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Let's see some clean battery setups! Whooohooo

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NHerron

10+ Year Contributor
2,776
58
Nov 5, 2011
Missoula, Montana
Let me tell you, I hate top post batteries. I think they are tacky as hell. But that's my opinion, so it don't matter. I want to see what people have done to clean up their battery cable mess...:thumb:

I, for example am changing over to the GM/late model car system by getting rid of the entire stock cable system and replacing it with an Optima 75/25 battery, side post terminals, and some high quality power cable from a companies name I choose not to recall right now.

It will go from the battery as a 2/0 cable to a distribution panel somewhere. From there it will be subdivided instead of everything being jammed up batteries' ass all at once. And we all know about Mr. Terminal... that little lead terd seems decides to whenever the hell he feels like it to be all 'Hey guess what -I'm gonna corrode today and make a shitty connection for you on your shittiest day'. Have fun either shimming the post or bending/shaping that terminal to fit tight again. Better yet- if the battery Gods really hate you they will slip this brilliant idea in your head - "Hey I'll just chop this SOB off and get a new terminal." Oh now why in the hell would you go and do that. Gotta strip back each of these POS brittle cables and somehow get them jammed all up in the new terminal all while using your imagination on how to tighten the bolts.

No thanks buddy, I'd rather short the battery posts with a wrench, start a fire, then file a claim. Okay maybe a bit too dramatic. I know I know I just get a little bored coming here and seeing the same lame user format.

So if you want, share your ideas, pictures or thoughts on clean battery installs. :rocks:

Just don't post a picture showing a battery with a cluster of blinged out stereo cables and ### fuse holders positioned uselessly way way far away from the battery for a retarded mega ultra dope sound system that changes the way an innocent bystanding human brain functions forever.
 
I did the same thing on my old car, a Jetta. ripped the entire wire out and replaced the whole entire thing, + and - wires, because the stuff in it was chewed up garbage.
 
Throw it in the trunk, out of sight, out of mind.
 

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Personally I'm going with stock appearing, not Mitsubishi original of course, but something along the lines of high quality manufacturer stock. What's the use if things aren't more difficult than they need to be. Ha..

Nice bay man :thumb:
 
Old picture, but not much has changed:
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A couple extra relays and distribution blocks, but otherwise all is hidden under a full factory interior/trunk cover.
 
I actually just recently relocated my battery and redid all its related wiring. I did it as I was having starting issues when hot and believed it was due to corrosion in the cables, and also I wanted to make space in the engine bay and get slightly better weight distribution.

The gist is I have an Odyssey PC680 mounted behind my passenger seat. Here's a summary:
- All battery cable is just SGT battery cable. Chose not to use welding cable due to no protection in welding cable's sheathing from chemicals.
- Battery ground right to chassis using a bolt, washers/nut through chassis, 1/0.
- Engine ground from battery to transmission bolt (oem location), 1/0
- Power cable from battery goes to a 150amp circuit breaker (which gives me quick cut-off to the battery), then feeds through firewall to distribution block in engine bay, 1/0
- 1/0 cables to starter.
- 1/0 to the alternator. Alternator has a 100amp fuse in the engine bay. Alternator line is fed behind the radiator mounts as there was plenty of unobstructed space there to feed the 1/0 cable.
- 6awg gauge replacing the two accessory lines to the fusebox (I had to junction a wire in my fusebox to get everything connected properly when I removed those two wires).
- I bought a hydraulic crimper via amazon for crimps which was awesome, and used Magna crimp lugs (no soldering, intentionally) for the most part (there were a few where the sizes I wanted didn't exist in Magna so I went with other tinned copper lugs), and heavy duty dual-walled adhesive-lined 3:1 heat shrink tubing. Crimper I think was $120 via Amazon (yeah that's a big price but I really wanted solid connections and don't mind buying tools that can help my friends later).
- For mounting things I used rivet nuts. M8 for the battery box, M6 for the rest. I loooove rivet nuts. I think the tool I used was ~$40 via Amazon.

