this was a shocking discovery! (1 Viewer)

jb welda

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Mar 8, 2006

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• Aug 7, 2006

• #1

i was looking at the battery ground cable over the weekend and decided i could do with a new one. so i checked spector off road to get a price. (this was largely brought on by responses to that starter problem/question thread)

first one is ground; second is positive:

020-41C

-BATTERY CABLE-8/80-1/90 FJ60/FJ62

58.02


020-40K
+BATTERY CABLE-8/80-8/87 FJ60
111.03



jezus h!

58$ for a ground cable? and 111$ for the power side?

am i reading this correctly? are these made of gold or something?

wow...i gotta be able to do better than that! maybe a call to cruiser parts is in order!

i know if you wanna play you gotta pay but this is kind of ridiculous isnt it?

one love
jah bill

 

MANUCHAO

omnia mea mecum porto

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MilkyWay

• Aug 7, 2006

• #2

Go to a Marine shop or a Famers supplier. They have a great selection of Battery Cables.

I use this shop near my place called King Bolt.
They sell all kinds of bots and battery cables among other things.

The prices for them items are crazy...

 

meluhha

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• Aug 7, 2006

• #3

Source some 1/0 or 2/0 welding cable from a welding supply shop or online (I found it around $2/ft.), get some battery ends from McMaster-Carr, take to a car-audio shop or an alternator shop and have them fit the ends on...alternatively, you could buy a cheapo bolt-splicer and use that on the ends (worked great for me)...just don't cut all the way through. I've replaced all the lines on my truck for under $30 with the bolt-splicer tool added in...

 

S

scubasteve

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Hell

• Aug 7, 2006

• #4

Replace wire with the same or larger gauge size. I use aircraft wiring 0/2 AWG for my battery cables. If you want to burn down your vehicle, go ahead and splice new wire. Use new wire with properly terminated ends. The starter draws 100A-150A while cranking the engine.

Splicing wires is OK for normal systems if it is done correctly. Replacing the wire is the right way to do things. Problem is people have strange ways of splicing wires. Bad splices seem to break on a friday night or when you are out in the bush.

Use the proper wire, tools and common sence.

 

meluhha

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• Aug 7, 2006

• #5

scubasteve said:

...Problem is people have strange ways of splicing wires...

Click to expand...

You mean like using a bolt-splicer!!!

Honestly, I agree it needs to be done right and that was why I started looking for a professional crimper. They are way expensive (>$200) and so I looked for alternatives...and you cannot tell the difference from my splice using an $11 bolt-splicer and what I pulled off the truck.

Just my .02.

Cheers

 

Landpimp

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Gig Harbor WA

• Aug 7, 2006

• #6

never heard of aircraft wire for cables........whats so good about it?

I use welding cable or marine cable for all my stuff

 

L

lovetoski

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• Aug 7, 2006

• #7

NAPA has a crimper for about $25. You hit it with a hammer. Works great.

http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPag...r=7771635&Description=Crimping+Tool+-+Welding

 

Last edited: Aug 7, 2006

meluhha

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• Aug 7, 2006

• #8

lovetoski said:

NAPA has a crimper for about $25. You hit it with a hammer. Works great.

Click to expand...

Wish I had seen that one...is it large enough to do 1/0? I think that was why I was getting the high priced ones.

 

kevinmrowland

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• Aug 7, 2006

• #9

If you look in Mcmaster Carr they have solder-on welding cable lugs, the solder is already in them. You hold them in a vise or pair of pliers, heat with torch, push stripped cable into lug. Super duper clean and a great connection.

 

BMAN

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• Aug 7, 2006

• #10

Isn't it called a bolt splitter? Never heard it called a splicer.

And yeah... what kevinmrowland said. They also sell the same lugs and slugs at Delcity.

 

nuclearlemon

not an addict

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windy wyoming

• Aug 7, 2006

• #11

Terminals Run About .50, Bulk Battery Cable Or Welding Cable About $ 1.00/ft, Some Flux Core Solder And A Small Torch (all In The Garage-).

Fill Terminal With Melted Solder And Insert Wire

 

Elbert

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AL, USA

• Aug 7, 2006

• #12

i agree the prices are crazy, but don't these cables have more than one plug on them or connectors? I don't think you can just connect som "0" guage cable a be good on that... at least on the POS side?

 

meluhha

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• Aug 7, 2006

• #13

BMAN said:

Isn't it called a bolt splitter? Never heard it called a splicer.

Click to expand...

Oops.

 

Tinker

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Larkspur, CO

• Aug 7, 2006

• #14

Isn't it really really called a NUT splitter???

Mel - is that truly Chimay, the milk of angels?

 

2mbb

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WC, CA

• Aug 7, 2006

• #15

Elbert said:

i agree the prices are crazy, but don't these cables have more than one plug on them or connectors? I don't think you can just connect som "0" guage cable a be good on that... at least on the POS side?

Click to expand...

Yes. Elbert is correct that the positive cable does have a child wire that goes to a connector for the fuseable link (I think). When I added a winch, I re-did my battery cables. I cut the child wire from the original termainal and put a post lug on it. I then used a military-style battery termial that allowed me to connect the main battery, the child and the winch cables.

To tell the truth, I had so many other accessory wires coming into the positive battery terminal that I installed a remote power distribution post in the postive cable run from the battery to the starter. This moved the mess from one location to another....

 

meluhha

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• Aug 7, 2006

• #16

Tinker said:

Isn't it really really called a NUT splitter???

Mel - is that truly Chimay, the milk of angels?

Click to expand...

Yes...and yes.

It's soooo good I named two dogs after it! Chimay (brown lab mix) and Abbey (Setter-ish mix)...Chimay Abbey is where it is brewed!! Gotta love them Belgiums with their high alcohol content!!

Doggies:

As far as the child wire (relay?)...just cut it at the terminal, strip it, and put it in the mix of the new terminal. Piece o' cake.

Before I moved the child from on top of the battery:

After I moved it:

Total job.

Cheerio

 

Last edited: Aug 7, 2006

S

scubasteve

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Hell

• Aug 7, 2006

• #17

The difference between aircraft cable and welding cable is cost, flexibility and durability. My battery cables are triple insulated and wraped in a teflon fiberglass coating. This stuff does not chafe. The main reason I use it, it's free. So are the terminal lugs. My crimpers do 8AWG thru 0/4AWG.

Proper termination is just as important as the wire. So are grounds.