Recommended battery terminal replacements?

EJD

EJD

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Hey guys,

My battery terminals at the ends of the power and ground cables that connect to the top posts of my Jeeps battery are cracked from what looks like age and being removed so many times. The metal is very soft and doesn't seem like it will last, so i'de like to either swap the terminals or get new cables altogether.

I'm curious to know if anyone has any experience with swapping these out or has any particular terminals they would recommend for a solid replacement? or will any cheap replacement set work just as well?

Thanks in advance.
 
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Personally I'd go to a battery specialty shop and just have them make them for you. They have all the various wire gauge sizes and connectors required plus the hydraulic crimper needed to do the job. The type of shop I'm referring to is one that only sells big automotive/truck size batteries, not an auto parts store. I have 3-4 of these types of shops within a short distance of where I live, they're around in most areas. :)
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
Personally I'd go to a battery specialty shop and just have them make them for you. They have all the various wire gauge sizes and connectors required plus the hydraulic crimper needed to do the job. The type of shop I'm referring to is one that only sells big automotive/truck size batteries, not an auto parts store. I have 3-4 of these types of shops within a short distance of where I live, they're around in most areas. :)
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I'll look into that, I was considering it as an option. So long as its not too expensive, I just bought an Odyssey Extreme and that was expensive enough.
 
If your cables are in good condition and you have a torch/solder laying around this is what I did: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00X36RILW/?tag=wranglerorg-20

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EJD said:
Oh man, thats more along the lines of what I was looking for. Were yours shot like mine or did you just wanna upgrade when you upgraded your battery? Also, did you cut your power + ground lines or heat the old terminal up and pull the cables out? Just curious...
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My cables were in good condition, so I opted to cut them & pull them out of their previous terminals and use a torch with solder in the copper eyes to attach them. 30,000 miles later still new as ever. Here are the photos before & after when I first got the Jeep. If I needed to replace the cables I probably would have had a shop make me a set. I'm interested to know why you wouldn't want to solder the cables to the copper eyes to attach to the battery terminal connector, because I thought that was the proper thing to do.

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Crimped connections are the norm cause it's cheaper and faster, but I wouldn't fear the solder. Thing I don't like about crimped connections is it allows battery corrosion to form inside the crimp over time. Solder seals that connection. If your cables are getting hot enough to melt the solder, then you have a serious problem somewhere, imo. They make solder with different melting points.
 
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Here is my set up.

Terminals.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LLWKXV6/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Cables
Came from EBAY from a store called genuinedealz
I would send a link but if I send Ebay links it only takes you to the front page for whatever reason.
I replaced all of my cables with two gauge on the primary battery and 1 gauge on the secondary used the terminals above for both batteries (both positive and ground).

The cables are quality and I buy all of my cables there. Never had any issues.

The cables are reasonable, but the terminals are expensive, but the look outstanding and they work good.

By the way same exact setup in both my TJ and my RAM truck.
http://www.ebay.com/usr/genuinedealz?_trksid=p2047675.l2559
 
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There are some characteristics of soldered connections that don't work well in vehicle applications since there is vibration to deal with. Primarily that of wicking solder back into the stranded wiring that can focus vibration at the point the stranded wire becomes solid at the point of being soldered and cause failures at that point. This is why soldering the wiring on vehicles where vibration is present is not commonly done. Pretty much all cable connectors are crimped in aerospace applications like aircraft and space vehicles where NASA regulations have become the standard for critical wiring connectors.

And you won't find factory soldered connections in any automotive battery cable that I've ever seen in 55 years of driving.

There's some good information at http://www.marinewireandcable.com/2013/11/crimping-vs-soldering-marine-cable-and.html
http://www.audioholics.com/audio-video-cables/crimping-and-soldering that while written around marine connections also applies to non-marine applications as well.

I've been a soldering kind of guy since the early 60's but I've been educated by more than a few on the fact that soldered connections are not often superior to properly crimped connections. I still solder many of my connections but for many applications I'll crimp them or have them crimped.

Not to mention bare copper wiring conducts better than copper wiring that has been covered with solder.
 
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Head Lice said:
Any industrial battery shop .... don't cheap-out on the cables.
An expensive/good battery is pointless if you can't get that voltage to where it should go ....
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Oh I wasn't planning on getting cables unless it was necessary to do so with the terminals attached. Otherwise, my cables like @JamesAndTheSahara are in good condition and will most likely just cut the old terminals off and use the existing wiring again.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
There are some characteristics of soldered connections that don't work well in vehicle applications since there is vibration to deal with. Primarily that of wicking solder back into the stranded wiring that can focus vibration at the point the stranded wire becomes solid at the point of being soldered and cause failures at that point. This is why crimping the wiring on vehicles where vibration is present is not commonly done. Pretty much all cable connectors are crimped in aerospace applications like aircraft and space vehicles where NASA regulations have become the standard for critical wiring connectors.

And you won't find factory soldered connections in any automotive battery cable that I've ever seen in 55 years of driving.

There's some good information at http://www.marinewireandcable.com/2013/11/crimping-vs-soldering-marine-cable-and.html
http://www.audioholics.com/audio-video-cables/crimping-and-soldering that while written around marine connections also applies to non-marine applications as well.

I've been a soldering kind of guy since the early 60's but I've been educated by more than a few on the fact that soldered connections are not often superior to properly crimped connections. I still solder many of my connections but for many applications I'll crimp them or have them crimped.

Not to mention bare copper wiring conducts better than copper wiring that has been covered with solder.
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I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge here @Jerry Bransford. For now I will rock what I have, but in the future I will probably have new wiring cut & crimped. Thank you!
 
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