Pics:
Distribution block and alternator fuse in the Engine Bay:
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Holes through the firewall (right next to the main wiring bundle):
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The battery and circuit breaker installed behind my passenger seat:
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Feel free to ask any questions about anything.
 
I miter cut, and welded up a battery tray and hold down from parts of an aluminum door frame left over from a camper/trailer that I did collision repairs on.
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The only material I had to buy was four allen screws, and of course welding materials.

It's right next to my one size fit's all "master cylinder" BOV flange.
 
Relocated mine to the trunk:

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Edit: I guess I should explain it a little.

I ran a 1/0 welding cable from a new distribution block in the engine bay, through the firewall to the kill switch in the back. Ran 1ga cable from the kill switch to the battery, with a 150 amp breaker (not shown in pictures). Ran a 2ga cable straight off the alternator to the battery side of the kill switch with an inline 100 amp fuse (not seen in pics). Ran a 1/0 welding cable off the negative side of the battery and bolted it to the rear seat, seatbelt mounting bolt. From that same mounting point, ran a 2ga cable and bolted it straight to the alternator mounting bracket. Then I made new 2ga grounding cables in the engine bay, 2 off the engine block to the firewall and one off the transmission to the frame rail. I haven't had a single problem since doing this, voltage and cranking are as good as when it was stock, maybe a tad bit better actually.
 
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Tsiawd666 what distribution block is that? Red plastic with four cables. Got a link?

Erik nice bay, like the blue scheme.

Another question tsiawd666, is there any regulations to battery cable materials? Like Sgt vs other kind etc. I'd hate to redo everything and if one day I do auto x or something I'd have to redo it all again.
 
The bus bar I got from VTE Warehouse. I looked forever for these things and this was the best I could find at an awesome price. Uses M8 studs (i hate mixing SAE if I can avoid it), had a cover that is easily removable (the nuts that hold it in place are plastic and removable by hand), and had the number of studs I wanted (minimum four). The part number is 74008N1N02 (bar plus cover), and you can get them here:
https://www.vtewarehouse.com/content/electromech/busbar/html/large4point/large4point.php

I also got my alternator boot, alternator fuse block, and fuse block boots from that site.

I'm not quite sure what you're asking. If you're wondering if any racing orgs require a specific type of cable, not that I'm aware of. They will never look at your battery cable other than perhaps to make sure it's not exposed anywhere on the positive lines or dangling in a dangerous way. If this isn't what you meant perhaps you can elaborate on your question.

to add a bit to the description of my setup:
- negative terminal uses a military-style terminal. I chose this so I could expand connections if I wanted to add grounds for some reason. Also because it's clean. There are special terminal covers for this type. The terminal itself looks like this:
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- positive terminal is a crimp tinned copper one. I inserted the 1/0 gauge wire along with I think 8awg wire (or maybe it was 10? I forget) for my fuel pump and crimped it together. Here's a pic of that type of terminal:
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- The grommets I picked up at Lowe's because the ones I had ordered were too big for the confined space I found to drill through the firewall. They aren't the best though as that area is still not quite flat/uniform in shape so some areas around the drilled holes are thicker than others, and the thicker parts are borderline too thick for the Lowe's grommets (I want to say they allowed for 1/8" material thickness). As long as I don't go moving the wiring though they are staying in place. So get some grommets that allow for more thickness, like maybe 1/4"? Anyway this location next to the main wiring harness was the only one I could find where I could get to it, had enough room around it to drill holes and feed wires, was relatively flat (seriously the 2g dsm firewall is annoying as shit, so many weird shapes to it). I think to get a better location the dash would have to be out of the car.
 
Thanks and yes that answered my question tsiawd~! I'll look into the rivet nuts, can't believe I haven't thought of that by now :)
 
Thanks and yes that answered my question tsiawd~! I'll look into the rivet nuts, can't believe I haven't thought of that by now :)

Sure thing. You can get the rivet nuts fairly cheap on McMaster-Carr. I think I used ones that have a 3mm-7mm range.

