I went to a local big truck shop. I took in my old cables and they matched the length in 00 size.
They made them on the spot in 5-10 minutes.

 

NAPA also has tractor battery cables....these are heavy ga wire too !

 

Our local Interstate Battery made up my cables for a very reasonable price.

 

I had a bad cable on my truck. It worked OK until I had to crank it too long and then it would just die. Once I got it running and warmed up it would start OK but not great. Went to the farm supply store and got a couple of heavy tractor cables all was fine.

That was until the #6 exhaust valve decided to burn but that's an unrelated problem 😄

 

I use the 00 02 gauge wire. And use cable nipples to protect the attach hardware. I've found most troubles will usually start with corrosion at the terminals. I've had my 55 for about ten years now had the starter rebuilt and the issue was corrosion inside the starter. After the rebuild no issues at all.

 

that would be why my starter was so finnicky at first. even on 12v it acted like that.

 

now everything will be new on that truck.

 

Yes sir!

You want the battery cable and starter cable the same size. It's like sucking a milk shake through a straw, when its nice, cold, and thick the straw collapses. In your case the smaller sized starter cable has higher resistance, and that higher resistance also adds heat to the starter and relay terminals if you have to crank it long. Since the starter is the highest amp draw circuit in your truck you will want to get yourself a 2/0 (or 00 it's the same size) cable between your starter and your starter relay, and your battery cables should also be 2/0.
Check your battery ground too. It should go right to your engine block or a starter mount bolt. Then a good jumper to the frame and another jumper to ground your firewall. If you just ground it to the frame since your motor mounts have rubber in them your ground or battery return is trying to get to your starter and your engine through your frame, then spring pins, then springs, your axle, differential, drive shaft, transmission, then bell housing. Lots of detours that the the current doesn't need to take.

Oooops!
Sorry! I shouldn't of replied to this. Many gave him great answers before I posted it. I did not see them I should of scrolled down completely before replying! Sorry again to all those who replied before me!

 

No problem Hooler. It's good to hear it again to make sure the point gets across.

 

Thank you so much Abe! I get a little keyboard happy sometimes I guess. LOL..

 

If you want to see how much you are losing through the battery cables when having the hard start issue take a voltmeter and put the neg lead right on the starter stud and the positive lead right to the actual battery terminal making sure these are good connections then have someone crank the engine, the voltage reading is what is being lost between battery and starter, then do the same thing from the neg bat terminal to the starter housing, I would say that the total voltage drop of the + and - checks should be less than 1 volt.

A 6 volt system is very dependent on having good connections to the starter, I would take the neg battery cable directly to the engine block or even one of the starter bolts if possible

 

You mean the positive cable. 53-55 trucks are positive ground.

 

New bushings, brushes, and springs in that starter along with a new cable as suggested above should make a huge difference in your current experience.

Don’t be afraid to attack that starter. Watch a few you tube videos and you are set.

JB

 

yes, forgot about the + ground but it still works the same check - to - and + to + from battery to starter while cranking

 

Well both battery cables and the starter relay are all now the same wire size. I drove it around a little bit tonight before I changed the wires, then changed the wires, it cranked right up. But it had been sitting for about 30 minutes.

Tomorrow I will drive it again, and test the starter when it's hot hot.