"Big Three / Grounding Kit" - Improving your electrical grounds
- Thread starter Wildman
- Start date
Wildman
Read the rules
it could be upgraded, never heard of it mentioned as relevant though
bdeitemeyer
Well-Known Member
Alright guys, I need a little help.
I'm in the process of upgrading my wiring out of necessity due to purchasing an Optima Yellow Top battery with a billet battery tray. The OEM wires aren't long enough to reach the battery posts anymore (the positive post can be reached BARELY while the negative post is a few inches too far away).
I recently ordered the following:
-Stinger Pro Series 0 gauge black power wire
-Stinger HPM Series LED digital battery terminal
-Stinger HPM Series battery terminal
-Stinger Platinum 0 AWG gauge ring terminal
I didn't run into any issues with upgrading the ground wiring. My problem is when I upgrade the positive wiring, I'll have at least 3 wires that needed to connect to the positive battery terminal but only have 2 slots. My positive battery terminal doesn't have a spot to connect a ring terminal to as most terminals do, and only has 2 slots.
My positive terminal:
Other positive terminals:
What can I do to keep my terminal and still properly wire everything up? I'm assuming I need some type of 2-to-1 or 3-to-1 device. Would a distibution block be sufficient, and if so would it need to be fused?
I'm in the process of upgrading my wiring out of necessity due to purchasing an Optima Yellow Top battery with a billet battery tray. The OEM wires aren't long enough to reach the battery posts anymore (the positive post can be reached BARELY while the negative post is a few inches too far away).
I recently ordered the following:
-Stinger Pro Series 0 gauge black power wire
-Stinger HPM Series LED digital battery terminal
-Stinger HPM Series battery terminal
-Stinger Platinum 0 AWG gauge ring terminal
I didn't run into any issues with upgrading the ground wiring. My problem is when I upgrade the positive wiring, I'll have at least 3 wires that needed to connect to the positive battery terminal but only have 2 slots. My positive battery terminal doesn't have a spot to connect a ring terminal to as most terminals do, and only has 2 slots.
My positive terminal:
Other positive terminals:
What can I do to keep my terminal and still properly wire everything up? I'm assuming I need some type of 2-to-1 or 3-to-1 device. Would a distibution block be sufficient, and if so would it need to be fused?
BadgerType
Resident ***hole
i have a dist block and i have had no issues with it holding multiplewires
KnightRyder
Well-Known Member
dont optima battery have the optional side posts in addition to the top posts? there's a specific type of bolt you need to insert into the side post location on the optima which will allow you to connect your 3rd wire with a ring terminal. im not sure which optima battery you got but the ones i've seen can have both top and side posts.
edit: this is what i'm talking about...
see how you could use either posts.
edit: this is what i'm talking about...
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Zero-Defect
Well-Known Member
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Well if your battery doesn't have allow for the side posts, a distribution block would work fine.
bdeitemeyer
Well-Known Member
Thanks, I'm glad to hear this. I have a distribution block for my car audio setup in my trunk area, but I wasn't sure if it made a difference that these aren't for car audio purposes. Now I need to find the distribution block that suits my needs as far as holding 0 gauge wires, most I've seen are 4/8.
dont optima battery have the optional side posts in addition to the top posts? there's a specific type of bolt you need to insert into the side post location on the optima which will allow you to connect your 3rd wire with a ring terminal. im not sure which optima battery you got but the ones i've seen can have both top and side posts.
edit: this is what i'm talking about...see how you could use either posts.
Unfortunately, I went with Optima's recommendations from their website & chose the D35 Yellow Top Battery. It only has top posts, like this:
Thanks, I was hoping it would.
Okay, so now that I've learned a distribution block should suit my needs...does it matter if I choose one that isn't fused? From looking at Stinger's website (I'd like to keep everything all Stinger, I'm picky like that) there are about 50 choices between non-fused, fused, digital fused, midi fused, maxi fused, anl fused, etc...any recommendations? Thanks again everyone.
KnightRyder
Well-Known Member
D35? do you mean D34? thats what popped up for me when i searched by car. but then they also showed the D34/78 option which as all the same stats as the D34 but comes with the side posts as well. im gonna have to get that one because im going to have my car audio + 2 wire harnesses for my soon to be HID headlights and HID fogs. gonna need those side posts. besides they're the same price, actually on amazon, the D34/78 is a few bucks cheaper 
bdeitemeyer
Well-Known Member
Yes, it's a D35. The label on the battery says it's a member of the 34/78 family, and my blind *** didn't notice the side posts on the other side of the battery. Sorry for the mistake guys. It sure did help solve my wiring issues though.
calgaryaccord
Member
I just did this one. It all worked pretty well, except for two things:
1 - The positive battery terminal I got from Parts Express (the same one quite a few people have used) had a hole that's too big for the positive terminal on my red top. I had to grind the clamp part of it down so I could tighten it enough to make it stay on. Just a warning.
2 - This isn't part of the "Big 3", but I had a problem with the one from the driver's side strut tower to the power steering pump. As soon as I added a ground cable there, I got a nasty ground loop that caused alternator whine to come through my stereo. As soon as I got rid of it, the noise was gone.
Great DIY though. I'm new to this forum, but I've already started in on the mods you guys recommend. Thanks!
1 - The positive battery terminal I got from Parts Express (the same one quite a few people have used) had a hole that's too big for the positive terminal on my red top. I had to grind the clamp part of it down so I could tighten it enough to make it stay on. Just a warning.
2 - This isn't part of the "Big 3", but I had a problem with the one from the driver's side strut tower to the power steering pump. As soon as I added a ground cable there, I got a nasty ground loop that caused alternator whine to come through my stereo. As soon as I got rid of it, the noise was gone.
Great DIY though. I'm new to this forum, but I've already started in on the mods you guys recommend. Thanks!
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