hey all, i need to replace my ground cable. from ford, it's $72. i'd rather go with welding cable anyway, so how do i do the block to frame connection? on the stock cable there is a bracket that's bolted to the frame. i remember reading on the forum that a 10-8 gauge wire is sufficient for the block to frame connection. is that correct?

thanks!

 

The ground to the frame is only required if you tow a trailer. The frame ground is used to complete the circuit for the trailer lights. To your point, if you need this ground a lighter gauge wire may be used. 8-10 gauge is more than sufficient IMHO.

 

I disagree. Every electrical device on the truck (or trailer) needs a complete electrical circuit to work, and almost none of them have a wire running back to the negative battery terminal - they all use ground for that. Any bad connection will give electrical problems, and almost all of those probelems are caused by bad ground connections. The engine is connected to the frame. So is the body. And for that matter, a trailer is grounded through the hitch. But if you take shortcuts on grounding you're asking for electrical gremlins some time in the future.

As to what size wire, the frame - engine wire doesn't need to carry starter or alternator current, so unless you've added some big-draw accessories this wire doesn't need to be huge. * to 10 gage is probably OK, but personally I'd still go with the heavy 2 - 4 gage like the main battery cables. It's not that expensive.

 

Nothing Special,

rla2005 is right as we are talking about 1987 and newer trucks on this forum. You are right for older trucks but all of the 1987 and newer trucks do run a ground wire where needed.
The frame does not have to be grounded. The ground lug on the NEG cable is bolted to the frame for the ground wire in the trailer plug and the license plate lights if you do not have a back bumper. Nothing else needs a ground if you do not install something after market.
The Ford vans from the factory do not even have this ground lug bolted to the frame as the frame is not grounded at all.
The engine, transmission and rear end have no electrical connection to the frame. If you do not think so just ground the frame and not the engine and watch the ground wire from the engine to the safety wall in the engine compartment burn up when you turn the key to start. The drive train has rubber insulators between it and the frame so there is no electrical continuity.


There must be a ground wire from the NEG post of the battery to the body however and it should be 8GA.


Can you name one thing on a truck that needs a frame ground?


There is no need to hash this over as we have already gone over this on the Electrical Forum with the Moderator Franklin2 explaining it.

 

okay. so to recap, i do need to keep that frame to block ground, and a 10 to 8 gauge wire will be sufficient but why not use some 4-2 gauge stuff.
thanks all!

 

Just replaced mine with a parts store bought cable. Long enough to reach from the block to the frame then to battery. I pealed away some of the insulation from the new cable and opened up the old clamp from the old wire, cleaned the clamp and crimped it on to the new one. I then put liquid tape on the crimp. This is probably not necessary since the factory cable is exposed at this point.
Now one eyelet bolts to the factory spot on the block, the clamp is put where it was and the other end to bat. neg.
<O</O

 

oh. you just exposed the wire on your new cable and put the clamp over that. good one! i like that a lot better.

 

That's it. Works fine. Forgot to mention I probably could not have done it without a bench mounted vice. I needed it to hold the wire so I could pry open the old clamp and then to press it on to the new cable. Without a vice, I would probably have stabbed myself through the hand.

 

pretty tough stuff huh. do you have a 460? if so, how long of a cbl did you get?

 

It's a 1993 460. Don't know the length. Had a piece laying around and just happened to be the perfect length. Measure your old one and get one a little longer for good measure.

 

yeah. i kinda wanted to have it all ready when i started the job. oh well. since i'm going to be using bulk welding cable i'll just get a few feet and have extra cable layin' around. not that big a deal.

 

Do Not forget to run a wire from the NEG post to the body of the truck or nothing will work. Use a 8-10GA wire.

 

Sorry, my bad. I've just seen so many people with intermittent electrical problems that always come back to a poor ground connection that I always go overkill on grounds.

 

We all are here to learn. No harm, no foul!