battery cable writeup?

Has anyone done a nice writeup of making new battery cables? I know there are posts about DIY cables in the forum, but for a newbie, I would like a tutorial, even step-by-step. How long to cut the cables, what order to remove/install, etc. Thanks,

B

Really eazy, think about your starter lead from bat., your power lead to distribution box, alt to bat. conn.(more on the alt stuff later), and any major grounds off the motor (one right off the top of the block to the middle of the firewall) if you don't have one borrow or buy a crimper you need the one for large cable preferably 0 guage wire (found at welding shops and marine stores) terminal ends to connect to the vairious mounting points (terminal ends come in two different sizes one the cable size and one the mounting stud size) i would also recomend not only crimping on the ends but also soldering them as well it provides better connection and also makes sure they don't go anywere. you will also need batery terminals and a fuse for the alt to bat. link. I could go measure mine but it is much easier if you do some rough measuerments and buy a length of cable crimp on a terminal eye and run the rest of the wire where you want cut and install the other terminal eye.

Just bear in mind, it can get spendy if you don't already have your tooling (and most places will only sell cable to you 25' at a time.)

It's easiest to just pull the cables en masse, make the new ones, and then install them - that way, you can check lengths while you have them out.

Whatever you do, the main battery ground comes off FIRST and goes on LAST (keeps you from welding wrenches to the unibody.)

Or - just check out my link (since I already have all the tooling...)

5-90

5-90

I sent you an email about ordering some of your cables. Let me know please.

Thanks

How spendy is this? How does it compare to just buying replacement cables?

jeepers creepers makes a nice set of HD ones that would probably be just as cheap.

http://www.jeepersandcreepers.com/

J&C is almost 2x the price of Kelley's WIPs.

Fergie

Plus buying Jon's (5-90) will help pay a starving student's way through school, and lead to bigger and better things where XJ owners are concerned...

I missed 5-90 link the first time through, although I couldnt get his pricing link to work. What do a set of his cables run?

jrsxj98 said:

I missed 5-90 link the first time through, although I couldnt get his pricing link to work. What do a set of his cables run?

Click to expand...

Link don't work here either......

From what I read last night, prices are $43 and $53, but don't quote me on that.

Fergie

For those of you having link trouble at my WIP site - could you give me a little more info? I just went thru the site with Mozilla, FireFox, MSIE, and Netscape - no trouble here. (Yes, I made sure I wasn't checking the local files, and I wasn't even logged in as me when I looked! :banghead: ) If there's a problem, I'd like to make sure to fix it.

Another thing about my cables - J&C only gives you TWO for that price - you get a set of FIVE or SIX from me (unless you only WANT one or two - we can work that out. Ask me backchannel.)

BSH - you should have gotten an email from me last night. Let me know if you didn't.

For those of you looking for my link, it's on ALL of my posts! Look down...

And Beej (and anyone else who's interested...) I'll be finishing up some drawings this week-end, and talking to a CNC guy on Monday. I should have some more info for all of you soon - I'll be starting with the AW4 fittings and the FCE (I know, I know - I told all of you I'd be working on it! I originally projected the first of the year - with any luck, you'll be able to get them a lot sooner...)

Oh - I'll be getting cable measurements from a 97XJ to-morrow afternoon - I'll probably have prices up for 97-01 later this week-end - so keep your eyes open!

Did I miss anyone?

5-90

(Oh Gavin? You're memory's good. I even have to look my prices up! -J)

Lou said:

"The web site you are trying to access has exceeded its allocated data transfer. Visit our help area for more information.
Access to this site will be restored within an hour. Please try again later."

Click to expand...

Yep thats what I got as well.

I've gotten that a couple times - if this takes off well enough, I'll upgrade. It's a matter of justifying spending money on it (which will be not a problem in a little less than an hour anyhow. Please be patient...)

5-90

5-90, How do you deal with the fusable link from the ALT feed?

So far, I haven't. But, I've eliminated all of mine, and I've got service life of up to six years with no incident.

If you are dead set on the idea, you can install an ANL fuze block and use an ANL fuze (also called a "wafer" fuze, they're often used for low-voltage/high-current mains wiring) to replace the fuze link) to take care of the fuze link going away. I'm not fond of fuze links - I just haven't gotten around to doing something else yet, to be perfectly honest. Since the shop I deal with doesn't give me parts that cause trouble, I don't worry about it.

ANL fuze blocks and fuzes can be had at Parts Express (www.partsexpress.com,) most boating shops, and shops that deal heavily with automotive wiring and high-power stereo setups. I really haven't had a lot of people asking about that yet, so I haven't gotten far enough to redesign things to accept the heavy fuze and block. I'll put it on the drawing board list - but that will require fuze block mounting and such, and I was going for simple. It's up to you - I'll respond to interest.

Oh - as far as the bandwidth hits, they should be history. I upgraded plans this week-end.

5-90

Thanks 5-90. I'll definitly order a set from you in about 1-2 months after my house deal goes thru. My main concern is having the electrical system alternator and battery fused before it gets into the distribution block.

No problem. Here's something to think about, since I cut cables to order...

Go ahead and buy an ANL fuze block now, and figure out where to mount the thing. The only cable length which will change will be the alternator output cable - which will now run from the alternator to the ANL block, and the ANL block will want another (fairly short) cable going from it to distribution. How long depends on where you put the block. I've given some pointers for measuring out custom cables on my website.

Then, you order the set of cables. Tell me you require a CUSTOM alternator cable and another one from the ANL block to the distro post - I'll need to know lengths and what size rings to put on the ends (choices are 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2". The altnerator takes a 1/4" ring, distro can take a 1/4" or 3/8", and I think a lot of ANL blocks are termed with 1/4" lugs) and I'll cut those cables as you want them. If you give me the numbers beforehand (or download my price sheet - it has a calculator at the bottom) you'll know what you're getting into. Shipping costs are fairly flat - that $15 will cover 1-2 sets of custom cables (unless you're doing a heavy battery relocation.)

Alternatively, you can get the rest of the cables, and get the alternator cable when you figure out how you're going to do it. Shipping on single cables under about four feet goes for $5. I'll work with you on getting you set up - you don't have to do everything at once.

If you have any more questions about what I'm talking about, feel free to hit me backchannel at JeepI6Power AT yahoo DOT com. You might also want to peruse my website if you haven't already (www.geocities.com/JeepI6Power) to look for ideas - especially since I've cured the bandwidth problem and I'll probably be doing an update on this very subject now (with links to fuze and block sources.)

5-90