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lil_Blue_Ford
Cut & Weld
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- Joined
- Aug 6, 2007
- Messages
- 10,647
- City
- Butler
- State - Country
- PA - USA
- Vehicle Year
- 2000
- Vehicle
- Ford Ranger
- Engine
- 5.0
- Transmission
- Automatic
- Total Drop
- 4”
So….
My first 5.0 swap was for my dad. We threw a 3-year lead/acid battery in and it was fine, even through winter and sitting outside and not being driven daily. Just used the stock size battery.
My green 00 Ranger I hit a point before the 5.0 swap where I needed a battery, the one I had was in warranty but died and as it worked out, it was a discontinued battery, so I had to find something else. What I ended up accepting was a narrower and longer than the stock battery, so I bent the flange on the battery tray closest to the radiator support as flat as I could (not easy to do in the truck, used pipe wrenches mostly). I also used a piece of old heater hose between the battery and stock clamp. It worked for a year or two before I did the engine swap. I believe a 65 series battery may have fit at that point.
The factory metal tray is spot welded in and attaches to the rad/core support and the inner fender in two places if I remember correctly.
When I did my 5.0 swap in my green 00 Ranger, I had to replace my rad/core support anyway, so I drilled out the spot welds for the factory tray and replaced it with the plastic Explorer tray. I had to do a little modification to my inner fender because of where the one bolt landed. I didn’t have a nutsert/rivnut tool at the time and had the fender off anyway so it wasn’t a big deal, but you may be able to use one of those instead of taking the fender off and doing some trimming on the end of the one support to get a nut on there. The plastic tray from the Explorer bolted in and holds a 65 series battery. It’s a tight squeeze for that battery, I ended up putting a slight bend to the mount for the ABS and shortened the bolt for the grounds to the core support slightly.
There is nothing wrong with replacing battery cables and ends. My preferred method is to use battery terminal clamps that are for either car audio or marine use rather than the cheap lead clamps. I also replace factory battery wiring with 4 gauge welding cable and use dielectric grease and/or No-Alox (electricians use it for terminating aluminum wire to prevent corrosion). Dielectric is not electrically conductive but No-Alox is electrically conductive. Use it as needed. Corrosion can even get into the wires inside the insulation. Corrosion slows the conductivity of electricity. Contrary to popular belief, electricity flows along the outside of the wire, not inside like a straw. So corrosion on the outside of a wire reduces current. I also am a fan of upgrading grounds.
My first 5.0 swap was for my dad. We threw a 3-year lead/acid battery in and it was fine, even through winter and sitting outside and not being driven daily. Just used the stock size battery.
My green 00 Ranger I hit a point before the 5.0 swap where I needed a battery, the one I had was in warranty but died and as it worked out, it was a discontinued battery, so I had to find something else. What I ended up accepting was a narrower and longer than the stock battery, so I bent the flange on the battery tray closest to the radiator support as flat as I could (not easy to do in the truck, used pipe wrenches mostly). I also used a piece of old heater hose between the battery and stock clamp. It worked for a year or two before I did the engine swap. I believe a 65 series battery may have fit at that point.
The factory metal tray is spot welded in and attaches to the rad/core support and the inner fender in two places if I remember correctly.
When I did my 5.0 swap in my green 00 Ranger, I had to replace my rad/core support anyway, so I drilled out the spot welds for the factory tray and replaced it with the plastic Explorer tray. I had to do a little modification to my inner fender because of where the one bolt landed. I didn’t have a nutsert/rivnut tool at the time and had the fender off anyway so it wasn’t a big deal, but you may be able to use one of those instead of taking the fender off and doing some trimming on the end of the one support to get a nut on there. The plastic tray from the Explorer bolted in and holds a 65 series battery. It’s a tight squeeze for that battery, I ended up putting a slight bend to the mount for the ABS and shortened the bolt for the grounds to the core support slightly.
There is nothing wrong with replacing battery cables and ends. My preferred method is to use battery terminal clamps that are for either car audio or marine use rather than the cheap lead clamps. I also replace factory battery wiring with 4 gauge welding cable and use dielectric grease and/or No-Alox (electricians use it for terminating aluminum wire to prevent corrosion). Dielectric is not electrically conductive but No-Alox is electrically conductive. Use it as needed. Corrosion can even get into the wires inside the insulation. Corrosion slows the conductivity of electricity. Contrary to popular belief, electricity flows along the outside of the wire, not inside like a straw. So corrosion on the outside of a wire reduces current. I also am a fan of upgrading grounds.
