Battery relocation made simple. Questions.

No fuse is required, nor recommended, for the battery to starter cable. Amp draw varies but can easily go past 400 amps momentarily. You’ll be reducing your battery’s CCA rating to the fuse rating.

 

Yeah, it had just occurred to me that my winch would pop a 250 amp fuse pretty easy as well. I'm going to leave it as is.

 

Though explain this to me like I'm 5, what's the difference between the OP's 200 amp circuit breaker and a 200 amp fuse when it comes to degrading the battery's CCA?

 

Note I am no auto electrician; this is how I see things based on research. The starter solenoid acts like a relay - when activated it allows the starter to draw power. In all other circuits, you want the correct rating fuse to protect the wire and its protected component from catching fire in the event it grounds. I’ve seen fuses labelled as a starter fuse in some vehicles, but it actually protects the starter solenoid, not the starter itself.

 

This is a bit old but you guys really aren’t running any sort of fuse between the battery (in the bed) and the starter? I get marriage needed to start and the winch case, but running just a cable from the back to front with no safety protection makes me a little nervous.

 

I can speak to this, made some poor choices and let the hot positive cable ground itself in the engine bay. But because I used a auto store braided cable that just burned through and acted as a fuse. A resettable water proof fuse would be better in line but the ones that can handle the draw of a winch are $$$.

 

Maybe I’ll just use a fuse. With that much cable I really don’t like the idea of just leaving with no safety.

Side note I was doing Simone google’ing and found another dude that was looking for a 400A breaker…because his sound system was pulling more then 350A.

Which then lead me down a path of how circuit breakers degrade after tripping and also vibration. Then I decided I might as well use a fuse.

 

I’m pretty sure I know the answer to this, but for the battery cable…any of you have luck with copper coated aluminum? Or just pure copper only.

 

You can always use it, but you likely need to gage up and make sure it s well clamped.

 

I think it’s just me trying to save money. I’m already pushing 500-600 bucks. The pure copper 1/0 is 140.00 for 25 feet. The CCA stuff is 40.00 for the same gauge and length.

 

I got my wires from www.batterycableSusa.com and their price is a bit cheaper that what you’ve found. But I’d also look at the wires specs they list and verify they meet your requirements. 16 feet was enough to go from behind drivers headlight to passenger frame rail forward of the axle on my DCSB with some slack.

 

bringing this thread back to life to see if anyone else wants to share their set ups. I will eventually be doing this probably in the summer of 2024. would also love to hear how much the final cost was to relocate to back of the truck. i'm thinking around a couple hundred dollars?

 

I moved my battery to the frame, passenger side just forward of the axle. All this was done in 2020/2021 so prices will likely be higher now. Check my build thread for pictures, and more details.

Battery box - ruffstuff battery box - $75 (required welding that was done by a buddy while boxing the rear frame)
Cables - 16ft 4/0 from dual power post to front of truck, 16in 4/0 from batt pos to dual power post, 20in 4/0 from batt neg to dual power post, universal braided ground strap from dual power post to frame - $200 (this is the final set but I used a smaller set for a bit that I decided wasn't up to the task and could cause a fire)
Connectors - Blue Sea 2017 Dual Power Post, Blue Sea 2003 Power post, other various - $100ish
The battery box was too close to the muffler so needed a new exhaust which was about $300

I'm probably about $750 into this, there were places I spent more than I needed to but there were also places I saved a bunch. I run a winch up front so went with the 4/0, I did a lot of reading about power draw and current and didn't care to save $100 for thinner cable. The cheap grounding strap saved me once when I grounded the cable in the engine compartment, it burned through and opened the circuit, you don't want a strong ground, with a better ground it probably would have started a fire.

 

Parts came in; hopefully I can relocate mine this weekend.