Automotive wire crimper tools

If you plan to change something in your car, sooner or later you will need the right crimping tools. In this post, I will try to describe some of my tools that I use.

Crimping tools are needed to make wiring harness by yourself, which are necessary for car modernization. I don’t run a car repair shop and all I do is mainly for myself, so I decided to buy cheap crimping tools from aliexpress. They are cheaper than tools in local stores in Poland, and they work fine. Every now and then it is enough to oil them so that they doesn’t rust. I also noticed that expensive, branded crimping tools have more comfortable handles – usually made of rubber, but I do not assume mass production, so the ones I have are enough for me.

When I started my adventure with my car, I only had two crimping tools:

Some time later, they were insufficient, so with time new tools appeared.

List of my crimping tools

COLORS SN-48B

crimping pliers for unisuated receptacles and TAB 2.8 mm, 4.8 mm width terminals
 0.5-1.5mm² / 20-15AWG

It is sufficient for most simple mods on cables with a small cross-section.

COLORS SN-02C

crimping pliers for insulation terminal clamp
 0.25-2.5mm² / 23-13AWG

COLORS SN-06

 crimping pliers for insulated terminals
 0.5-6mm² / 20-10AWG

COLORS SN-2

crimping pliers for unisuated receptacles and TAB 2.54 3.96 C3 (4.2mm width)
 0.25-2.5mm² / 23-13AWG

COLORS SN-02B

 crimping pliers for non-insulated tabs 0.5-2.5mm2 14-22AWG

COLORS HS-8

crimping pliers for non-insulated terminals (Point type) Japanese style
 1.25-8.0mm² / 16-7AWG

Good for connecting thicker wires (over 2.5mm).

COLORS HS-02H1

coaxial crimping pliers for RG58/59/62,8X SMA/BNC connectors (like aerial FAKRA)

Mainly to FAKRA antenna connectors.

COLORS HS-40J

crimping pliers for insulated terminals and connectors self-adjusting capacity
 0.25-6.0mm² / 23-10AWG

IWISS IWS-1424B

pliers for Delphi weather pack terminals (sealed connectors)
 0.2-2.0mm² / 24-14AWG

  • terminal on blue seal crimped with IWISS IWS-1424B, end with HY202B

HY202B

crimping tool for non-insulated terminals
 28-10AWG / 0,08-6mm²

OMU system PR-AS

uninsulated car terminal plier 0,5-6mm2 4,8-6,3

Great for connectors on thicker cables, but you still need to use a lot of force to crimp some terminals (a pneumatic crimper would be better for bulk lug terminals on thick cables).

Of course, you can buy crimping tools branded by other companies, I usually chose the COLORS brand, because these tools are the most popular on ebay and aliexpress, if you have more time and want to save some money, it is possible to buy only the crimper jaws.