About to order all new cables for the 2001 XJ restoration.
I thought a member on the Cherokee forum made/sold cables?
if not, what brand would you suggest ??

 

There used to be someone on this board, but he shut down his business.

First question: Why? What is your goal in getting new cables?

The reason I'm asking is that a lot of people think they need bigger battery cables because they are installing a winch or lights. Not true. Your battery cables have nothing to do with a winch or lights, unless you are going to wire them to your starter. That would be really dumb! A winch should be wired to your battery, and you could have a 40,000 pound winch that needs one inch thick cable and it would still have nothing to do with your stock battery cables.

Now, if your cables are just flaky, then replacing them is certainly a good idea, and a bit of an upgrade isn't a bad idea, either. The stock cables are 6 gauge, and they are just fine. 4 gauge is a nice upgrade. Anything bigger is a waste of copper and will do exactly nothing for your Jeep no matter what accessories you are running or plan to run.

If you want to add a bigger alternator, then you probably do need to bump up the cable that runs from your alternator output to the battery. And if you are running a bunch of accessories, you should also bump up the battery to fender ground cable.

Other than those two, don't waste money on big cables.

That said, I get mine made by BestBoatWire.com. Excellent service, quality, and prices. I like to get them with the clear heat shrink on the ends. Makes it easy to keep an eye on what's going on under the covers.

While you are at it, pay attention to the ground connection at the fender. It's junk. This is one upgrade that gets overlooked. See here for what I did to mine.

 

http://www.jeepcables.com/

 

Rebuilding/restorng the XJ,, a 4 year project.
Currently there are no cables, not looking for anything crazy, just an upgrade to 4ga

 

Thanks

 

its easy to make your own, I make mine out of #2 welding ground cable, solder on ends and heat shrink them.

 

Buy the hydraulic cable crimper from harbor freight and use military ends on battery they might be called marine terminales.

Buy cable and ends and make your own

http://www.prime4x4.com/shop/c/p/mil...milterm001.htm

https://www.harborfreight.com/hydrau...ool-66150.html

It opens up lots of options to be able to make your own cables.

 

I agree with BlueRidgeMark.
But the internet seems to indicate if you are running a 150 amp alternator or bigger then you should go 2 gauge.
I used 2 gauge cause it cost me 15 cents more a foot and said screw it.
I used the Harbor Freight crimper myself. Good idea? Time will tell.
I also decided that I wanted 45 and 90 degree lugs here and there to hopefully have things route a little cleaner.
Some pictures for your enjoyment. LOL.

 

Ralph
looks great. Getting ready to do my cummins and do the jeep. I may also run 12v to the rear for compressor and possibly rear winch.
On 20 year old rigs I dont think it would ever be bad to run all fresh grounds and power leads. Also clean all ground anchor points to shiny clean metal. ****ty grounds can cause all kinds of havic with auto trannies and even the computer system in general.

As far as cable size I have no idea but haven't fallen into the bigger is better wagon. Clean is the wagon im on.

persistent corrosion on battery terminals is likely due to dirty grounds

 

its not always bigger is better, the smaller/more strands you have in the bundle the more "easily" electricity will flow. the way it was explained to me is more cars can travel on an 8 lane freeway than a 2 lane road.

 

Thanks.
We make battery cables at the store but solder them.
I waffled back and forth about whether to crimp or solder.
Watched a bunch of videos on making battery cables.
The one thing they all had in common was cutting them so you could see the wire in the crimps.
So I played with the HF crimper with both 4 gauge and 2 gauge first and figured what the hell.
Cut them to see too. LOL.

EDIT:
Almost forgot to mention. Using a 90 degree on the starter did not turn out as well as I thought it would.
It is a little tight so getting a socket in there to loosen the bolt takes a bit.
Thinner wall 3/8" drive socket works but barely.
In hindsight probably should have used a 45 degree one there.
But...... MLOL.

 

No, marine terminals are like this:



Marine battery terminal


I think either one is better than the stock stuff, but I much prefer the military terminals like what you posted. If nothing else, they offer two attachment points instead of one. I also like NOT having the battery terminal stick up in the air the way they do on a marine terminal. It''s just too close to the hood for my comfort.

But they aren't bad.

 

That's true for AC, and it's even more so the higher you go in frequency. It's not true for DC. All that matters there is the total cross-sectional area. BUT! If you are going to use fine-stranded wire of the same gauge, you might have a bit more cross sectional area. You will certainly have an easier cable to work with.

That's why I like using marine wire. Fine stranded, easy to work with.