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When running ground, bigger is better and nothing is too big. I've got some ground wires I had made for my old bus. I'll be putting them in locations where they won't be obvious to the eye. I don't remember the gauge but bigger than my thumb.
Thanks gents but my question is about the gauge of the stock wire. I want to replace mine for aesthetic reasons (the insulation is almost completely missing and the stranded core is corroded and flattened so it is difficult to estimate the size). I do have a braided copper ground out if sight that provides a good ground.
My ground strap is pictured here the battery. Most of the covering is gone. Corrosion is normally on the positive cable, I think but I am not coherent this late at night.
compare the stranded wire to the clamp to get some idea.
If it were me, I'd clean the stranded wire, reuse it by coating it. There is a plastic dip available at most hardware stores. That way, you have the clamp with the stranded cable embedded in it, looking correct.
I would use the braided ground strap with soldered-on terminals. I want optimum electrical connections rather than being concerned about someone telling me that my ground wire is not the original-factory-stock-numbers-matching wire. If you insist on black insulated ground wire I would go big, especially the location you're talking about which is an important one. Battery cable, like 4 or 6 gauge ought to do....
The gauge wire I have for places other than the battery is 1. They were made up to go between two batteries for my '88 ih school bus. One is red but that doesn't matter. They will be under the truck. The battery ground strap is available on DC's website and same price as Napa. Neither says if it is aluminum or coated copper. Looking at the images online, they look press fit to the ends.
Here are the ones I had made by a friend who wholesales custom car audio items.
like other things, everyone has an opinion on it. Be sure it's copper and the ends are sodder on. That's my opinion.
Thanks everyone for the input but I still have not got an answer to my question - what gauge of wire was used on the OEWM ground wire? I already have another braided ground wire that I installed to get a good ground. However, I want the truck to look as "stock" as I can (not concours stock, just really nice patina truck stock) so I'd like to replace the gnarly wire in the truck with something that looks stock but really is just for aesthetics.
Looking at my old parts truck it appears to be a #6 wire. But seriously who's going to know or care what size that wire is. Most of us add grounds where the factory didn't even think about putting them.
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