Battery Cable Upgrade (PICS: Not Dial-Up Friendly)
 

Took the Runner to my buddy who owns a car audio shop in town and had some upgraded battery cables run. 1/0 for all the negative/ground connections and 4 gauge from alternator to battery and 8 gauge from battery to fuse box.

Overall pretty nice, I can tell a difference when starting it because the dimming of the interior lights isn't there anymore. Before this I had some serious dimming of the interior lights when I started it. So thats pretty cool, overall its just a better setup, longer cables so I can now run my new D34/78 Yellow Top without having it on its side and I've got nice terminals with lots of different connections on them to add all sorts of stuff.

Overall, highly recommend this in conjunction with the D34/78 Yellow Top for a solid setup. I can easily run all my amps and subs and add stuff on later with no problems. Granted, its no dual battery setup but for my needs its perfect!

He also added a few new grounds; one on the engine, body and frame.

Here are some pics:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...s_0gauge_4.jpg

^ Overall view of terminals ^

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...terngrnd_1.jpg

^ New engine ground via alternator ^

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...ramegrnd_1.jpg

^ New frame ground ^


So far I like it. I was only curious about two things...I was thinking he would also run bigger gauge wire to both the fuse box and alternator (charging wire), he said that he looked at the fuses and all that and he played it safe because he didn't want to blow anything.

Would it be all right for him to run all 1/0 gauge to the positive connections or is the 4 and 8 gauge OK?

Second, should I go back and put some heat shrink on the very ends of those connections so that water can't get up inside of em? I don't wash my engine bay much but I'm sure water gets up there, just wondering.

Thanks guys, just thought I would post up on it as I haven't found a thread dedicated to a setup like this before.

Fink:devil:

Not sure on the wire size, but you can also just put a glob of clear silicone to seal water out as well.

You need something covering the "+" terminal. That is potential fire under your hood waiting to happen.

You don't need anything bigger than 4 ga anywhere for your stock-ish electrical system. 1/0 grounds are a waste IMO. But if the price was right.....

There is probably a plastic ocver for the + terminal. Just ask your buddy at the shop.
Looks good.
Sorry I never got around to getting you the shots of my setup......baby in less than 24 hours......

One thing just occurred to me when looking at this again. The "set screw" type connection on the power side has a tendency to not hold all that great - especially on an off road rig. Ask you buddy if he tinned the ends of the power cables so the set screw has something to bite.

Very good point and you need to seal the soldered ends off quite well since the solder oxidizes very easily in contact with water (esp with such a ready supply of electrons).

Very nice, clean looking too. Also just why is there always a cover on the positive terminal?

.....because if any metal contacts it in the engine compartment you got yourself a heck of a sparkshow.

where did you get those terminals? who are they made by? the look clean and have mutliple posts for aux stuff

I'll put some heatshrink on the ends of the ring terminals to block out water and ask my buddy if there is a cover for the positive terminal.

The terminals are made by Hooker Audio and I got them at my buddies shop.

Since right now everything is either 1/0 or 4 gauge except for the fuse box wire should I have him run 4 gauge to the fuse box? I wouldn't think that it would carry much current but I have no idea.

Thanks for the comps/suggestions!

Fink:devil:

hmmm ...

upgrading to 1/0 greatly reduced the dimming in my electrical system.

Had you tried something less (but larger than stock) before going to 1/0?

touche. no i did not.

Put some Battery grease (Di-electric Grease sp?)on all the contacts and screws,

Like were the ground is mounted to the frame, body, and alt. these spots are gonna first rust (as he ground down to bare metal) and 2nd Corrode on you.

Nice set up, Your buddy did a great job.

Ignore the people saying that the gauge is over kill and a waste. WHEN IS anything like this a waste ? Thats like saying "Dude your setup is TOO GOOD"

thanks for sharing the Pic's

Fancy stuff, looks good except as noted the lack of cover for the positive terminal. Especially since the positive post is about 1 inch away from grounding on your body and the battery hold down looks like a bad fit for the battery size. You gave me some ideas.

I was thinking about making a custom bracket with some scrap metal that I've got layin around but then I went and really checked it out and it doesn't move at ALL, it's very secure, I'm assuming he realized that because of the lack of a cover that something could happen so he did the best he could.

I looked online and I don't think Hooker Audio (terminal mfr.) makes clear covers for their terminals.

Should I get a new positive terminal that comes with a plastic cover? Cardomain.com has a bunch of em.

Thanks for all the comps!

So I guess the 8 gauge going to the fuse box isn't going to be a problem? I would have liked him to run 4 gauge to it but he said he didn't wanna blow the fuse...I trust him,

I'll get some grease and stuff for the connections and I guess I don't have any heatshrink big enough for the ring terminals so I'll have to run to the auto parts store and grab some.

Thanks again guys!

Fink:devil:

Well, I'd trust him more if I understood what he thought he was thinking when he made that statement.

If he's thinking that 4 gauge would allow enough current to blow a fuse where 8 gauge wouldn't, then what he's saying is that the 8 gauge wire is providing enough resistance to LIMIT the current so as to not blow a fuse.

If that were true, then that 8 gauge wire would probably be getting mighty warm. ...and that wouldn't be safe in the slightest.

If nothing else get some of that liquid electrical tape at Home Depot and paint about 3 coats on any exposed metal on the positive post side.

I was able to make my battery hold-down fit my Optima quite nicely by making a spacer for the bottom out of plywood and using some thick rubber padding just under the hold-down. Here is a pic:http://community.webshots.com/photo/...66765883ucOJdQ

I'm willing to bet something got missed in the interpretation, because this statement does not make *any* sense. The very last thing you want to do is restrict your current based upon the gauge of the wire - that is the function of the fuse/circuit breaker. You always want the fuse/circuit breaker to blow before your wire starts to overheat. As Midiwall said, that wire will get very hot and could cause a fire.

Now, with that said, I don't know what your friend was thinking, so can't say how his judgement is. It may be that your vehicle won't draw any more power than the 8 gauge will need to handle. BUT, if it were my vehicle, I'd be going to 4 gauge, or 2 gauge, or....

Steve

I upgraded my negative cable (batt. to body) with 2/0 and I've noticed less cranking and a higher voltage reading on my gauge. It is simply a 1 foot piece that I crimped some terminals onto and covered in two layers of heat shrink. My headlights, hella's and gauges are brighter. Excellent mod for 5.00 in supplies. In fact most electrical supply stores have scrap pieces for cheap.