Are jumper cables antiquated?

The best jumper cables you can get are the ones you make for yourself.
An earlier poster said from the 70's. That's the same for me.
A 25' length of 2 ga. multi-strand arc welding cable, cut in half, and then 3/8" HD ring terminals soldered on.
And bolted to good quality clamps. Two were painted black and the other two red. I made my own clips to hold the cables together from 1/2" Aluminum flat stock.
I used to carry them in an old burlap sand bag in my old FJ-40. When I got the Jeep, I bought a canvas, zippered bag from HF.
 
I keep a set under the hood, wrapped around the air intake. I also store a block of mouse food and a quart oil in the engine compartment.
I found that if the lights on the dash don't light my lithium jump pack won't do it.
 
Good quality jump packs like the one that @Mr. Bills and @Chris have are great especially when you're by yourself... Cables are still good to keep around for those "just in case" moments and they don't have to be big and bulky to perform well, like @L J said 100% copper with quality clamps. I have a couple sets that a lot of people make fun of when they first see them, especially when I pull them out to jump start a diesel pickup. They have never failed to start anything I have ever used them on including a car with a dead shorted battery.

http://www.santafesupply.com/jumper-cables/
The Military and Original sets are the same cables just (for the love of G why) his and hers packaging :ROFLMAO:
The Super set is heavier gauge (even though the website says they all weigh the same at 2lbs ???)
I bought the "Military" and "Super" sets for myself and the ex and just swapped pouches... 😎

This site has more technical information on these
https://philatron.com/trucking-cable/booster-cables.php
 
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Kat bought me a generic LI booster kit and it worked pretty well. I did have a few occasions where it wasn't enough to jump a fully dead battery. I bought the NOCO 70 and it has been flawless so far.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016UG6PWE/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I still use the 25 foot set of #2 booster cables I built from time to time and will never be without them.
 
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I don't carry cables anymore. I bought this battery pack back in February of 2018: AUKEY Jump Starter with 400A Peak Current & 12000mAh Portable Charger.

It is currently unavailable but likely there are others that are similar. I have used it to charge some electronic devices and such. The Diehard battery in my 2008 Liberty went bad at the end of 2018 (diagnostics showed 9 volts and 90 crank amps [still under warranty, so got a new one]).

This battery pack started that Jeep 8 times before it needed a recharge. After that, it started my Jeep again 9 more times before I had the time to get the battery replacement, and the battery pack needed recharging. 😁. They claimed it could restart a car "up to 20 times on a single charge," but that may be a smaller car battery. It seems to still hold a lot of charge almost two years later, but have not restarted another vehicle with it.
 
I also have the Noco Genius Boost. It will provide 20 jump starts when fresh. Recharge every 6 months
 
When my 2015 GMC Sierra was less than two years old it would not start in the garage one morning. Could not even get it to crank with my 50 amp battery charger. GM sent a Pop A Lock service that started it with a jump box. I went to work and the next time I tried to start the truck the battery was dead again. Could not get it to start even with a good set of jumper cables and a diesel F250. I bought a NOCO. I have jumped neighbors cars several times and the jeep 3-4 times. With it I was not even all that concerned about running around with a dead battery.
 
Resurrecting this thread as I’m debating whether I should buy the GB40 or jumper cables for this winter.
Anyone have experience with the Noco boosters in cold weather?
 
With a manual transmission I decided I don't need to carry jumper cables or a jump start. When out in the boonies I make it a point to stop on high ground, or leave it running if only stopping for a few minutes. I've done this for years.
I do carry a heavy duty set of cables in my Superduty but only used them a couple times to help strangers.
 
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I have a manual so I can bump start as needed. I have battery cut off switches on both wranglers for when I park them. My lead acid jumper died yrs ago and I just use my heavy duty jumpers now. Those Li jumpers have the benefit of having other uses such as charging a phone.
Be careful when buying cables many say they are copper but in reality they are copper coated aluminum. Look at the ends inside of the clamps to see if they are all copper. Good cables don’t come cheap. A good set of cables will last a lifetime.
 
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Plumber1 said:
Wow those are expensive
Click to expand...

Yes but american made, and true copper multi-strand wiring with great ends. They are super heavy (weight wise). Compared to the copper covered wire crap you can buy from Amazon i'm happy with the price. Whats even more ridiculous is if you google something like 'Top jumper cables of 2023' and look at what the various review sites recommend its all chinesium crap. People feel like unless they can spend $20 on something there is no value.

The old adage is so true, you get what you pay for. :cool:
 
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