Battery Cables

[goatfarmer]

1990 T4r auto 4x4

Looking to replace battery cables and find they have been discontinued. I am going to return the cables purchased thru NAPA I did not find them close to the original it appears I would need to mix and match components to make up a set. If anyone can provide a source on a decent set it would be greatly appreciated!!.

 

[warrpath4x4]

Looking on ebay they show "genuine" Toyota battery cables available, I dont know if there is a kit with them, im gonna say most people just use the ones from their local parts store or build their own out of welding cable. you can buy a kit to do a big 3 upgrade, you might look into that.

 

[Bumbo]

It's pretty easy to make your own cables... Nice thing to be able to do for repairs, dual battery, car stereo.

There are some relatively inexpensive lug crimpers out there to consider.. I picked up a hydraulic crimper for not too much money if you want something a bit more elaborate.

Just add welding cable, crimp lugs, and some heat shrink and you have some pretty respectable cables. Just change the factory ends to lugs and get the right terminals.

I was having resistance issues and change out all mine...

 

[RAD4Runner]

It's pretty easy to make your own cables...

This^^^
I also used a hydraulic crimper (approx $40 from harbor freight, approx $20 from Amazon).
I also prefer to fill all voids (prevent intrusion of oil, dirt, moisture, battery acid), improve conductivity and minimize corrosion by soldering with an 80-watt soldering iron, then sealing the crimps with good heat-shrink / liquid electrical tape.

 

[Bumbo]

I’m not particularly against soldering, but it really isn’t required if you have a proper crimp. It’s an extra step which does not provide much benefit.

With a proper crimp, it creates a cold weld and the solder shouldn’t even flow into the other end of the lug. Soldering the ends may make the connection brittle and eventually cause a failure if in an environment where it is allowed to move / flex without additional strain relief.

If you want additional corrosion protection, pack it with a dielectric before applying heat shrink. I do recommend buying adhesive linked shrink with does an excellent job of keeping moisture, dirt, debris out.