Upgraded Engine Ground Strap

[MontanaMan]

About 11 years ago, I upgraded my ground strap with 1 gauge welder's wire. It was the most flexible welder's wire I could find, but not anywhere near as flexible as the little OEM strap, so it eventually broke at the engine head lug because of engine movement.

To replace it, I used a woven wire strap, like OEM, but much larger.

Here are the Pics:

The materials and the new crimper:
http://montanasoft.com/images/jeep/groundstrap/GS_materials.jpg

The finished strap:
I made it 2 inches longer than OEM to give it more flexibility. I slathered the ends of the webbing with Ox-Gard to prevent any corrosion inside the crimps.
http://montanasoft.com/images/jeep/groundstrap/GS.jpg


The width of the new strap is 1-3/8 inches, vs. 7/16 inch OEM. Almost 3 times as wide and much thicker
http://montanasoft.com/images/jeep/groundstrap/GS_width.jpg


Overall, I'm very happy with it. It's big, beefy, heavy, and very flexible. It will carry a LOT more current than the little OEM strap. The crimps are very good. I was actually hanging my weight on them, and they didn't fail.

What's cool is I have enough leftover material, so I can make several more. If anyone is interested, send me an email: [email protected]

Hope this helps someone.

[XJ Wheeler]

Thanks for posting this up. I need to take care of the wiring on mine.

Sent via messenger pigeon. I talk, he types.

[MontanaMan]

Thanks for posting this up. I need to take care of the wiring on mine.

You are very welcome. Let me know if you need any help. I did the rest of my cables in welder's cable, because it is more flexible and has a large number of small wire strands, instead of a small number of large strands. DC current flows along the surface area of a wire, and lots of small strands = more surface area = better current flow. Here are the other cables I made:

Battery (Positive) to starter: Red 1-gauge
Battery (Positive) to PDC: Red 1-gauge

Battery (Negative) to Engine Block: Black 1-gauge
Battery (Negative) to passenger fender: Black 4-gauge

Alternator "B+" post to 150 amp megafuse to PDC: Red 4-gauge (replaces the OEM 8-gauge fusible link).

All of them were made with marine-grade tinned copper lugs, Ox-Gard anti-corrosion compound, and special heat-shrink tubing that's lined with adhesive to form a complete seal. On the battery, I have brass marine-style terminals with the green/red anti-corrosion felt washers.

I'm actually thinking of ordering a bunch of supplies and offering all of this as kits. Also, alternator and starter rebuild kits. I'm a business owner with an employer ID number, which allows me to sign up with suppliers to get wholesale rates.

Best of luck to all, and let me know if you need any help.
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[bluedragon436]

Looks good Robert.. Wish I had thought about doing this when I was still in the AF.. could have made use of the same crimper you got there.. Luckily mine are still in good shape, guess that's why I didn't think about it...

[MontanaMan]

Looks good Robert.. Wish I had thought about doing this when I was still in the AF.. could have made use of the same crimper you got there.. Luckily mine are still in good shape, guess that's why I didn't think about it...

Thanks! Glad you liked it, and I hope this helps someone.

About the crimper ... It's really huge and heavy - the 16 ton version. I need to make some wooden tube blocks, so that I can clamp the stationary handle tube in the vise. That will make crimping a "two hand" operation instead of a "three-hand" thing.

[bluedragon436]

Thanks! Glad you liked it, and I hope this helps someone.

About the crimper ... It's really huge and heavy - the 16 ton version. I need to make some wooden tube blocks, so that I can clamp the stationary handle tube in the vise. That will make crimping a "two hand" operation instead of a "three-hand" thing.

Yeah they are certainly beasts for sure to operate... When we used them for stuff in the AF, we always fought with it... and won't like and say didn't finagle ways to use the vise or anything else we could find to make it easier, and sometimes more of a one person task (but was usually unsuccessful, as we weren't able to build anything specially for that use).

[MontanaMan]

Yeah they are certainly beasts for sure to operate... When we used them for stuff in the AF, we always fought with it... and won't like and say didn't finagle ways to use the vise or anything else we could find to make it easier, and sometimes more of a one person task (but was usually unsuccessful, as we weren't able to build anything specially for that use).

Yeah ... the handle pumps with almost no resistance, but just holding it and holding the wire in place, and pumping all a the same time is a pain. Clamping the stationary handle in the bench vise will simplify things quite a bit.