Hey all, I need to get a 2nd battery tray for my blazer, its for a an 84 blazer cucv. Also I need to pick up 0 gauge wire to run to the starter and some wire to redo some of the grounds. Any Ideas where I would pick up any of this?
CK5
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where to get 2nd battery tray and cables?
- Thread starter stoney126
- Start date
You need 0 gauge for the starter?
IIRC, stock is 4AWG and that should be fine, especially since the starter is 24V and therefore draws half the current of a 12V starter. Well, that is if your truck is 24V still.
You can get battery cables at your local parts house, in a variety of lengths with various ends (eyelet, battery post clamp, whatever). The ones I've gotten have been 4AWG, which for four or five foot runs should be good for like 300A continuous and maybe four times that for short bursts, or something crazy like that.
Now, the CUCV's have their own very special battery trays that are totally different than the civvy ones ... are you wanting to replace one of the existing ones, or go back to the civvy, or what are you trying to do?
-- A
Now, if you really have your heart set on it ... your local car stereo place or welding shop will have crazy big wire like that. Ain't cheap though.
And the battery trays ... well, LMC and your Chevy dealer have the civvy kinds, and you can get the CUCV ones on Ebay or here from somebody parting a CUCV ... but post up and tell me what you're wanting to do first.
-- A
And the battery trays ... well, LMC and your Chevy dealer have the civvy kinds, and you can get the CUCV ones on Ebay or here from somebody parting a CUCV ... but post up and tell me what you're wanting to do first.
-- A
Well the PO did a 12v swap, but he did with only one battery and that isnt working real well for me. I would like to use the cucv style but im going for cheap 
The reason I say 0 gauge is thats what I read on curing some starting issues.
The reason I say 0 gauge is thats what I read on curing some starting issues.
I ran 1 guage fine strand welding cable for my batt's and starter...and noticed quite a difference in cranking speed.
LMC for the trays, or Summit, or Jeg's or fab some yourself, or eBay.
Rene
LMC for the trays, or Summit, or Jeg's or fab some yourself, or eBay.
Rene
lak2004
1/2 ton status
If you dont mind waiting for shipping i have heard nothin but good things from these guys: http://custombatterycables.com/
How long of a length of cable do you need? I have about 125-150 ft. of welding cable. I think it's either 0 gauge or 00 gauge. I've used it for making ground cables and such.
im not sure on how much I need yet. Im thinking the cable to the battery isnt gong to change in length from where it is now but im not sure if im supposed to run it off the battery I have or the 2nd battery when I get it. I also have to figure out what the PO did and didnt do as far as the 12v swap. Can it be as easy as adding another battery and grounding and connecting to the 1st battery? I gotta figure out how the 2nd battery gets charged
Kennyw posted a good link and I need to really read it so I set this correctly.
Kennyw posted a good link and I need to really read it so I set this correctly.
There's a couple guys over on www.SteelSoldiers.com who have parts CUCV's. Any one of them could probably get what you need.
A complete 12V conversion would:
- Change the starter, as they were 24V originally.
- Presumably remove the glow plug resistor (the GP's are 12V, right, but there's a ballast resistor thing to drop, IIRC)
- Remove the second alternator, which IIRC is the passenger side one.
- And have only one battery.
Assuming that's all been done right, then sure, you can just put a second battery in parallel with the first, + to + and - to -. This will get you more cranking power, but won't isolate them, so if you drain one you drain both. (Which is fine unless you have a giant stereo or lights or a winch or whatever you wanna run with the engine off. Anyway, isolators are a WHOLE other issue, read any of RootBreaker's posts in the last coupla weeks.)
As for needing anything bigger than #4 ... From my EE background, I'm suspicious. For a reasonable length (like 4-6') that stuff should carry enough juice. I'm wondering if folks who replaced their cables with bigger had corroded *old* cables -- i.e. were replacing a (bad) #4 with a (good) #0 cable. I think that replacing a bad #4 with a good #4 would do the trick -- but I'm talking theoretically here. Rene knows his stuff, so no argument there.
Ain't no matter to me, but when you replace the cables, strip the insulation off the ends and cut the middle somewhere, and see if you find any green stuff. I've seen battery cables corrode from the inside where you CANNOT see any indication on the outside, and yet when you open 'em up ... it's obvious why your starter wasn't getting so much juice
Now, it is POSSIBLE to fit two group 78's onto one CUCV tray, as they are fricken HUGE. It will take some fiddling and, IIRC, several feet of 1/4" allthread. If your current battery is some other size, then I don't know what'll go in there.
