Here is a link to a good youtube video about how to solder 1/0 cable lugs.


Everything is on order! Spent a small fortune!

 

First off I hope you have a good holiday, that’s the most important part and of course I hope you can get your parts to get this project started and maybe finished.

On the POR-15… you need both POR-15 and Chassis Black !
POR-15 is a rust stopper and preventative but is UV sensitive.
Chassis Black goes over the POR-15 to stop UV deterioration.

The video: How To Solder 1/0 Gauge Ring Terminals - EXO's Best Cheap SPL Car Audio Wire EASY Install Tips - YouTube

Basically the soldering job is a good, heat the lug not the cable, move the heat as close as necessary to get the solder to sink in the wire BUT, with me there is always a but.
The lug should be crimped on first creating a good mechanical bond. The Reason for this is simple if for some reason your cable heat up to a point to melt the solder the or the wire and solder separate from the lug, you will have an open wire with battery current in it or no power at all.
With the mechanical bond, even if the solder lets go, the wire will remain in the lug.
Only apply the heat that is necessary do not over heat the lug/wire combo, if the wire sheathing start to move or bubble, there is too much heat.

Now to pick it apart from a Quality Engineering Point of view, the wire should come through the lug slightly, maybe ⅛” or a little more, the solder is a silver based solder but get as much silver in it as you can afford and are able to heat up, silver solder need more heat, allow the solder to flow inward around the wires or as the clip stated “be absorbed by the wire”, this will get you the best contact area but you do not want the solder to be ABSORBED beyond the lug.
On smaller wires more than larger ones if the solder is absorbed too far in the wire it will be too stiff and may be brittle enough to break over time.
Don’t forget to put on the heat shrink and keep it away from the heated area until it has cooled and use or replace the covering that comes with the lugs, with some heat Shrink that has adhesive inside and use thick walled Heat Shrink.

Also, gold connector are not necessary and probably cost more than standard lugs and are usually thinner, get a good HD Zinc plated lug, the standard lugs are thicker and you want HD when you have a battery with 1000 CCA and use a Non-Corrosive - Conductive Paste when bolting up the lugs.

When using a heavy walled adhesive type heat shrink you also seal and reenforce the cable/lug setup, good for the cables.

AND don’t forget to crimp the wire in the lug… lol.
You will need a heavy duty crimper but they can be rented if necessary.

Luck on getting home and getting the parts and the project started.

Have a good holiday.

 

Well I ordered most of the parts through Amazon. The cable lugs are gold. With shipping they were $29.68 for a 20 pack. They're Metra brand. They come with the heat shrink & I'm not sure about the quality of the heat shrink. In fact I think it's more like a slip on cover rather than heat shrink.

What do you think of the crimping technique in this video: I had considered doing this, and I wouldn't have to rent a tool.

Home is a 24 hour drive. I'm looking forward to it, haven't been home in a couple months at least. I originally wasn't going to get to go home for Thanksgiving but Hurricane Sandy caused a lot of scheduling problems for us since we are working in the Northeast right now. I was actually in NYC when the storm hit! Good holiday to you also & everyone at RF!

 

It will work, it create a mechanical bond so it is better than the other method of just sliding in the cable and soldering but if the solder should fail the lug top, the seam, will separate.

I would get the properly sized ring lug for the gauge wire you are using.
Then get a crimping tool and crimp the lug, using a tool that has a pin on one side to made an indent on the lug securing the wire strands in a tight bundle and allowing a good electrical transfer.
The pin that indents the lug should be on the full body side not the seamed/welded side.
They make crimping tool that use a vise as the pressure device and is easy to use.

Remember you are spending goo money to get your power and grounds working to their best, why do the job half way !

Remember these ideas I post are what I would do, my methods and although they work they can be to the excessive end sometimes.
So to keep it as simple as possible do the method that fits your situation, the last video will work, the first video will work, my method will work, everyone has a method and you need to decide which one you feel is right for you.