The rivet nut installer that does M5, M6, M8, and M10 is here:
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004KLVJAA/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/ame]

Worth the money in my opinion as I've already got a ton of use out of it. I think McMaster Carr sells a much cheaper hand tool that you use a wrench/socket on (I know someone does because I bought it, just not sure if it was McMaster-Carr or not) if you need to save money. Just takes a lot more work to use and tougher to get into some spaces since you have to have a wrench flat on the surface.
 
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Here's what I am running. Connects to a weatherproof master kill switch directly behind my license plate.

I welded up some angle aluminum to make some 90 degree brackets that you can kind of see in the picture. On top of the brackets, and in conjunction with the rear divider "hump", sits an aluminum plate that the battery resides on. The battery hold downs inside of the box go completely through the bottom of the box and the aluminum plate fastened by nuts on the bottom side.

The cargo floor was notched so it sits as it should and also flips up like factory revealing the spare and wiper assembly....needed since it's still a daily driver.

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Anyone know of any unique battery setups? Kind of like, 'wow I've never thought of doing that before' setup?
 
I actually just recently relocated my battery and redid all its related wiring. I did it as I was having starting issues when hot and believed it was due to corrosion in the cables, and also I wanted to make space in the engine bay and get slightly better weight distribution.

The gist is I have an Odyssey PC680 mounted behind my passenger seat. Here's a summary:
- All battery cable is just SGT battery cable. Chose not to use welding cable due to no protection in welding cable's sheathing from chemicals.
- Battery ground right to chassis using a bolt, washers/nut through chassis, 1/0.
- Engine ground from battery to transmission bolt (oem location), 1/0
- Power cable from battery goes to a 150amp circuit breaker (which gives me quick cut-off to the battery), then feeds through firewall to distribution block in engine bay, 1/0
- 1/0 cables to starter.
- 1/0 to the alternator. Alternator has a 100amp fuse in the engine bay. Alternator line is fed behind the radiator mounts as there was plenty of unobstructed space there to feed the 1/0 cable.
- 6awg gauge replacing the two accessory lines to the fusebox (I had to junction a wire in my fusebox to get everything connected properly when I removed those two wires).
- I bought a hydraulic crimper via amazon for crimps which was awesome, and used Magna crimp lugs (no soldering, intentionally) for the most part (there were a few where the sizes I wanted didn't exist in Magna so I went with other tinned copper lugs), and heavy duty dual-walled adhesive-lined 3:1 heat shrink tubing. Crimper I think was $120 via Amazon (yeah that's a big price but I really wanted solid connections and don't mind buying tools that can help my friends later).
- For mounting things I used rivet nuts. M8 for the battery box, M6 for the rest. I loooove rivet nuts. I think the tool I used was ~$40 via Amazon.

Pics:
Distribution block and alternator fuse in the Engine Bay:
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Holes through the firewall (right next to the main wiring bundle):
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The battery and circuit breaker installed behind my passenger seat:
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Feel free to ask any questions about anything.
That is really nice. I've been planning something very similar, but have been to busy (lazy) to finish.
 
Here is mine. I run an optima red top battery. All the main battery wire in my car have been changed to 0 gauge. All the connection points to the frame I stripped bare for the best grounds possible (car is grounded to hell and back LOL) and then it was spray painted.


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Thanks and yes that answered my question tsiawd~! I'll look into the rivet nuts, can't believe I haven't thought of that by now :)

Rivet nuts are wonderful, they make it easy to attach anything to almost any sheet materials. They come as sealed too, so you can get the needed threads and still keep the hole water tight.
 
I might see if the boss at work will get an assortment from Barnes. Would definitely come in handy at work. I hate self tappers with a passion!

Spooling Dubb, nice setup. Dig the battery box, but I heard the wingnuts say, 'Holy crap Mr. Allthread how much further till we're there!' :D
 
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