One of the guy i work with needs a new positive battery cable for his 97 F-150, which was built before 8/96. When he called the dealerships they said that it would cost between $140 and $160, but had his truck been built after 8/96 it only cost $35 dollars to replace. What is the difference between the pre and post 8/96 positive battery cable?

Christopher

 

Oh great, another one of those early production oddities thats going to cost me money somewhere down the road.

haha, money has to go somewhere.

I've never heard of this one though.

 

I own a 97 with 4.2L and wondered why a cable would be different priced. Just checked an on line Ford auto parts website and found the pre 8/96 positive cable was $35.08 and the post 8/96 positive cable is $48.12.
Don't know why the difference but a whole lot cheaper than the prices you found. Maybe a local auto parts store would be compariable.
Good luck and have a good weekend.

 

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top>2wd, to 8/96 </TD><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top noWrap align=middle>1997 </TD><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top align=right>$144.40</TD><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top align=right></TD><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top align=right>$108.30</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top>2wd, from 8/96 </TD><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top noWrap align=middle>97-98 </TD><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top align=right>$31.42</TD><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top align=right></TD><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top align=right>$23.57</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top>4wd, to 8/96 </TD><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top noWrap align=middle>1997 </TD><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top align=right>$141.73</TD><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top align=right></TD><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top align=right>$106.30</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top>4wd, from 8/96 </TD><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top noWrap align=middle>97-98 </TD><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top align=right>$37.70</TD><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top align=right></TD><TD class=tabletext style="BORDER-TOP: #000000 4px double" vAlign=top align=right>$28.28 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The difference as far as I can tell is bout $100.00.
The above prices are for a 4.6 motor.
The end of the positive cable litteraly broke off the starter on my 98 5.4 . I thought 30 + was bad. I ended up just taking the whole shebang off (positive and negative) because they were taped into the same conduit (corrigated tube). For a buck and change I bought a new connector and soldered that bad boy on. Been fine ever since.

For that sort of money I would pull off and look for a universal cable or connectors and make it work. Might even try an alternater shop. By the way Napa had a good selection of generics. No local parts house had a exact replacement "dealer item".

 

Jeze people, just mesure the thing and buy a generic on at auto zone. It's just a 6ga cable.

 

You might also try Boater's World. They carry well made cable for reasonable prices. I recently rebuilt my Indmar-Ford 302 and re-wired everything including the engine harness and battery cables. Boater's World had the best prices. Boat cable is also far superior quality to automotive. There are more strands of individual wire in the boat cable. Current travels with less resistance and the cable is more flexible and more resistant to breaking from vibration. You don't really need that quality cable, but if you can get a better quality for a better price why not up grade?

Just make sure that the size of whatever replacement cable your friend uses is equal to or one size greater than the original. I'm not talking about length (the length depends on how you route the cable), I'm talking about diameter of the cable wire. If you do increase the length, however, you will have to increase the size of the cable to compensate for the additional resistance created by the additional length. Better to stay with the same length, then you don't have any questions about the correct size.

I would be willing to bet that the starter for the later vehicles draws less amps than the starter for the earlier vehicles or the cable is shorter or both. Either of these factors would allow Ford to use a smaller size (and less expensive) cable. I doubt Ford enjoyed paying more for the earlier cable any more than we would.

Hawkeye77