cumminsdriver635

Well my battery terminals are about shot. They are so wore out that i cant get them to clamp down tight enough. Im getting tired of being in a drive through somewhere, and hitting the starter, and hearing an all too familiar "click" with nothing happening. Anyways, how have you guys replaced your terminals? Just buy the bolt on type deals where ya strip the wire back on the cables a little, and bolt em on, or something else? Im not buying new cables because I know they will be outrageously expensive Any good cheap way of fixing this?

Eric

wcbcruzer

Yeah I just bought the clamp down style terminals from Wal-Mart for the passenger side battery. Then I wrapped it real good in black tape so it's air-tight. I remember walmart not having terminals for the main pos. battery cable cause it's so thick.

Dshiftff

I sliced the seam on mine with a hacksaw to take some of the meat out to make it able to clamp again. Mine were loose to the point where you would have them tightened down all the way but still be able to twist em off. Now there on there nice and tight.

John Faughn

Like Dshiftff said , if you can not tighten because the ends are touching , then remove some lead on th inside where it touches , remove bolt 1st .
If they are to far gone , go to a shop [ auto or welding ] that has the tools to crimp on new ends , you may need to supply the ends , if your were close I've got all the stuff .

TxDiesel007

I just hacksawd mine off

went to autoparts store here, and was able to find some thick terminals.. replaced them with no issues yet....

But i did do the sawing off of lead too a couple of times

Rick

cumminsdriver635

Might try the hacksaw trick. Hey rick, did you just buy bolt on terminals? My worst one is the main hot battery terminal on the drivers side. It causes more problems than the rest.

Eric

infidel

What has worked for decades for me with loose terminals is to smash a penny thin with a hammer and stick it inbetween the post and clamp.
Surprising how little it takes to get a tight fit again.

cumminsdriver635

I might try that Infidel. Thanks for the idea

Eric

TxDiesel007

Yes i did... problem solved..

so far theyve held up pretty darn good.... my worst one is the same one that you have...

RIck

Jim Lane

Battery terminals,
If you guys are anywhere near me here in Southern California I have a rotating jaw terminal crimper and literally a couple of hundred pounds of battery terminals, Positive, Negative, Straight and Flags.

I custom make all of my battery connections 4ga, 2ga, 1ga, 0ga, and 00ga.

I buy welding cable from my local welding supply and I also have a friend that gets me short pieces of welding cable that has a silicone jacket used to interconnect the battery banks on large multi-KW Liebert and APC UPS systems.

If anyone is ever near enough for me to help out just let me know.

Too bad most of you are on the other side of the country.
Jim

berner

Great idea with the penny trick. I shave mine with a Olfa knife instead of a hacksaw. Lead is really soft.

cumminsdriver635

Well I finally got fed up tday. Now that it is cold, my truck has been not starting in the mornings. And usually when i get off work it wont start. I guess after it sits a while and everything gets cold is when it does it the worst. I have been having to get out, and play with the terminal till it starts. So today before class I stopped by advance and bought 2 packs of positive and negative bolt on type terminals, and when I got home from school tonight, I went to the shop and got to work. Hacksawed all of the old ends off, stripped a little insulation off, spread the wires apart, sprayed wd-40 on them, and cleaned them up with a wire brush on a drill. I also used the wire brush on the posts on the batteries. Anyways, I didnt have any problems, and they are cheap terminals. About $6 for both packs, but man it starts great now. I forgot how good it was supposed to crank, but it is sooo much better. Its gonna be nice to not have to worry about shutting it off at the drive through's now. The positive cable's on the drivers side are a little thick in that cheap little terminal, but I made it work, and it is working great as of right now. I wish i could of got some nice crimp on ends, but this was cheap, and really effective...

Thanks a lot for the offer Jim Lane. If I were closer, I would of had to take you up on that.

Thanks for all the help guys, just figured i would update y'all on how it went.

Eric

West Coast

Yo Eric, I just did my negative cable ends. I purchased heavy duty bolt on ends at NAPA for $4.00 bucks each. I took my dremel and cut the negative cable as close to the original clamp. Clamps work great and stay nice and tight.....

thewished

I used O2 wire (2 ot) for my positive connection between my batteries, new batteries, new connections on all 4 terminals, and USE SHRINK WRAP/HEAT WRAP SO THEY WONT CORRODE AGAIN!!!! Tape will just leave you stranded in another 10k miles if you live in a humid area. JMO

Crimedog

Also, as a cheap fix for those of you with cable ends that no longer tighten down on the battery terminals, auto parts stores carry some little lead caps that go over your worn out terminals to take up the slack between them and the cable ends.