Ground Wire question

[2XDreme]

I've done a lil research on this and now i come to the conclusion am i better off buying a ready made kit like this one on e-bay



or am i better off custom making my own using car audio gold plated connectors and such?

Whatever i decide it will be put into production within a week so your thoughts are appreciated

[BlackElantraGT]

I've been wondering myself the same question. There's a universal one from HKS that runs at least $140, but there are knock offs on ebay for way less. I wonder if there are any benefits to the HKS, besides the name brand.

[vabeach_03]

i bought my kit from radio shack for aobut 15$. sure it took longer cuz i had to cut all my own wires but so what? saved me about 30-40$.

[2XDreme]

I was thinking of making a system that uses a gold plated battery terminal that has 4 guage wire coming out of it to a gold plated distribution block mounted somewhere - from there was thinking of running seperate 8 guage lines to each connection point, so all up there would be around 4-6 wires coming out of it to different areas in engine bay

you think this is overkill or good idea?

[04 elantra cvvt]

Use better wire. Watch out for those kits on e-bay. The thing you need to get is wire with more strands. If you cross-section one of the factory cables, you will see a few large strands. If you cut one of those $140 wires, you will see a lot of small strands. The more strands you can pack in there, the more current it will carry. I have seen people use welding cable before, and it seems to work just as well as the high-dollar kits. Plus, it's cheap. Your local welding shop should carry it.

[Woody]

I've heard too that the ebay kits are poor quality wire. I was told minimum is use 8 gauge power cable wire. I bought some from Best Buy, auto stereo dept. They had 5 foot lengths. I bought 2 of these, and some extra ring terminals. To split from the battery, I bought a longer bolt to go thru the negetive (ground) terminal, and an extra nut. I bolted the terminal up as normal, then added like 3 extra ground wire ends (ring terminals) on to the bolt, and secured those on w/ the extra nut I bought. I connect battery to Throttle body, battery to firewall, and battery to strut mount. I had enough left to replace the ground from throttle body to firewall on the passenger side of the engine bay.

- Woody

[2XDreme]

Well i've been looking at stinger electronics website and was thinking of using there products to do it
yes it will cost lil more but presentation will be up there with best
these are products i'm thinking of using




Pretty much goes from battery terminal to expert series wire to distribution block with 2 x 1/0 or 4 guage imputs to 4 x 8 guage outputs
from there running to each earthing point in engine bay
Also will run earth wire from second input to rear of car for stereo

That's what i'm thinking of at moment anyway

[Bnystrom]

I've done a DIY on an alternative method of setting up grounds that minimizes the number of mechanical connections. This is important, as that's where most grounding problems occur, at connections that become corroded resulting in poor conductivity. It's also pretty simple and relatively inexpensive. The DIY is at:

http://www.elantragtclub.com/id433.html

[AUTOBOT]

[QUOTE=04 elantra cvvt]
Use better wire. Watch out for those kits on e-bay. The thing you need to get is wire with more strands. If you cross-section one of the factory cables, you will see a few large strands. If you cut one of those $140 wires, you will see a lot of small strands. The more strands you can pack in there, the more current it will carry. QUOTE]

LOL, be careful, have said the same thing before and people always seem to get their panties in a wad. Most people don't realize that all 8 guage wire is not created equal.

[southpawboston]

i've said it before and i'll say it again. 8-gauge wire is OVERKILL EXTREME for supplementing your engine ground system. there is NO reason to use any gauge thicker than 10 gauge. and you don't need OFC high-thread cable either. any cheap 10-gauge will do. this is not a 1000W audio system. no one should be spending more than $20 on cable and terminals. any more than that and you are wasting your money. spend some money on a pofessional crimping tool, solder gun, and some shrink tubing. crimp and solder the terminals and insulate them with shrink tubing. then use dialectric grease when you tighten all your terminals down. that will be better than ANY kit you can buy.

[04 elantra cvvt]

Well put SPB. What you are saying then is that it can be done both cheap and right.

[kylemorg]

Southpawboston's suggestion about soldering the connections is the single most important part; you're not pushing any amperage through the system, just trying to even out the electrical potential at different points.

As bnystrom pointed out, the connections are the weakest point and the spot at which the wiring will fail if it's not done properly, and if the connections fail, the best wire in the world won't do you any good.

[Bnystrom]

Southpawboston's suggestion about soldering the connections is the single most important part; you're not pushing any amperage through the system, just trying to even out the electrical potential at different points.

As bnystrom pointed out, the connections are the weakest point and the spot at which the wiring will fail if it's not done properly, and if the connections fail, the best wire in the world won't do you any good.

I agree with SPB, though I did use 8 guage wire in my ground buss. I bought it at Home Depot for a few bucks. The biggest expense by far was the gold plated connectors. Buying them in two-packs at Radio Shack and Best Buy was a major rip-off, but I only needed a few. If I was going to do this type of thing more often, I'd find a source to buy them in bulk.

Those expensive clamps and ground blocks are a bad joke. They may have a high "bling factor", but from an electrical point of view, they're a poor second to a soldered joint, especially in terms of durability and corrosion resistance. Soldered connections may be plain looking, but there's no better way to connect wires.

[Dust]

I would like to reiterate Dielectric grease and suggest a dremel or sandpaper. Clean off the area you are connecting to. Make sure all paint, rust, dirt, grime, etc, is gone, and use dielectric grease after connecting to keep the area clean and rust free.