I knew it was bound to happen but last Wed I got in the truck and hit the key. Lights on dash flicker then dead. The red light on dash by speedo starts to flash and there is a clicking sound from the passenger side every time it flashes. Didn't have time to screw with it so i swapped keys and took wife's car to work. Did some research during the day and figured the first bet was a dead battery. Wouldn't have been that surprised, as over the weekend my daughter was playing in it while I was working on some stuff, so I could imagine a light being left one inside. Put a charger on the battery and it came back up like it was going to be fine. After a couple hours I tried the key only to generate some smoke off the drivers battery and the terminal had begun to melt.

Well for once I was semi prepared. I knew I had a terminal that began to crack on the passenger side so I figured if the battery had died I wasn't going to be able to get that cable off and on again without it breaking. So I had been doing some research and cam across https://ceautoelectricsupply.com/pro...ry-cable-kits/. I emailed them to see if the kit was complete (some other kits I found had options cables) and if there was any chance of getting them by the weekend. Tony, was really fast in replying and confirmed this was everything in one kit and if I ordered on Wed, I should have it by Saturday. So I placed my order and Renae processed it within an hour. The experience was great and I appreciate how Tony and Renae handled everything. Even on Sat when I had a question Tony responded quickly. I felt bad hitting him up on the Holiday weekend but I was semi stuck. Nothing to do with the kit, more of a brain fart on my end and spending too much time in the heat and sun. I just needed a quick break to step back and figure it out.

anyway if you need battery cables and can't/don't want to make your own I'd suggest CE Auto Electric Supply. The cables are really nice and super flexible. And using the DTR I found that I could get the Duracell AGM batteries from Sam's for the best price. Thats for that info.

 

Very neat looking installation...I'll remember that when it's my turn in the barrel...One thing I usually do in a new install such as that is to paint the exposed terminals to forestall some of the eventual corrosion......Ben

 

It appears that you had a battery short out internally. It does happen, they do melt, and on occasion actually explode.
If it happened with no other harm done, you’ve done well.
it could be time to do some new cabling anyway, and what better time if its on your to do list anyway. Also, if you’re looking at agm or gel batteries, make sure they have a charge limiter built in. They really don’t like high charging rates.
if you have done a thorough check of your cables and fittings, and are confident there is no other damage, put it back together with good batteries and run it.