Electrical grounding (1 Viewer)

[RFB]

Good morning gents, I have dual batteries I have a bussman relay/fuse block I made and installed last year and a bussman grounding block as well. my question is is the bussman ground better off on the body or to the frame? Im asking because Im doing shocks and have access to it all again and Ive wondered if I was better off frame grounded rather than to body as it is now.

 

[Douglas S]

Grounds are always better when connected to the negative battery post. Either directly or through a distribution block.

 

[Technician1985]

Ideally your - terminal will be connected to the frame, body, and block. The body of the fj80 isn’t he best ground because it’s not really directly attached to the frame or block since there are bushings. The frame would be the best ground and you can ground to the shock tower which is welded to the frame. Your current grounds are probably barely adequate.

 

[Marine7]

What Technician said! If you have access I would make a run to the frame, body, engine block and battery.

 

[Irish Reiver]

Are there any body to frame ground straps on the cruiser? Just wondering..

 

[Shoredreamer]

Kinda depends what ground wires you have coming off your batteries. Stock battery grounds go to the block and the body. If you added a second batt, what grounds have you done? I have a block, body and frame ground on both batteries and run my fuseblock grounds directly to the battery. Frame ground on the neg block is fine if your battery is also grounded to the frame.

 

[ToyotaDon]

Are there any body to frame ground straps on the cruiser? Just wondering..

Yes, absolutely.

 

[Irish Reiver]

Yes, absolutely.

Where? I see straps from the battery to the body and battery to frame (starter) and various harness to body connections but i can't recall a specific body to frame strap.

 

[ToyotaDon]

Where? I see straps from the battery to the body and battery to frame (starter) and various harness to body connections but i can't recall a specific body to frame strap.

Look next to the ignition coil. I believe there's a wire there, possibly with a connector in the middle of it.

 

[Marine7]

Mine is on my firewall Irish Reiver. Not sure about other...... mine is a 91 though.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

The factory body ground is a ~#8. The large ground off the battery goes to the block. With that said I would and do recommend anyone with dual batteries or aftermarket wiring to add an additional (min #4) ground from EACH battery to the frame. The reason is if one ever looses the large ground to the block when you try to start your vehicle or have a large load your system will look for ground and back feed through the body small ground and can result in melting or worst and start a fire. Keep in mind you can successfully weld with one battery.

 

[Irish Reiver]

If you lose the main ground from the battery at the block wouldnt the olny path be via the accelorator cable. The block being isolated by the motor mounts? When I did my dual battery, I upgraded the ground wire from the awg8 to a awg 2 on both the batteries and also on the ground wire I ran to the rear quarter. Only grounded to the body though..

 

[RFB]

Ideally your - terminal will be connected to the frame, body, and block. The body of the fj80 isn’t he best ground because it’s not really directly attached to the frame or block since there are bushings. The frame would be the best ground and you can ground to the shock tower which is welded to the frame. Your current grounds are probably barely adequate.

Yea I get that those 3 are good, Im talking this additional ground block that is for only the bussman fuse box.

 

[RFB]

The factory body ground is a ~#8. The large ground off the battery goes to the block. With that said I would and do recommend anyone with dual batteries or aftermarket wiring to add an additional (min #4) ground from EACH battery to the frame. The reason is if one ever looses the large ground to the block when you try to start your vehicle or have a large load your system will look for ground and back feed through the body small ground and can result in melting or worst and start a fire. Keep in mind you can successfully weld with one battery.

thats what I was thinking but wasnt sure Is there a particular place you recomend? and thank you.

 

[RFB]

The factory body ground is a ~#8. The large ground off the battery goes to the block. With that said I would and do recommend anyone with dual batteries or aftermarket wiring to add an additional (min #4) ground from EACH battery to the frame. The reason is if one ever looses the large ground to the block when you try to start your vehicle or have a large load your system will look for ground and back feed through the body small ground and can result in melting or worst and start a fire. Keep in mind you can successfully weld with one battery.

yes if you recall last year I did just that turned my main battery hold down into a a welding stick whilst driving.

