Quote:
why does basically every vehicle manufacturer use crimps everywhere and particularly on things like engine wiring harnesses? Done properly, crimps are better for automotive.

If you look at how those crimps are put together, they're done with a special crimping machine and a special type of connector. The type of connector is usually multiple crimps for a large wiring harness in a single male/female plastic connector with polarization. The wire gauge is correcty matched to the connector type, and the system is carefully quality tested. They crimp millions of those connections in a mass production system and discard the ones that don't pass the quality tests.

The kinds of crimps that I'm complaining about, the ones used for installing aftermarket car stereos, are a totally different type. I'm talking about the ones you buy at Radio shack where you're supposed to stuff two wires of god-knows-what gauge into a smooth metal tube and then hope that it stays put after you squeeze the tube with a pair of pliers. The tube doesn't bite into the wire the way the B-shaped crimps on the vehicle harnesses do. Edit: Look at the molex PDF that g_attrill just linked and you'll see what I mean.

I'm not saying all crimps are bad, I'm saying that when you personally are installing an aftermarket car stereo, and you need two wires of random gauge to stay stuck together, you're better off soldering and shrink-tubing them.

On the other hand, even when you do have a mass-produced wiring harness made with a special crimping machine, you can still run into trouble.