How many feet of wire to replace battery/starter cables and grounds (1 Viewer)

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lcolon

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I am going to makeup some new 2 gauge cables for the Battery -> Alternator, Starter, and all the grounds. Does anyone know how much cable I should buy? 10 ft of Red & Black?

I do not have other high draw electrical projects at the moment so I really just want to get sufficient wire. I am going to be removing my 80 amp 62 alt and replacing it with a QualityPower unit.

For those that are interested - the QualityPower alternator is a CS130 1 wire gm unit modified to put out 140 amps. It comes with what looks like an aftermarket mounting kit that is off the shelf. I got a wiring harness for the plug on it and I am hoping to get the charge light working correctly. From my conversations with the guys at QualityPower - the engine RPMs need to be about 800 to excite the 1 wire alternator. I personally would have preferred a 3 wire with a proper sensing circuit but we will give this a go. I guess I will be raising my idle...
 
Curious what you are running that requires the extra amperage.

look at getting marine cable and connectors. 4 gage is plenty and 10’ of power cable should be fine. 10’ will probably be enough for ground cable but you might want a little more because you can never have enough grounds.
 
I have off-road lights, big stereo amp with subwoofer, fridge, and a spal pusher fan for the a/c... it is the fan that puts it over the top. Ok during the day but running with lights and ac at night my voltage drops too much.

I will add that I have the fan connected to a temp sensitive controller that will activate it if the truck is too warm whether ac is on or not

I also have dual batteries, ham radios, and a winch
 
I am going to makeup some new 2 gauge cables for the Battery -> Alternator, Starter, and all the grounds. Does anyone know how much cable I should buy? 10 ft of Red & Black?

I do not have other high draw electrical projects at the moment so I really just want to get sufficient wire. I am going to be removing my 80 amp 62 alt and replacing it with a QualityPower unit.

For those that are interested - the QualityPower alternator is a CS130 1 wire gm unit modified to put out 140 amps. It comes with what looks like an aftermarket mounting kit that is off the shelf. I got a wiring harness for the plug on it and I am hoping to get the charge light working correctly. From my conversations with the guys at QualityPower - the engine RPMs need to be about 800 to excite the 1 wire alternator. I personally would have preferred a 3 wire with a proper sensing circuit but we will give this a go. I guess I will be raising my idle...

Go to amazon and get 25' 2 guage welding wire, lugs, lug crimper and heat shrink. makes great cables. I used black cable with red and black heat shrink. and military spec battery terminal and cover
 
Go to amazon and get 25' 2 guage welding wire, lugs, lug crimper and heat shrink. makes great cables. I used black cable with red and black heat shrink. and military spec battery terminal and cover

I used to recommend welding wire but the marine cable will hold up better to the elements.
 
@Fourrunner already makes a nice kit he sells. You can get them wrapped so they are Red and Black like you want. I was planning on getting all the tools and materials to do this myself, but it would have cost me more, especially if you factor in a learning curve for some dumb like me o_O.


Here's the link:
 
I have off-road lights, big stereo amp with subwoofer, fridge, and a spal pusher fan for the a/c... it is the fan that puts it over the top. Ok during the day but running with lights and ac at night my voltage drops too much.

I will add that I have the fan connected to a temp sensitive controller that will activate it if the truck is too warm whether ac is on or not

I also have dual batteries, ham radios, and a winch

makes sense. I am always curious because some people have stock trucks and fall into the bigger must be better trap. But I think you have a pretty clear need for more power 😀
 
When I ran extra cables for every thing I used red and black shrink wrap, but I also used red tape
wraps spaced evenly along any wires that are positive connected. So when you’re under the truck looking
for abrasions and maintaining stuff, it’s easy to know which wire is which.
 
I have the crimping tool so it is just materials cost for me. I will go for a 10 foot roll of black / red and hope that it is sufficient. When I pull everything apart I will measure out the stock cables and post up for others.

I debated about adding in that pusher fan but it makes a huge difference in AC performance when it is very hot outside. Plus my 8274 and associated cover kind of block the radiator flow so I did not think it was a bad thing to have more fan power up front. I think it pulls 7amps or so of juice...
 
I installed the Fourrunner kit last week. Really made a difference...chasing some other gremlins now.
fj60cables.jpg
 

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