 

[RFB]

The factory body ground is a ~#8. The large ground off the battery goes to the block. With that said I would and do recommend anyone with dual batteries or aftermarket wiring to add an additional (min #4) ground from EACH battery to the frame. The reason is if one ever looses the large ground to the block when you try to start your vehicle or have a large load your system will look for ground and back feed through the body small ground and can result in melting or worst and start a fire. Keep in mind you can successfully weld with one battery.

yes if you recall last year I did just that turned my main battery hold down into a a welding stick whilst driving.

 

[george_tlc]

Given that nothing really connects to the frame for ground (OEM wiring), the real ground paths are:

a) Battery to Block (this is where the starter gets its ground from). This is a high current path obviously.
b) Battery to body (next to the battery). This is a critical ground to your vehicle electrical system (lights, ecus, radio, etc etc etc.).

There are a few other ground straps from the engine to the body - e.g. a main strap that is from the top area of the engine to the firewall near the heater valve stuff.

I see no point in adding any large diameter cables from battery ground to the frame. Probably the only reason to ensure there's at least one strap from frame to battery ground (body etc) is if you run HAM gear and want to ensure you don't have chunks of the vehicle steel with poor grounds that can cause/inject noise into the RF paths.

When I did dual batteries and winch etc, I put a larger wire diameter on both a) and b) above. Similarly for the aux battery.

All vehicle ground points (e.g. in the cab) go to studs that are on the body.

Finally, for a main distribution ground, I would wire it direct to either the battery or block or to a known GOOD body location on the same side as the main battery. Consider also that copper (wires) have lower resistance than steel (the body)...

cheers,
george.

 

[RFB]

Given that nothing really connects to the frame for ground (OEM wiring), the real ground paths are:

a) Battery to Block (this is where the starter gets its ground from). This is a high current path obviously.
b) Battery to body (next to the battery). This is a critical ground to your vehicle electrical system (lights, ecus, radio, etc etc etc.).

There are a few other ground straps from the engine to the body - e.g. a main strap that is from the top area of the engine to the firewall near the heater valve stuff.

I see no point in adding any large diameter cables from battery ground to the frame. Probably the only reason to ensure there's at least one strap from frame to battery ground (body etc) is if you run HAM gear and want to ensure you don't have chunks of the vehicle steel with poor grounds that can cause/inject noise into the RF paths.

When I did dual batteries and winch etc, I put a larger wire diameter on both a) and b) above. Similarly for the aux battery.

All vehicle ground points (e.g. in the cab) go to studs that are on the body.

Finally, for a main distribution ground, I would wire it direct to either the battery or block or to a known GOOD body location on the same side as the main battery. Consider also that copper (wires) have lower resistance than steel (the body)...

cheers,
george.

so the bussman ground bar pictured above should ideally be grounded back to aux battery neg post? I just started thinking about this even tho Ive been running it for 8 months already.

 

[george_tlc]

Yeah, back to the battery neg is the best option electrically. Though to a good body (main battery side) would also be fine. I presume it's not carrying that many amps?

cheers,
george.

 

[avdeveloper]

Given that nothing really connects to the frame for ground (OEM wiring), the real ground paths are:

a) Battery to Block (this is where the starter gets its ground from). This is a high current path obviously.
b) Battery to body (next to the battery). This is a critical ground to your vehicle electrical system (lights, ecus, radio, etc etc etc.).

There are a few other ground straps from the engine to the body - e.g. a main strap that is from the top area of the engine to the firewall near the heater valve stuff.

I see no point in adding any large diameter cables from battery ground to the frame. Probably the only reason to ensure there's at least one strap from frame to battery ground (body etc) is if you run HAM gear and want to ensure you don't have chunks of the vehicle steel with poor grounds that can cause/inject noise into the RF paths.

When I did dual batteries and winch etc, I put a larger wire diameter on both a) and b) above. Similarly for the aux battery.

All vehicle ground points (e.g. in the cab) go to studs that are on the body.

Finally, for a main distribution ground, I would wire it direct to either the battery or block or to a known GOOD body location on the same side as the main battery. Consider also that copper (wires) have lower resistance than steel (the body)...

cheers,
george.

what does the ground strap connecting the engine block to the firewall affect?