Consensus on using the rack as a ground? (1 Viewer)

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cruzerDave

Land Shark Outfitters
Joined
Mar 28, 2011
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Location
Bend, Oregon
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landsharkoutfitters.com
I'm planning to wire a bunch of lights on my rack (driving, drl, camp, and markers) and wondering the wisdom of using my rack (Gamiviti) as a common ground? That or I'll run a big ground wire loop and tie into it 10x, but if I can reduce my soldering time in half by grounding to the bolt holding the light to the rack, well, hey, more time for the next project 16 months behind schedule ;) (assume I am attaching to a thread either welded to the rack, or tapped into the rack - no paint interfering)

Is there a long-term corrosion concern? (no marine or road salt here in Bend)

What's the experience/gotchas/cons?
 
Will the rack have a ground wire run to the vehicle body or other type of direct connection? The first thing I'd check is the resistance between where you plan to attach a ground on the rack and the battery negative terminal.

After the connections are made on clean metal and painted over I wouldn't imagine corrosion would be an issue.

I bet you can find a lot of info on HAM radio forums regarding this approach...
 
I think you could ground to your rack following common practice - clean surface and secure connection. Protection against corrosion even in Bend is good from a long term perspective. Then run a good ground from rack to truck, ideally to both body and frame.
I used a buss bar mounted on my home made rack. Then ran light grounds to the buss bar and then one big ground wire fm bussbar to body and frame. Should outlast the truck.
 
@ZackR & @lovetoski - yes on planning to run a large ground wire from engine bay up to the rack and not rely on the rack supports. I also spoke with an EE friend and he thinks it would be better to use studs off the rack than rely on the bolt-rack threads I was considering. Since I was going to have some plates/tabs welded on to attach the lights to, some studs will be pretty easy - so that's my plan ;)
 
IMO I think it takes more time to do it that way than to just run a ground wire. Running a ground wire you have two terminations, at the lights and at the ground. Using the rack for ground at least doubles the amount of terminations and potential failure points. You already have to run a power wire to the lights, adding one more wire in parallel doesn't really add much work.

Just my opinion. I think it would work, I just doesn't see the benefit to doing it that way.

EDIT: Just reread your post. I understood wrong. I still like running independent grounds, but using the rack would save you work. I like running a ground wire loop but your way would work fine.
 
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I'll second the buss bar idea. Mounting a stainless steel bus bar would negate the need to expose your roof rack to bare metal grounds at each ground connection.
 

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