What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

Was going to wait until next weekend to replace the caliper but the leak was getting worse. Another reman caliper swapped out at NAPA. Let’s hope this one lasts more than 8 months.

 

Wait, #4 or 4/0? What the heck kind of loads are you guys running that you need wire that big?

 

Not today, last Thursday, I sold it.

 

It's about distance. If your running a winch and pulling upwards of 50-300amps the long the cable run the bigger the gauge you need.

In this case, bigger is always better to be safe.

For instance, 4ga can handle 200 amps but only for about 4.8'. and only for peak spike draw.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/12-volt-wire-loss-chart-d_1689.html

So for a run to the bed 1/0 would be minimum I think. 2/0 be better. 4/0 of you wanna be a baller. But 2/0 should be fine..

 

4/0 is definitely just showing off.

 

I wanna be a baller. Top dollar.

 

Gold chains on a pig don't make it taste better.

 

Yeah, well that's like, just your opinion man.

 

How many feet do people use usually for running to the bed like that?4/0 is like $11/ft....
Assume you're also running an equal length negative wire rather than grounding to the chassis, for a load like that.

 

No idea. Guessing somewhere between 8-12' depending on your routing and placement of battery.

 

Wait, I'm dumb and forgot how low the voltages here are X_X. I'm used to 7200v, where you can run an entire neighborhood on 1/0 aluminum cable.

 

I'll be doing the same here tonight, mine is more of the pistons being stuck. Only the 2nd time I've had to do this since install back in 2017, it's only been the driver side

 

Look into welding cable leads, typically will have finer strands for flexibility, a better insulation for abuse, and typically cheaper per/ft.

 

I used 1/0. Been fine for years including winching

Ground goes to the frame close to the battery. Did add a ground from the frame to the bus bar in the stock location also.

 

2% drop is wild considering you can get a 12% drop with the alternator off
Insulation heat resistance is a bigger concern

 

You can always parallel 2x 1/0. Same cross-sectional area

 

When I ran 2/0 to my rear winch, it was 20 feet. (Well, it ended up more than 15 feet, so I was glad I bought 20 feet).

 

It depends on where in the bed of course. My house battery is on the driver's side in front of the wheel well and the cable run was about 16 feet.

 

yeah my run is looking about 15 feet to be just ahead of the rear wheel as well.

I have a 280A alternator, so I'm also trying to judge if 4/0 is really needed or if 2/0 is fine... I think its really unlikely to push the full load to the Battery ever even if the alternator can have big output. Planning just 1/0 negative run in addition to grounded chassis.

 

oh ha yeah low voltage stuff

I mean you can change that to whatever you'd like. It's just a calculator. YMMV