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View Full Version : Big Three Upgrade and battery post question


auburnfan138
10-28-2009, 03:55 PM
hey guys, two questions

1. Big three upgrade- ordered 8 feet of 1/0 and am going to try to get it in this weekend...does anyone have any pictures or tips/tricks...the ground is self explanitory... but i cant find where to tie it into the alternator and what about engine to chassis...pics would be wonderful


2. my battery only has top post...i want one of the battery post terminals...however i need one to fit the stock wire's...(2) 8 gauge...(2) runs of 4 gauge for the two amps and (1) for the 1/0 for the run of + to alternator...does anyone know of a terminal or an easier way to do this... im just going to use a 1/0 crimp on ring terminal for the negitive of the battery

thanks in advance

Stephen

BigBoom
10-29-2009, 12:29 AM
there should be a positive wire coming off the alternator. only wire to it. screw it onto that. it should have a lil 'boot' type thing covering it as well. run that to the battery, fused. for my stock battery wires, i spliced them into a new ring terminal, and put em on a little buss bar going to the battery. ended up being really short tho, so the buss bar had to be angled lol. needs to be redone, just cuz i want it to look better, but it works just fine.

BigBoom
10-29-2009, 12:30 AM
if the stock wires are long enough, most top terminal posts should have enough spots to fit the 4 and 8 gauge wires. not sure if they'd have one with 1/0 also tho. shop around, i'm sure you'll find somethin

ShadowRaven
10-29-2009, 12:55 AM
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2428/106/1/500778014/n500778014_1546860_4518.jpg

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2428/106/1/500778014/n500778014_1546863_6096.jpg

There are some pics of my big 3 upgrade. The upgrade is really simple, just make sure you run your wires away from any moving parts, use zip-ties or something similar to secure them, and away you go. I can also get you some better/newer pictures of my setup if you'd like. I bought some better connectors from Home Depot, and it's much more efficient than it was with ring terminals.

auburnfan138
10-29-2009, 12:20 PM
thanks for all the responses...

i found the positive wire on alternator, thanks bigboom

shadow, can you please post more pics of what you bought from home depot...

thanks again

ShadowRaven
10-29-2009, 09:18 PM
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs067.snc3/13450_162527328014_500778014_2878293_6037725_n.jpg

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs047.snc3/13450_162527333014_500778014_2878294_1499278_n.jpg

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs047.snc3/13450_162527348014_500778014_2878295_1516577_n.jpg

As you can see in the pictures, these block terminals are very heavy duty aluminum, and utilize a screw mechanism to allow the wire a better connection than a crimp can provide. I prefer these 100% over the crimp type, and I have had no problem whatsoever with them at all. If I recall, at Home Depot, they cost around $5 for a two pack of the double screw type terminals, and about $3 for a single pack of the single screw type terminals, and you can find them in the electrical section. Hope this helps, man.

auburnfan138
10-29-2009, 10:15 PM
thats awesome shadow...and thats a very clean install you have....i might even get some of those and bolt them to the frame and use as grounding terminals...

i will be at the home depot tommorrow

thanks again shadow :salute:

BigBoom
10-29-2009, 10:20 PM
tho i prefer soldering my connections, i kinda like those terminals. i can see those coming in handy for a few other things as well. if only they had some sort of covers that came with em

auburnfan138
10-29-2009, 10:45 PM
figured id show you guys why im upgrading...i will be installing this tomorrow on my day off

4 jl w3's, a memphis 16-mcd1500, and also a infinity 475a 4 channel amp

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc47/auburnfan138/jl.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc47/auburnfan138/memphis.jpg

BrianDye
10-29-2009, 10:51 PM
Woah buddy haha.
Lets get some vids of them bumpin...

Very nice looking engine and all the accents btw, the big wires make it look alot better too, haha.

Is that a voltimeter on your battery post??
Im gonna be transferring my 92's system to my new LS soon, and im still planning it out, its great, the batteries in the trunk, so I can get the 10$ a foot stuff thats like 2" thick haha, without spending like 100$ in wire. Im gonna add more grounds, and im thinking about running all new power wire from the battery.

VERY nice clean setup so far, cant wait to see more pics and a video if you can

ShadowRaven
10-29-2009, 11:12 PM
@Auburn: Yea, no problem man. They not only look pretty sharp, but they provide a very, very solid connection, which is what I was looking for ultimately. Glad I could help.

@Brian: Yea, it's a voltmeter. I ended up taking it off obviously, due to my not favoring crimp style terminals because of their unreliability. It was neat while it lasted, a lot of people who looked under my hood thought it was pretty cool. :cool:

auburnfan138
10-29-2009, 11:30 PM
how many and what size outputs were on the voltmeter terminal post?

