Excess Positive Battery cable

[1BadAction]

What's with the excess battery cable on these things? In particular, the one that is wadded up above the master cylinder. On the 89 K5 I had, I thought it was just extra from the previous idiot (i mean owner) but my 91 Burb is that way, just like almost every truck of the same era that I have seen. I want to trim it back so I can loom it with the rest of the wires, but if that hand loop serves some kind of purpose, I don't want to hack it up. Thanks.

You can just barely see what I'm talking about in the top right of this pic of my K5.

[frog210]

i know people use thicker gauge wire to get more power to the item
Like ppl that have big audio systems they upgrade the to 0 gauge for more power
Maybe its inteded for the most power
or they had excess because they were gonna install a system hard to say...

disregard what i said, i read it wrong lol

[Keith Seymore]

That's not ringing a bell with me; can you take a better picture?

(Maybe another view will help stir my memory).

K

[1BadAction]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

That's not ringing a bell with me; can you take a better picture?

(Maybe another view will help stir my memory).

K

Truck is not here with me, but I found a better picture of what I'm talking about. Top right above the MC.

[86c20]

looks like another feed forthe power post on the fire wall. dont see why you would need it tho.

[83GMCK2500]

That is so much "not factory" that it hurts. GM has had to do a lot of (questionable) things over the years, and they've all had to go through the bean-counters to do it so an extra foot and a half of copper is definitely not factory.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by 83GMCK2500

That is so much "not factory" that it hurts. GM has had to do a lot of (questionable) things over the years, and they've all had to go through the bean-counters to do it so an extra foot and a half of copper is definitely not factory.

Agree - doesn't look factory to me.

K

[MalibuSSwagon]

I would like to add that the factory GM cable is black, and the part number is printed on it.

[1BadAction]

Originally Posted by 83GMCK2500

That is so much "not factory" that it hurts. GM has had to do a lot of (questionable) things over the years, and they've all had to go through the bean-counters to do it so an extra foot and a half of copper is definitely not factory.

lol, that's what I was thinking, but my two trucks, and two others I looked at of the same era were very similar. Must have just been a coincidence, they all had some kind of aftermarket junk stereo in them, so that may have had something to do with it.

Thanks guys, I'm going to do away with that extra length when I clean up the wiring on the burb.

[raceman6135]

Also, GM would never have a cable (particularly a positive one) laying unsupported and unprotected like that over such a long span.

[vegas80step]

Originally Posted by 1BadAction

lol, that's what I was thinking, but my two trucks, and two others I looked at of the same era were very similar. Must have just been a coincidence, they all had some kind of aftermarket junk stereo in them, so that may have had something to do with it.

Thanks guys, I'm going to do away with that extra length when I clean up the wiring on the burb.

stop buying trucks from that guy.. he does drugs... lol

[ktm450]

probably what it is, is an after market cable bought from an auto store. the average person doesn't have the proper tools to put the crimp ends on cable, so the store just gets standard lengths made an sell those. as for shortening it up, thats not a problem. best waay to do it is run through the truck how you want it then cut the excess right at the terminal post on the solenoid. if you just cut a part out in the middle and some how reconnect, ie wire nut, twist and tape or butt splice connector. it can cause more resistance on your wire therefore not allowing the full available power to your starter. always best to have least restrictions as possible, just like having a straight exhaust or a big intake. best solution get the proper crimp and tool and put a new end on. if you dont have access to a crimping tool you can solder it. put the crimp lug in a vise heat it up and melt the solder in it. fill it bout halfway. heat up the stripped end of your cable just a little so not to melt the insulation. push the wire in the crimp lug while lug is still warm and solder liquified. hold wire in til it cools enough til solder is solid form. i build oil rig for a living, all of our connections for power cable we crimp on then also solder for maximun durability.

to answer your question about getting more power out of cable. thats kind of correct just wrong wording. the larger your cable size the more amps it can handle. if you had a smaller cable as your main feed from your battery you would melt the cable, and probably start an electrical fire. hence why big stereo systems and subwoofers use thick cable, they demand alot of amps and need a big cable to carry that power. always try to figure out current demanded by the component and size wire accordingly. hope this helps

[1BadAction]

I don't solder anything that's subjected to vibration, especially wire that big.

I wasn't asking about more power out of anything, to be clear. All I needed to know was if that was some kind of fusable link that needed to be that long. The "thats not factory" reply is good enough for me, I'll fix it as soon as the truck is back in my possession... and put the excess cable to good use.

[ktm450]

my reply wasnt fully directed at you for say, and i was not trying to be offensive and make you look stupid. just trying to shed some more light on the whole topic. alot of people just look on forums for advice rather than ask a question it, i know i do when it comes to body work and paint. also for the soldering thing, if you were just gonna solder to wires together or a wire to a terminal post or something i agree with you, but doing it in a crimp lug holds very well, and adding solder into the already crimped lug makes it really strong, you couldnt rip it off if you tried. ive across alot of bad electrical work in my job, just trying to educate to help prevent it is all. Cheers

[1BadAction]

Originally Posted by ktm450

my reply wasnt fully directed at you for say, and i was not trying to be offensive and make you look stupid. just trying to shed some more light on the whole topic. alot of people just look on forums for advice rather than ask a question it, i know i do when it comes to body work and paint. also for the soldering thing, if you were just gonna solder to wires together or a wire to a terminal post or something i agree with you, but doing it in a crimp lug holds very well, and adding solder into the already crimped lug makes it really strong, you couldnt rip it off if you tried. ive across alot of bad electrical work in my job, just trying to educate to help prevent it is all. Cheers

No worries man, thx.