If it were me, since your truck is converted to 12V, I'd get rid of the CUCV trays (sell 'em on Ebay or post 'em up here) and get some normal civvy trays and put those in. I don't have my CUCV any more to look at (sold it, sniff!) but IIRC there's room in the front corners to put the stock battery trays.
It's a bit expensive, though obviously cheaper if you can find a good used set here or on Craigslist or at the junkyard. The benefit is that you get the battery out from the middle of the fricken engine compartment, so you can lean in and *work* on stuff more, and IMHO it's easier to wire around the edge of the compartment than having crap hanging in the middle.
And yeah, having two batteries on the diesel is good; also having good glow plugs. The Kennedy quick-heats are highly recommended; at least get yourself a set of the AC Delco 60G's or whatever they are (look in the diesel forum here for my posts, or anything tRusty said about it =)) I don't think you get any colder than we do in the winter, but mine was starting to really choke on the glow plugs that came with it. A new set and she'd fire up every time, even in the as-cold-as-we-get (which ain't much.)
I digress. Does that answer your question?
-- A
-- A
cool, thanks for the info dremu. So go with the civvy trays. fine with me, and ya I guess it would be better to have it up out of the way.
I do plan to run more stuff like a winch and lights but that is going to be down the road some so Ill go with simple route. The altenator will be charging both batteries or do I need to hook them up different?
Thank you guys for all the info, it is very much appreciated
I do plan to run more stuff like a winch and lights but that is going to be down the road some so Ill go with simple route. The altenator will be charging both batteries or do I need to hook them up different?
Thank you guys for all the info, it is very much appreciated
Nope, just ground them both, and run the two hot sides together.
On my sixpack, for instance, I just have a wire that goes over the radiator top plate, from the + of the one battery to the + of the other.
Then when the alternator charges the one battery, it also charges the other, and when the starts pulls juice it gets it from them both.
In parallel like that, it's like having one big battery.
Make sense?
-- A
My old cables may have been not the best, which was likely why i noticed a difference in cranking speed.
As for glow plugs, I'm not 100% sold on the quick heats...but haven't found anything else I like much either. The AC60G's and Autolite 1110's are both good long lasting GP's...but take too long to heat up so don't work particularly well with the factory glow controller (unless modified for longer glow times)
The Quick heats...glow fast and hot and don't swell. However, they also don't last long. My '83 pick-up had new Quick heats in it when I got it, 6 months later only 5 were working. I bought a set off of Dremu and installed them a while back...already noticing that at least one of those is dead now.
It gets a bit annoying. I did save the 5 working QH's from before, so I just gotta determine which of the new ones is dead and replace it with one of the old working ones while I search for something better.
The front corner trays are OK. I eventually built inset boxes for my batts right in front of the rear tires. They're set in the floor. I instantly had no more squeaks and creaks and groans from the front end over bumps anymore. The factory trays do fatigue easily, then crack, and then you have batteries rolling around the engine compartment. If you drive a lot of rougher fire roads and stuff I'd recomend better than stock battery trays or boxes. That's a lot of weight and stress on sheet metal parts IMO.
Rene
As for glow plugs, I'm not 100% sold on the quick heats...but haven't found anything else I like much either. The AC60G's and Autolite 1110's are both good long lasting GP's...but take too long to heat up so don't work particularly well with the factory glow controller (unless modified for longer glow times)
The Quick heats...glow fast and hot and don't swell. However, they also don't last long. My '83 pick-up had new Quick heats in it when I got it, 6 months later only 5 were working. I bought a set off of Dremu and installed them a while back...already noticing that at least one of those is dead now.
It gets a bit annoying. I did save the 5 working QH's from before, so I just gotta determine which of the new ones is dead and replace it with one of the old working ones while I search for something better.
The front corner trays are OK. I eventually built inset boxes for my batts right in front of the rear tires. They're set in the floor. I instantly had no more squeaks and creaks and groans from the front end over bumps anymore. The factory trays do fatigue easily, then crack, and then you have batteries rolling around the engine compartment. If you drive a lot of rougher fire roads and stuff I'd recomend better than stock battery trays or boxes. That's a lot of weight and stress on sheet metal parts IMO.
Rene
