Battery cables

[Whitaker717]

Anyone have any good leads on where to get some replacement battery cables for my 87 auto 4x4? I’m not quite sure what to grab. Links would be great. Thanks guys

[Limeyjeeper]

Jeepcables.com

[89 MJ]

Any parts store should be able to make you some. That said, I’d go with what limey said and upgrade. 

[schardein]

Purchasing pre-made custom cables is a good and simple option.  Another option would be to build your own, but it takes an investment in tools and time.  I do enough custom work that I can justify buying various crimping tools for large diameter electrical cable, crimp terminals, and large diameter adhesive lined heat shrink tubing. I save a little on the cable because I source most of it from junkyard vehicles.  Tip: go to the junkyard and look for Cadillac cars (like early 2000s Deville) or Dodge 300s.  They have the battery under the back seat or in the trunk, and with some work you can get good lengths of large gauge cable.  Junkyards usually charge a flat "per foot" rate that is much less expensive than buying new.  These vehicles often have cable marked as "welding cable" which is great because it has more strands of thinner, pure copper wire making it more flexible and gives it higher current capacity.

[Whitaker717]

On 10/12/2024 at 4:30 PM, Limeyjeeper said:

Jeepcables.com

I hopped in that website and click on the MJ and it pulls up the 87-90 xj I think. It looks like a lot of cables. I guess I never payed that much attention but do we have that many cables? I so love how he labels them though. 

[Limeyjeeper]

This is what you need

[Whitaker717]

2 hours ago, Limeyjeeper said:

This is what you need

Thank you. I will get it ordered. 

[75sv1]

That is including a MEGA or Maxi fuse. That would replace the fuse link, the green wire to the alternator. I have made about 3-4 sets for my own use. I use one of the cheap Chinese hydraulic crimpers. It works OK for me. I use other types of ends.

[75sv1]

NAPA carries Grote wiring supplies. I try and use the fine wire cables. They bend better. Also, some say since they have more surface area, they can carry a higher load. Also, marine or tinned wiring is an upgrade. 

[Spinnakerblue89]

I have to say Jeepcables for me was a superior product over the ones I got from Ksuspension. Not because they were better cables, for all I know they're too similar to really tell the difference apart. But because the labeling and instructions are better with Jeepcables. That said, I would still do business with both no problem.

[JZLAJeep]

Ordered new cables from Jeepcables.com/Big7kits.com for the '95 XJ and thought I'd give a review here after installing.

 

Summary: The cables are nice. The installation was not. Overall rating: 2 out of 5 stars.

 

I ordered a 4 gauge set of wires for my '95 XJ. The old battery terminal wires had been shortened enough times and corroded enough that it was time for new longer wires.

 

The wires are NOT plug and play. They are also NOT direct replacement for the factory wires. Factory wire ends that position the wire correctly and keep the wire from spinning when tightening are not present for instance.

 

It took me probably 8 hours to do what I thought was going to be a 1 hour job. Between the routing, re-routing, re-re-routing, modifications, and run to the hardware store, it took a LOT longer than expected. It should have been an ominous sign when the instructions said, "With the XJ (91-95)/MJ/YJ and ZJ (93-95) you will have to do a couple extra things to successfully complete the install."  Yeah, a couple... 

 

Issue 1: The factory cable has this end connector on it that aligns the red cable (from the battery) and the green wire (starter relay?) so they line up on the starter and don't twist when tightening nuts. Well, the red cable get's replaced from the kit, but not the green wire and the instructions are silent on how and what to do. Called customer support and they said to either put a new end on the green wire, or cut the connector apart. I opted for the latter, figuring I could fall back to a new connector if needed. The black rubber did cut apart easily enough with a cutting wheel (wrong tool, but got the job done). Also, this connector placed the wires parallel to the starter, the new wire is placed perpendicular to the starter (no 90 degree bend in the connector) so I bent the green wire's connector to match. After several attempts at routing (tried behind the charcoal canister then routed to the fender side of the fuse block, I ended up routing it between the engine block and the fuse block and tucked behind some of the AC hoses.

 

Issue 2: From the instructions: "If your alternator has a shroud, it is ESSENTIAL that the shroud remains in place... You may need to trim shroud to get larger wires/lug to fit."

"Trimming" the shroud isn't particularly easy. My XJ is AC equipped so the compressor and AC lines are in the way. Not wanting to remove the alternator to install battery cables, I decided a Dremel tool was worth a try. Could barely get it to reach, but I was able to "trim" the shroud eventually. Only had to make one trip to the hardware store to buy more attachments after I melted the one I had. Eventually got the shroud "trimmed" enough to get the cable on.

 

Needed to "trim" some shroud to accommodate the width of the cable.

 

Melted Dremel attachment

 

I didn't get a final picture of the "trimmed" shroud. This was taken along the way, but you get the idea. The black wire hanging in the photo no longer attaches to the alternator because it is replaced with a different wire from the kit. I did not chase this wire through the looms and just left it dangling. I'm sure future me will say, "I wonder what this is supposed to connect to." 

 

Additionally, two 60A fuses are pulled from the fuse block and are replaced by the in-line fuse. Then lastly, on 91-95, the connector from the the fuse block side of the wire from the starter has to be cut off to connect the two studs on the side of the fuse block. Apparently only 91-95 had this style fuse block. I didn't take a picture, but here's a screenshot from the instructions.

 

 

By this point, I was ready to be done and stopped after installing 6 wires from the Big 7 kit. The 7th wire runs from the back of the block to the firewall. 

 

Eventually I got everything hooked up, aligned the way I wanted it, wrapped up in wire loom, and the vehicle started. The kit worked, but not without some difficulty along the way. Good cables, but NOT plug and play and NOT a quick, direct replacement. That's my review...

[Stewart]

I had an alternator issue on my 1989 Comanche not charging replaced the alternator, made my own battery cables out of no.4 wire. Still had the same problem. Checked all the fusible links at the starter relay using a test light no burnt fusible links as the test light confirmed. Sanded the paint around a small screw hole on the passenger fender well, took a piece of 10 ga. Wire and crimped a lug on each end and connected the wire from the negative battery post to the fender well problem solved (alternator charging @ 14) I wish that I would have started at the fusible links and started checking grounds before I bought an alternator I could have saved myself 165.00 and a lot of work on replacing the alternator.