Hi Guys,
I have seen in many previous threads where an additional ground cable is run from negative battery terminal to alternator bracket on the OBS trucks.

What is the benefit of running this additional ground? How does this improve upon the factory electrical system?

Thanks, Jeff

 

It simply adds a more secure negative connection. All of your electrical circuits need the best electrical pathways possible and grounding issues cause a lot of common problems.

 

Redundancy to prevent a bad engine ground causing problems. If your main engine ground is damaged or falls off, all your starting current will find its way back to the battery through the main-harness ground, which is much smaller and usually burns up and catches on fire... Plus it damaged other wires in the harness too.
An additional ground helps guard against that.

 

Additional grounds are a waste.

Now that everyone is upset, I look at it this way. I do not have any bad grounds so why do I need more? I do believe that most manufacturers could install a larger gauge wire for most power/ground circuits but they do not, to keep the costs down.

Fix your wiring and you do not need a back up. If you are too lazy to fix weak electrical wiring, then go ahead, put in more. When is a time where the engine ground cable falls off? Not on my truck. If that happens, it's not the cable, but the person servicing the vehicle.

I would start by getting rid of all the cables at the battery and go large. I would go with no less than 2ga ground wire to the body and even larger to the engine.

More is not always better. Good is all you ever need. If were were building satellites or airplanes, a back up plan is always a good idea.

 

People put grounds to alt brackets because that's the way most chev/gm of the late 60s-70s were attached.

And they are too lazy to deal with where the factory Ford ground is mounted this gen at the front of the block also holding the ATF lines & harness hold down...

BEHIND the air pump. Plus the frame connection tab.

Just make sure your factory ones aren't corroded or badly rusted

Additional grounds are only useful with additional electrical loads, or in some cases RF interference. There are numerous ones in this gen for that reason.

 

Two grounds one going from - battey terminal to engine block another one from - battery to frame, and a + wire going to alternator charging connector to +battery, also called the big 3, great upgrade when using aftermarket audio systems or auxiliary lighting/equipment. The bigger the wire the better a 3/0 or a 4/0 even better, optimizes the factory charging system.

 

4/0 cable can handle 600A at around 9ft. I would think that is a foolish idea. I do agree that bigger is better, but there comes a point where it gets ridiculous.

 

adding a ground to the Alt isnt a bad idea, after 20 years of water and road goo corroding things up will help with charging issues if your Alt isnt grounded to the block well

Cleaning your grounds is a better plan that adding new ones


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ou-cranky.html

 

I enjoy these discussions where there is "no right" or " no wrong".
Speaking from personal experience the bad ground shows up at the most inopportune time. It's 2am, blizzard conditions, no rest areas or chain up areas, zero degrees and when I do get to a rest area I hit the slow down bump and everything starts working as I pull to a stop.
So, when I have my truck in my nice heated shop for the winter is when I look for those "what if" developments under the bottom of the truck, inside the fenders, behind the grill and under the batteries. In a few minutes I can rig a stranded wire with eyes and fasten it with a couple of self taping screws.
It also works on a trailer grounding through the 2" ball.
JMHO

 

Thanks everyone for the replies. I am not having any ground issues with my truck. I was just trying to learn from those with more Ford knowledge than I possess myself.
I enjoy the debate in both directions. Weather all or none agree on the answer to the question, I do value and appreciate all the opinions and knowledge you all freely share on this forum.

Thank you,
Jeff

 

All too often opinions are formed by past experiences and just following the herd.

I am a German car mechanic and my job for well over 20 years was to fix cars that others could not fix. I have learned through those years that most professionals have no clue what they are doing. Many can replace parts fast but when asked why they are doing it, they really do not know. They just know it works.

Same goes with most DIY'ers. If you understand what happens, you can make good decisions and fix things reliably. If you had a bad body to engine ground, you could fix that [maybe with a larger cable] or you could add another ground cable. Both ways will fix the problem and that is where both camps will swear they are right. If you test the system [voltage drop test is too easy not to do] then you can 'see' the problem and determine what is exactly the cause. I have found that it's better to fix a problem vs putting a band aide on it. When you are on the side of the road, band aides are acceptable.

That is all I am trying to share. Adding additional wires rarely fix the real problem. It just covers up the problem. These trucks are old and it would not hurt to find a good spring day and put a bit of love into those connections that are neglected. For some reason, positive connections get a lot more love than the ground side of things. Not certain why. There are two posts on a battery, what goes out of one, must go back to the other. Make that circuit good and you will not be having trouble in the dead of winter.