Hey guys, I int he process of ordering some parts for replacing my battery lugs. The previous owner either killed his batteries alot, jumped alot of friends, or poured salt water on his battery lugs once a week. Seriously though, the lugs are all pitted and cracked. I'll have to post pictures. You can't even tighten them down really good.

So, I wanted to post what I was going and the products I was going to use.

Here are the lugs I was going to change to.

I decided to change to a post design for a few reasons:

1. Ease of adding items (Stereo, battery minder, inverter, etc)
2. Easier to take battery out

I would then cut the old clamp style connectors off the current cables and inspect the cables. Looking for corrosion, breaks, etc. I would also check the ground points also.

I will only use solder on style lugs, its so simple to do, looks better, lasts longer and works better.

If the cables look bad, I will probably do an upgrade to a 2/0-3/0 combination.

(Sizes of the lugs are depending if I replace the cables)

Here are the lugs im going to use.
Fusion Solder Connector

This one for the starter cable. The passenger side battery that has two wires coming off of it.
MagnaLug Fusion Solder

So let me know what you guys think.

I found this on custombatterycables.com

"Stock negative cables are 1/0 with #10 gauge chassis grounds. The stock positive cable uses 1/0 for the crossover, 2/0 for the starter and #6 for the fuse block."

 

I'm not a huge fan of those clamps. At the very least strip the paint off the contact areas.

If mine were really bad I'd just throw a new cable set on there.

New Positive Battery Cable 99 01 Ford F250 F350 F450 F550 Excursion 7 3L V8 | eBay

 

Another option is, instead of using the Marine style clamp (there are heavier duty ones out there than what you linked), you can get the old fashioned replacement battery terminals in a heavy duty option, but instead of using the compression fitting to hold you cable in place, install the lugs like you're talking about and use the 2 bolts to clamp the lugs to the terminal (and any additional accessories). I've found that adding those star washers helps keep the bolts tight.

You can see what I'm talking about here.

 

Im in the same boat...... all the connectors on mine are maxed out. Ive cut about 3/16 out of the gap to get them to tighten "tighter". My negative cables are bad too.

I like the idea of making your own ...... wayyyy cheaper but contact on batteries in these truck is so critical i don't know if id risk it.

I probably end up going with new ford oem cables like Fat mentioned.

 

Thats a good solution Chris now that you mention it. Where would one find the HD clamps? Also on the Passenger side batt do they make a clamp with a dual connector to inline the cable from the driver side to the passenger to the starter ?

I just don't care for too many connections that can come loose. I kinda perfer the factory oem stuff but i don't like the cost

 

You can find the HD terminals at your local hardware store, or local farm supply or tractor store. The marine style terminal would do the same thing, but as I mentioned, they make heavy duty and light duty ones.

For the passenger side, you just do the same thing. Put a lug on each cable (crossover and to starter) and clamp one on each post, or clamp them together on the marine style terminal. Quite a bit cheaper than replacing all the wiring. Grounds can be done the same way, but it seems to be easier to just use a marine style terminal for the grounds.

 

Haven't looked into it much. I will be doing some browsing and see what i can get. I do agree a lot cheaper than oem.

 

I have never had any good luck with the HD ones from my local hardware store or tractor supply. After a while they tend to corrode and bend when tightened. So I used the following for mine.

Wingnut - Brass Battery Terminals

Then used some brass lugs and some soldier slugs when I did the install. I haven't had a problem yet and they have been in for over a year.

Also just a side note as a test I put Noalox between the terminals and the lugs. So far so good.

 

I know at one time I saw a thread that had a link to a place that sold better battery cables than oem but I can not find it. Does anyone know what I am talking about?

Nevermind I found it http://www.custombatterycables.com/index.htm

 

Nice link!

Here is the link for the '02-'03 cables. Looks like they are about $25 cheaper....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-OEM-BATT...item53f28e836a
The later style will work on the '99-'01 models but you'll have to salvage the fender solenoid cable. It's not really that hard to do. I posted a thread a while back when I did this to my F-450 truck..

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-01-truck.html

 

I did the same thing with mine. I just cut the ends off the stock cables and replaced them then used the same type of terminals. Works like a champ.

 

That dont look bad at all. Does anyone know what the diffrence in the cables would be between the 02 and E99.

 

Did you check out the thread that I posted the link for earlier? It explains the differences and what you have to do to make it work.

 

Damn my bad, I clicked on the link before I read the whole thing.
thanks man.

 

No biggie, I found the cable lug at Home Depot in their electrical section. I used some Loctite on the set screw to help keep it from coming loose.