ShadowRaven
10-29-2009, 11:34 PM
how many and what size outputs were on the voltmeter terminal post?

It has four inputs, which appear to be: (1) one gauge (could be a two gauge), (1) four gauge, and (2) 10 gauge.

auburnfan138
10-29-2009, 11:45 PM
sorry for all the questions but why do u have 3 big (looks like 1/0) wires on your negative battery post?

ShadowRaven
10-30-2009, 08:57 PM
sorry for all the questions but why do u have 3 big (looks like 1/0) wires on your negative battery post?

Hey, no problem man. A guy on here by the name of AznBoi was the one who helped me with my Big3 upgrade, and he stressed to me that the most important grounds were Batt to Frame, Batt to Body, and Batt to Alt, so that is what the three wires are running. I chose 1/0 due to it being the biggest that I felt I needed (I'm running 1/0 on my sound system), so that's what's on goin on on the neg terminal :cool:

auburnfan138
10-30-2009, 10:17 PM
thanks shadow

i have the memphis amp mounted and the subs on and its hittin pretty good, it started raining so i had to pull off on the big three and the 4 channel install


if you have time can you snap some pics of the locations you chose for batt to ground and engine to ground

also went to home depot and lowes today and no luck on those aluminum lugs...they had them, just not big enough :(

Maniak
10-30-2009, 10:31 PM
I also use those aluminum terminals too. They are called "ground lugs".

I got mine from Home Depot. I've also seen them at Ace hardware before.

I had to drill out the hole to get them to mount to my "marine style" battery posts. I am able to fit 2 gauge wire in the lugs but I don't think 1/0 will fit in it.

~Mark

ShadowRaven
10-30-2009, 11:58 PM
Yea, man, sure thing. I'll get you the pics tomorrow, I'm about to get started on sanding my safari rack right now, plus it's dark as hell outside, lol, so I'll try to get those posted ASAP tomorrow morning. As for the lugs accepting 1/0 gauge cable, I actually cut some of the cable strands to allow the 1/0 gauge to fit through the slot. It's designed for 1/0 gauge cable, but I still had to cut some of it to make it work properly.

auburnfan138
11-05-2009, 10:42 PM
shadow

did you ever get a chance to take those pics?

thanks

ShadowRaven
11-06-2009, 10:42 PM
shadow

did you ever get a chance to take those pics?

thanks

Shoot, my bad man, I forgot about doin that for ya, school has been insane this week. I'll take care of the pics tomorrow for ya, bright and early. :cool:

HCCA 250
11-07-2009, 08:42 AM
I will post up better pics after I take a few, new ones. This one's a couple months old. I need to get some better shots, anyway.http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/9380/image063x.jpg

ShadowRaven
11-07-2009, 12:41 PM
Here ya go man, hope this helps out.

Battery to Frame (secured by the driver's side sway bar bolt):
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs110.snc3/15758_168634528014_500778014_2945349_4135069_n.jpg

Battery to Body (secured to the stock ground location):
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs090.snc3/15758_168634533014_500778014_2945350_3944087_n.jpg

Zero Ground, from Battery to Alternator:
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs090.snc3/15758_168634543014_500778014_2945351_143065_n.jpg

Wagonized
11-09-2009, 12:19 AM
use this style battery terminal and put lug ends on each wire and youll be good to go.

I think these are referred to as "wingnut terminals" or "marine terminals" they have em at walmart for cheap cheap.

Your you could go this route :D COPPER!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v357/chiefironbear/DSCN0870.jpg

Maniak
11-09-2009, 08:22 AM
I think these are referred to as "wingnut terminals" or "marine terminals" they have em at walmart for cheap cheap.



You mean like this? This is a marine terminal with one of those ground lugs from a household circuit breaker box. I used a 2 wire one for the main power wires and a single one for the power wire for the amplifiers.

auburnfan138
11-09-2009, 10:31 PM
does anyone have a pic of engine block to frame?

thanks

ShadowRaven
11-09-2009, 11:06 PM
does anyone have a pic of engine block to frame?

thanks

I myself have never heard of anyone upgrading the EB to frame ground... I don't even know where mine is :p:

Wagonized
11-10-2009, 08:16 PM
does anyone have a pic of engine block to frame?

thanks

theres no point in grounding the block to frame since all your grounds go to the negative batt terminal anyway.

ground the body, motor, and frame right to the negative terminal with their own large gauge ground wire.

auburnfan138
11-17-2009, 10:39 PM
where are the factory grounds for engine and frame on a 02-05 explorer?

jhard
01-07-2010, 01:18 PM
where are the factory grounds for engine and frame on a 02-05 explorer?

Yeah, has anyone done this on a 3rd Gen and taken any pics?