Clean options for connecting winch cables to battery

I've never given this much thought as I tend to cut the original clamps (pic in post #1) off and toss them. They appear to be cast with the battery cables in place vs. crimped, compressed or soldered. Anyway, they seem to hold up for a long time.
 
I already said I'm moving on, others can too!

Genuinely no offense intended but it's not just about you. It's about those who come after looking for good information. Let's get the correct method out there.
 
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We ended up keeping the factory battery terminals and machining up some aluminum spacers to attach the winch lugs with a longer clamping bolt in the same manner as a "military connector":

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Don't solder them, they need to be crimped with a suitable heavy-duty crimping too. Soldering them can create stress risers which can damage the cable. Look around, you won't find any soldered connections in a Jeep except in a few places like on the PCM and radio circuit boards, and a hidden splice of some ground wires.
Old post I know, but I doubt most on here even know what stress risers in metal are. Makes me wonder, @Jerry Bransford, are you an aviation/aerospace guy also??
 
Fact- if you get the solder hot enough to flow and it should flow, it flows into the strands and makes a stress riser at the end of the solder that compromises the ability of the cable to flex as it should in a mobile environment.
Fact- solder has flux that it carries into the wire strands that can easily cause corrosion.
Fact- if you get solder hot enough to flow and you should, that heat level compromises the cable insulation.

You can ignore the facts, but you can't change them.
Another fact about soldering, the joints are subject to cracking from vibrations. Not one connection was soldered on the space shuttle, I’ve heard. Not that that blunder of an engineering marvel was all too successful, but it was a marvel nonetheless.
 
That’s something! Your welcome to come fly with me anytime if ever in my neck of the woods.
Maybe in the cooler months I'd fly in Arizona lol. My wife and young son and I spent the night in Yuma and it turned HOT the next day, 105 or so by the time I was ready to get out of there. I used every bit of the runway and was gaining altitude in a Cherokee 180 so slowly I ended up having to fly under some real tall power lines not far from the end of the runway to get out of there lol. :eek:
 
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That’s pretty serious. It’s no joke here. We moved from CA about 6 years ago and are used to the climate for the most part, but it definitely commands respect in the summer. I have a 182 which does well with the hot and high performance but it’s still hot. When I flew for the airlines, doing my preflight on 160 degree ramps was not fun.
 
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I'm using these things I found on amazon. I was very leery of them until they arrived. They seemed to be of decent quality and they are working out really well so far. The silver ones got some mixed reviews but the brass ones seemed to be good.

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I recently installed the custom battery cable kit with milspec terminals. I also went with a new X2 power battery that’s a 34/78, so has terminals on the side as well. I might use those
 
Another option is side post batteries. Top posts for the factory posts, sides for the winch or other accessories.

I'm a big fan of Crimp Supply. They have some high quality mil spec lugs. Space your ring terminals with washers for a clean lay flat look.

Anderson connectors are something else to consider. I've seen folks put a plug in the winch power lines...one...easy to disconnect in an emergency or if you have it on a removable sled or tray...two...you can disconnect the winch and plug in jumper cables. Personally I think I would just put a separate bulkhead connector in for jumper cables...but you've got options.

-Mac