4/0 Battery Cables

[Silver_Ram]

Has anyone upgraded the stock battery cables to 4/0 size?



Did it help much with starter improvement?

 

[AMixon]

OK Silver Ram, I'll bite... what's going on with your starting system? Two posts about cable upgrades makes a man wonder...

 

[Silver_Ram]

I am going to make my own cables and go with the mitiltary posts. I am tired of the vehicle manufacturers building the cables you can only get at the dealer. I was thinking that since the 4/0 cable is closer rated to the 450 amps the starter uses to start the truck, I would upgrade.



From the other post, Quick Cable has some great looking products, but trying to find a retailer is coming up short. .

 

[gathomas]

Silver Ram, The 2/0 factory cable that goes to the starter is a compression (crimped) lug. Not the best in terms of resistance.



This type of connection is corrosion prone, which further ups the resistance.



Over time these type connections really deterioate. Its a dollar cost issue for the factory. The size of the cable is not the problem, its the connections.



I built my own cables with parts from A. C. Terminals in Latrobe, PA , do a Superpages search and you'll find their number.



What you want here is a soldered connection, they have everything that you need to accomplish this, but, you have to know how to do this correctly or you can really mess it up and cost you some bucks ( the cost of copper is thru the roof these days).



Also after you have soldered these lugs, its a good idea to put adhesive coated shrink tubing over the joint for first class corrosion protection. AC Terminals has this shrink tubing also.



If you have any questions PM me, and I'll answer what I can.



Good luck, Glen

 

[gathomas]

Silver Ram, I wrote this post at 3am, still 1/2 asleep.



It's acterminals.com

 

[JCrockett]

Check these guys out!

http://www.polarwire.com/

They will make anything you want. Get a catalog from them and have your cable custom built. I just installed 1/0 cable on both my trucks to run my Warn 8000 Multimount. This wire is awesome, stays flexible in cold weather and easy to work with. It is not cheap by any means though. It will be the last wire you buy though. I like to do things right the first time!

 

[starkmr]

gathomas,



Crimped connections have been an industry standard in the electrical trade for many years. I'm talking high amperage connections. The wire should be treated with with a corrosion inhibitor such as Noalox prior to crimping the connector on. By all means use a shrink boot to further protect it as well! Oo.



The trucks that are in use in Alaska's oilfield have not been shown to have a problem with corrosion on their battery terminals (stock). In the lower 48 environments, you should not have a problem either!!



JMO,



Mike

 

[Rman]

Solder connections are better at protecting against corrosion and keeping a low resistance connection. However, in DC applications you should always crimp first, then solder. High current will melt solder and cause you to lose connection (doing this at a battery terminal is bad, fire time). So I recommend marine cables (tinned throughout the cable), a good copper military style connector ans back it up with solid solder connections and good heat shrink over the fittings.

 

[Silver_Ram]

I started the post to see if anyone had 4/0 battery cables already.



The cable I'm going to get from Quick Cable is tinned & temperature rated for 257 degrees F. The insulation is also abrasion, salt & chemical resistant. It's UL listed as well.



I bought some putty & gonna check the clearances between the hood & the radiator. The price difference between 2/0 & 4/0 is very little. This cable is expensive & I have to buy a minimum of 25 feet.



I already bought a set of Hexcrimps & the cable cutter, so a little more overtime & I can get the cable.

 

[TGroves]

silver ram ... . try your local stereo shop they will have 0g, 2g , 4g and 8g wiring in red and black and sometimes purple and clear ... and you can ask for any footage you want and if the shop carries alot of product ,he will have water proof connecters and fuse blocks from many differant companys ,,, stinger wiring is very good stuff ,,, you can get gold connectors bing bing ,, or normal ones or silver finish

 

[Thomas]

Has anyone upgraded the stock battery cables to 4/0 size? Did it help much with starter improvement?

I've never seen it posted. It may be that most of us consider the 1/0 & 2/0 cables used in the diesel starting system as more than adequate. The problems with the starting system that I recall involve batteries, starter contacts, corrosion, and ill-fitting soft lead die cast clamps at the battery terminals. The die cast clamps only get worse with each "disconnect the batteries" warning.

