Yes ,those military clamps look like the answer. Easy to add on acc. also. Might need a longer stud though. Yes Fueling Around I work in an oil sands mine and we use trailing cable all the time , fun to get the outter jacket stripped at -40 C . I dont have to worry about doing that anymore , in an office with a bunch of ugly secretarys now lol. Soldered connections are better suited in some situations as crimped ones have their place also. On our trucks either will work , if ya follow Dr Evils pics and use the correct tools you will never have a problem , and is stronger than stock. I must go now and "AQUIRE" all the material I need to do this , good little project to do even though my cables are like new , truck has 40K KM on it and never saw a snowflake.

 

I don't think standing in a slurry a few hundred feet underground hoping you get the jacket clean enough so the shirink sleeve will seal is any less challenge.

Code is fine, but if you look closely at manufacturers charts they will specify which lugs & crimp pattern to use depending on the wire type used.

 

Sometimes we will get that green crud growing of the terminals in something (a tractor, lawnmower, or old truck) that "red" spray seems to prevent it for a while but it still seems to come back around here.

I found that bringing a hot kettle with boiling water like your gonna make tea out to the machine. just pour a little on each terminal, stuff melts off like magic! then you can start over with the spray.

 

At home we always used the hot water but with baking soda in it to wash the corrosion off... Seemed to work pretty good. The little fewlt rings under the clamps make a big difference for preventing the corrosion.

 

so............. how much to make a set for my truck?

 

I made all of my own battery cables for my boat a few years ago with marine grade (tin coated) 2/0 cable, tinned cable ends, and heavy duty battery end heat shrink for much cheaper than 600.00. The cable and terminals are made by Ancor Marine. I just did some pricing with Defender Marine and they have 25 foot spools of 2/0 tinned cable for 222.00. The heat shrink and terminal ends would run another 70 dollars or so. Not cheap, but you could redo your battery cables with about the best cable money could buy for a lot less than what the factory would hit you up for. For someone living on the coast like myself (I live on my boat in a marina actually), it's worth it.

The other day when I was cleaning my terminals and replacing the bolt and stud for one of my battery hold-downs it occurred to me that I would just make my own cables for the truck. Yesterday I asked the dealer what the price on cables would be and he quoted me 160.00 for just one cable. I already have a terminal crimper made by Ancor that I bought from a marine supply store for around 30.00 dollars (they're about 50 dollars now). It will crimp wire sizes from 2/0 down to six gauge. You can buy crimpable copper battery terminals that will fit top posts from various companies- GVI is one that comes to mind. For our landlocked brethren,you can buy tin coated stud terminals from a marine supply store such as West Marine or Boat/US online. You can supplement the crimp with rosin core solder and a propane torch like you buy at the hardware store. You can also make all the other smaller cables that lead to your solenoid. Feel free to write if you have any questions.

As far as batteries go, I had to replace OEM Group 27's in 2002, not long after I bought the truck used. Since my truck is my only vehicle, it was more convenient for me to go to Sears and have them make the swap. I went with the Sears Diehard Truck/SUV model 39990 (720 CCA) per their recommendations, and have had no problem with them. They're supposed to be resistant to vibration.

I treat all of my electrical connections on my boat and truck with dialectric grease. You can buy a big tube of it from a boat dealerhsip, or smaller packets from an auto supply store.

 

I went to a place here called "Texas Alternator" They had everything for cheap. All the connectors you could ever want and cables as thick as a broom stick.
Also tested my alternator for free.
See if you have something like that locally.
I bet you do.

 

There is an alternator shop a few miles down the road that will do all kinds of alternators. I live in a community between Galveston and Houston where there is a lot of commercial and recreational boating and most places of business cater to those needs, even places like hardware stores and Home Depot.

 

Id like to add that in Omaha, NE I used to work for a warehouse called NEIA (Nebraska/Iowa) Industrial Fasteners. I used to make battery cables all the time. They carried everything pretty that pretty much has been listed here. We used the crimp connections generally. I had done up a nice set of 1/0 cables on a Jeep I used to own. I think we went all the way up to 00 or 000. They were some huge semi cables, thats all I? remember. A pain to bend too, but nice as heck.

Just thought Id let anyone know if they're looking for them.