Good


Better


Best


I set out to do "the big 3" the other weekend and was reminded of why local corporate stores suck in the time of COVID. Everywhere around here was out of 4AWG wire and connectors and the 2AWG stuff was really limited. Add to that shit Kicker battery terminals that look nice, but wouldn't secure to the posts and we have the garbage outcome that you see in the second pic. Just a hodgepodge of ill-fitting connections and last-minute parts.

Fast forward to this week (and $250 later) and we have the final result in the last pic. Boy, I love how this turned out! I opted to crimp instead of solder because the pellets I bought for the 4AWG ring connectors didn't fill up the wire area enough for me to feel confident. I actually ended up using the 6AWG connectors with the 4AWG wire, which yielded excellently secure results. Also got a Blue Sea 12-terminal fuse block because I want to add to more lighting and also clean up the lighting wires that already exist (that will be a whole other project as I've learned). The 1/8" ABS sheet I used for the block and breakers will need to be reinforced because it's already bowing down around the breakers.

After seeing how much wire tension was on the first iteration, I knew the final product would need to have bends on the connections to help them navigate around the Group 34 battery. What I found worked was to put the flat of the connector into a vice and use a thicker screwdriver shaft to apply pressure at the crimp. That gave good leverage to bend without causing any issues with the wire. After that, add the mesh sleeve and shrink tubes.

Now I've got room for my incoming ditch lights, scene lights, and any other electronics I can find dash space for.