My battery cable ends are in bad shape, so I picked up some new ends and car lugs. Due to my kid taking a short nap today, I only got one done, along with cleaning a couple of grounds.

 

These two pictures are obviously not a direct Before and After. I found out I didn't have a new 4 gauge lug, so did the ground wire first.  Whoops.

 

Oh, and the terminals did come with protective caps, it is now installed.

 

make sure your cables are good before finishing this. My round cables were failing from age, and had corrosion inside that was staring ti show up on the casing as rings.

...Well that's not what I want to hear!

When I trimmed back the insulation on the ground cables, everything looked normal, hopefully the others are the same.

1 hour ago, LorenS said:

...Well that's not what I want to hear!

When I trimmed back the insulation on the ground cables, everything looked normal, hopefully the others are the same.

 

For me the rings were along the first foot or two on the passenger side, seemed to start from the top where the battery was. I used liquid electric tape to seal the cable ends up in my new replacement cables.

Keep a coating of engine oil on the terminals and any exposed copper it will never oxidize or corrode. Like picture of the positive terminal the lead was highly oxidized and turning hard and bkack which is ruined. Lead terminal should remain bright and shiny appearance.

6 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Keep a coating of engine oil on the terminals and any exposed copper it will never oxidize or corrode. Like picture of the positive terminal the lead was highly oxidized and turning hard and bkack which is ruined. Lead terminal should remain bright and shiny appearance.

 

This works, I routinely when washing my truck wash the engine bay, and I always hit my battery terminals and batteries. then I coat them in engine oil, I will unhook them one at a time and coat everything in oil. So far 2 years later they are like new!

Edited January 7, 20196 yr by pepsi71ocean

I give my battery post a little shot of Pepsi or Coke every now and then,  is there are any harm or good idea?

24 minutes ago, 015point9 said:

I give my battery post a little shot of Pepsi or Coke every now and then,  is there are any harm or good idea?

 

Not good.  Does nothing for oxidation of the lead nor preventing corrosion. 

 

Q: What are the only two materials that sulphuric acid will not EAT?
A: Glass and Plastic.

 

Q: What is plastic made from?

A: Oil. 

 

Just coat the terminals with engine oil they will NEVER corrode. 

Silicone is resistant to sulfuric acid at a 10% concentration at 70 degrees.  Clearly it's hotter under the hood than 70 degrees, but hopefully you don't have liquid sulfuric acid spewing out of your battery!  So, my new terminal is coated in Gardner Denver dielectric grease, as I have done for a long while on other vehicles.  I found this article a while back which reaffirmed my decision.  https://www.w8ji.com/dielectric_grease_vs_conductive_grease.htm

 

A problem... if you lean over dielectric grease you get on you and your clothing. Engine oil leaves only a very thin oily film that will not get on your hands or clothing. Just like any battery terminal sprays the same problem too. 

 

Another thought to add to this is that with grease it will collect dust and dirt quite a bit. This could turn into a conductor for power if damped with water or humidity. The dirt and dust could be a problem. This one thing nice about oil it doesn't collect the dirt as bad. You can oil the terminal week later rinse it all off with a garden hose and the oil film will continue to protect the terminals. 

I replaced my batteries and did WTs ground mod 4 months or so go. Prior to this the tops of batteries would get just of dampness on them. Since the mod they hve been dry as bone and I have not put anything on the terminals, oil,for me. They are dry also and no corroaion. Not sure why this is but figured to leave them alone for a while longer and see what happens.

Gonna be updating my battery terminals also, still looking for a good set... also thought about relocating the batteries to a box in my flatbed and just have a power block up front, trick is finding a power block big enough for all that juice! 

 

Good info on oiling the terminals. 

Make sure to calculate the voltage drop and refigure proper cable size. Being the batteries are farther away from the starter and the PDC this means large cables got to used.

6 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Make sure to calculate the voltage drop and refigure proper cable size. Being the batteries are farther away from the starter and the PDC this means large cables got to used.

Yes indeed, might need some monster battery cables!

4/0 gauge... rated @ 600 amps @9 ft ? From one site I found. I'd say 12 ft would be more than enough but 9ft might make it back there. 

59 minutes ago, Stanley said:

Gonna be updating my battery terminals also, still looking for a good set... also thought about relocating the batteries to a box in my flatbed and just have a power block up front, trick is finding a power block big enough for all that juice! 

 

Good info on oiling the terminals. 

I used the military style terminals. I also replaced all my battery cables with 2/0 welding cable with soldered on ring terminals. @Mopar1973Man is right on with voltage drop and such if you move the batterys that far away from the engine compartment.

Where do you get those military style battery clamps or terminals? Oreillys doesn't even know what they are when I asked.

25 minutes ago, JAG1 said:

Where do you get those military style battery clamps or terminals? Oreillys doesn't even know what they are when I asked.

I put the military style terminals on the 01 a couple of years ago and got them off of Amazon. I gotta start doing the engine oil on them though, I never really thought about that until recently when I saw it in a few topics.

 

This is what I used although they were alot less expensive in 2016.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01LBENCW6?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

Edited January 8, 20196 yr by 04Mach1

Yes I've been using oil for a few years after Mopar1973Man advised it awhile back. It works great. I used to get very fast white growth type corrosion even after cleaning all major terminals, grounds, but the oil stopped all that. 

While all you have to do all this mod, I'm still using my factory cables and they look factory fresh yet. Might be another 25 years before I replace my battery cables. 

1 hour ago, Mopar1973Man said:

While all you have to do all this mod, I'm still using my factory cables and they look factory fresh yet. Might be another 25 years before I replace my battery cables. 

Don't mean to start trouble, but I wonder if synthetic oil would have the same great results?

Yes. But not worth wasting expensive oil on battery terminals.