr has a few variants. I like dealing with McMaster as long as I have a business address to ship to; they wont do home delivery.

https://www.mcmaster.com/cable-pants-heat-shrink/heat-shrink-cable-splitters/

In reply to NOHOME :

Did they say why? I get McMaster delivered to my apartment.

Braided. Corrugated always looks like E36 M3 and, from my experience in dealership work, tends to get brittle and disintegrate from heat and age.