if i wanted to get new battery cables...

[baxtej44]

and terminals, how much work would this entail?


i'd prefer to just buy the cables and put them on, don't want to rewire my whole truck just to do it though....


i figure the cables are possibly stock, which means they could be VERY corroded... and this could only help with starting and getting all 12v outta there!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Shouldn't be too bad.

On my truck, one goes to the starter relay on the inside of the fender and the other goes down to the engine block, pretty easy to get to.

 

[baxtej44]

Shouldn't be too bad.

On my truck, one goes to the starter relay on the inside of the fender and the other goes down to the engine block, pretty easy to get to.

i'll take a look at where everything is going... hopefully it's as "easy" as you make it sound... even though i have no electrical experience besides installing new dash speakers w/ a new terminal connector lol.

 

[baxtej44]

looks like my positive is less than 12" long, runs to the left (while facing the battery from the front of the truck) underneath a plastic cover by the air intake, and is connected to a ring terminal underneath a bolt with a few other ring terminals.


the negative runs down by the frame, and continues on downward i believe. didn't get underneath the truck to find where.

 

[baxtej44]

got underneath the truck... and is it possible my negative wires insulation is stripped (where it is grounded on the frame) and then continues all the way back? for sure past my oil filter... but probably farther???

would i need to replace ALL of that?? or just to the ground on the frame? also, there are several more grounds coming off of the negative... think those are okay?

 

[Ranger#1]

the - goes form the batt to the back of your block the + runs from your batt to your starter on the other side of your motor depending on your motor
the ground doesent have to go all the way to the back of the block you hab run a shorty from your batt to your alt and then to your chassis

 

[baxtej44]

the - goes form the batt to the back of your block the + runs from your batt to your starter on the other side of your motor depending on your motor
the ground doesent have to go all the way to the back of the block you hab run a shorty from your batt to your alt and then to your chassis

well my starter is on the bottom of engine compartment on the right side (facing the front of the truck)... but the positive indeed only goes to a ?relay? on the left side of the engine compartment which is then bolted down with if i remember correctly a 3/8" nut.

so i could run a new negative battery cable from my battery to my alternator (close-so this means a short cable) and then from there bolt to my frame?


lmc truck catalog has replacememnt battery cables....

i think i would only need a 15" positive (there is a 10" however, i don't want the cable to tight, and in case there is ever corrosion i need to cut out, now i will have some slack) for $4.95...

and a negative cable which is either 25", 38", 48", or 53"... prices of $4.95-$7.95... didn't realize this was such a cheap fix. but i don't know how long of a negative i would need.

also... cable to starter... idk what this is... actually is the ?relay? that i think is a relay on the left side of my engine compartment near the air box the starter relay? in this case i woul dneed to buy a "cable to starter"... prices of $4.95-6.95, and lengths of 24"-49"...

terminal protector set is a ??rubber sleeve that fits over the terminal?? i have one on my positive right now, nothing on negative though.

i did wire brush my terminal posts on the battery today by the way.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

got underneath the truck... and is it possible my negative wires insulation is stripped (where it is grounded on the frame) and then continues all the way back? for sure past my oil filter... but probably farther???

would i need to replace ALL of that?? or just to the ground on the frame? also, there are several more grounds coming off of the negative... think those are okay?

It sounds like you have several ground cables all meeting at one place. If that is the case and you want new battery cables just take off the one that goes to the battery and replace it. If the others look bad then they need replaced too, otherwise I wouldn't worry about them.

Some ground cables (like for the body) are bare braided flat cables, they are usually silver (never seen a copper one now that I think about it), where the insulated battery cables are usually twisted copper.