I am going to make my own cables and go with the mitiltary posts. I am tired of the vehicle manufacturers building the cables you can only get at the dealer. I was thinking that since the 4/0 cable is closer rated to the 450 amps the starter uses to start the truck, I would upgrade...

Your 450 amps is on the low side for current draw of an engine at operating temperature - the FSM suggests it can be more than 700 amps for a cold, tight engine. The fact that the cables are out in the air and are used for such a short time has to be considered. I think the Nippon Denso starter motor would experience meltdown long before larger cables were needed.

OEM cables in good shape can be altered to use the military battery clamps: https://www.turbodieselregister.com/user_gallery/sizeimage.php?&photoid=23125

... The 2/0 factory cable that goes to the starter is a compression (crimped) lug. Not the best in terms of resistance...

I don't know how it is model year 1997 but all Factory Service Manuals 2000-2006 state large eyelet type terminals are crimped onto the ... battery cable wire and then solder-dipped.

 

[ryecreek]

I started the post to see if anyone had 4/0 battery cables already.



The cable I'm going to get from Quick Cable is tinned & temperature rated for 257 degrees F. The insulation is also abrasion, salt & chemical resistant. It's UL listed as well.



I bought some putty & gonna check the clearances between the hood & the radiator. The price difference between 2/0 & 4/0 is very little. This cable is expensive & I have to buy a minimum of 25 feet.



I already bought a set of Hexcrimps & the cable cutter, so a little more overtime & I can get the cable.

Try your local welding supply this wire is excellent quality not sure on specs but you WELD with it from a heat stand point and every time i have bought it it was by the spool or by the foot with no min.

and

no i have fact. cables but i have a worn drive ramsey which draws i want to say 380a with 5-6ft of 1ga and have run at full load till batts and mtr overload and the cables are not even warm but bigger always better and a mil. connection is hard to beat

 

[Matt400]

OEM cables in good shape can be altered to use the military battery clamps: https://www.turbodieselregister.com/user_gallery/sizeimage.php?&photoid=23125

Link no work? what kind of clamp is this and where do you find therm?

 

[SMorneau]

I have the military lugs set up on some custom made wires. 2/0 on all the positives and 1/0 for the grounds. I think that's a step up from factory and it seems to work fine. The mil lugs are really great.

Some marine sites say you should always have a mechanical connection so heating cannot break the connection as it could with solder only.

While my cables are crimped, I have used the quick solder lugs mentioned above and they are very nice.

 

[WDixon27]

if i had to guess they are probably the ones i installed a few months ago on my truck, i got them off ebay and they are listed for a humvee, nice big fat juicy terminal that accepts a lug, i crimped and soldered all of mine and it spins over fast enough now that i can start it without using throttle if i wanted to with my low idle, ill try to snap a pic or two

Link no work? what kind of clamp is this and where do you find therm?

 

[Matt400]

Ok, I think I know what you have. Must be this:

#ad




and then you used a copper crimp type ring terminal like this:

#ad

 

[Thomas]

Link no work? what kind of clamp is this and where do you find therm?

Try this: #ad

 

[WDixon27]

yep, i just went out and took some pics because i finally remembered to

#ad

#ad


they give you a little more room for extra lugs to bolt on to for all of that extra crap we need :-laf
you can see the only non molested battery end of the cable connector on the left battery, the cable with the factory lug from the right, i re did the ground lugs too on the block as they didn't look too hot, i found out it would start without pedal much easier from when i was testing the set up, i just hit the key and let er spin to see if anything would get hot but after maybe 3 seconds it popped, normally it would take much longer and when i rest my foot on the pedal it pops in a half revolution or so

Ok, I think I know what you have. Must be this:
#ad


and then you used a copper crimp type ring terminal like this:
#ad

 

[MVenditti]

cables

I read that for making jumper and other cables welding cable will carry the current better than other cables. Just an idea.