I am sure it will work out well and your electrical problem and grounds will be in top condition after you get done.
Most people don't do half of what you plan.

Ltr

 

Here is another source for Battery Cables and it looks alittle less expensive.

Black, “1” gauge - Del City - Item #: 5211205

Red, “1” Gauge - Del City - Item #: 5211201

Their “1/0” gauge cable is another buck a foot.


This place has a lot of stuff:

Del City - Wiring Products and Professional Electrical Supplies

 

Check out knukonceptz wire, great stuff. It's CCA, not pure 100% copper, but they oversize the cca to compensate for any loss.
Super flexible wire.

I finally got myself a crimping tool for large cable terminals It was quite affordable & it crimps the heck out of terminals with a few good blows with a hammer.

The CCA wire may not always solder as easily as pure copper, but I rarely solder anything over 8ga as the crimp creates a mechanical bond that should be more than sufficient.

The little plastic covers are more for show, I prefer to cut some 1" +/- strips of heat shrink tubing & shrink it to the terminal & wire. It helps keep water out of the connection & provides a little support for the wire.

If you don't want to use crimp terminals, you can also get large ring terminals that hold the wire via a set screw. They're much more expensive than the crimp terminals, but they give a much nicer look.

 

That's what I thought, more for show. I think I will go ahead and get some real shrink wrap.

Here's an update: I was only home for a few days. I received most of the parts I ordered but not all of them so I wasn't able to start on the wiring. I'm still waiting for the ring terminals, fuse holders, and loom. I'm going home for Christmas in 3 weeks, and I'll be home for 3 weeks so I will have plenty time to get the project done then....







Just barely big enough to fit the battery and the winch but it worked out just right!

 

bolt that box in and lock it. Seems theftable.


Looks good, you need offroad bumpers too lol. That rear bumper will rip off if you get quite stuck although I have towed some big stuff off the rear bumper before

 

Done! Well for now it's just screwed down, but when I remove the bed to do the POR-15 and the wiring I am going to install some real bolts.

 

I've got a couple quick questions before I get started on my wiring next week. Where would be a good place to get KEY ON power to feed the isolator? Also, where's a good place to get power for a voltmeter?

 

Bump. Finally got started, at least I got the bed off & the frame pressure washed. Still seeking advise about where to get power for the isolator & the voltmeter.

 

The Volt Meter power can come from anywhere there is key on power, cig lighter if switched, radio powered the fuse panel

The power for the isolation solenoid can also come from the fuse panel too but you need to probe the fuses until you find one that does what you want, maybe add one of those fuse jumpers.

Luck, maybe someone else will come in with a better idea.

 

Update: Got the POR-15 part of the project done, as well as most of the wiring. I apologize for the quality of the pictures. They were taken with my Walmart straight-talk cell phone in very low light.




After pressure washing and scrubbing with marine clean.




After sanding and metal prep.

After POR-15 and Chassis Coat.








I'll post some more (better) pics of the wiring tomorrow.

 

looks really good, nice job on a rreally good coating

 

Looks good! I don't know if I missed it or not, but did you use gloss POR15?

 

The POR-15 was gloss, and the Chassis Coat was semi-gloss.

 

Thanks... I'm trying to decide what to use on my car. It's not really in a place where I can rinse it with water and I'm pretty sure that's what you have to do with the Metal Ready, right?

 

Yes. You have to rinse the Marine Clean as well as the Metal Ready. I used the Marine Clean before and after sanding.

 

Okay, thanks. I wonder if there's something else I can use... I mainly just want a good coat of something to protect the bottom of the car. It will never see snow again and the only time it'll even see water is if I'm out somewhere and it happens to start to rain.

 

Didn't have enough cable left to the big 4, so I'll take care of that later. This was my temporary solution.







Couldn't get the original bolts for the rear bumper to work so I'm going to have to replace 2 of them & the nuts...



Auxiliary battery in the tool box



SPDT switch