bluehawk2

iTrader: (74)

I did a battery relocation a few months ago and it seems to work well for me. I was talking to one of the local speed shops and he told me that I really need to run a ground wire from the trunk back to the front and ground it to the engine. He said that the steel body is not enough of a ground. He said that if the battery is not grounded enough that it will cause several issues.

I am wondering now if this is an issue for me. Do we really need to run a ground all the way to the front of the car??

95TAJade

iTrader: (4)

dude, that guy is full of sh*t!! i'm a mobile install tech and we've never had any problems with grounding any of the amps or even batteries to the chassis. it's all the same GROUND!!! you aren't gonna have ANY issues.

Gordon0652

iTrader: (4)

Agreed! find a secure place to attach the ground to and you will be fine!

wickedwarlock

iTrader: (4)

I agree with the other two posts. That guy at that local shop is a moron. Honestly, if it was me, I would find a new shop to go to.

bluehawk2

iTrader: (74)

I agree with you on this.....................I don't know his reasoning, but I do know he is very good at what he does. He has a 1st place car running drag radial in NMRA, 2nd place Nostalgia class(NMCA) and a 1st place winner in mean street(NMCA). He can make a car pull 1.30 60's and only pull the tires a few inches off the ground.


All of that being said, I don't know his reasoning for running the ground wire back up front.


Thanks everyone

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

Maybe his reasoning is copper is a better conductor than steel, so a copper ground wire would in essence be a better direct ground than the chassis. Thing is, it really shouldn't make a big difference in a car.

bluehawk2

iTrader: (74)

Maybe he does this on the race cars.............some have two batteries and may need a better ground.

dragonrage

Maybe he knows engines, and not so much electrical. No offense, but there are more car guys that don't know crap about electrical stuff than do, I think.

bluehawk2

iTrader: (74)

No offense taken at all...

He knows chasis and engines more than he knows electrical, but he is not incompetant when it comes to the electrical stuff. He installs a lot of the Big Stuff 3 systems and does a lot of really nice Nitrous systems. He has to wire all of the race cars from scratch. I am sure he doesn't know everything, but he knows enough to build a couple Champ race cars.

thanks

01 BERGER CAMARO SS

iTrader: (77)

i drilled a whole and taped into the rear frame section. Worked fine for me.

romoranger

iTrader: (2)

i have nhra legal setup for a rear mount battery in my vehicle. my battery is grounded inside the rear fender. works great. make sure you have thick wire. i have nothing smaller than 2 gauge in mine (2 gauge starter to ford solenoid, 1/0 solenoid to cut off switch, 1/0 alternator to cut off switch, 3/0 switch to battery, 1/0 ground cable))

bluehawk2

iTrader: (74)

I put the ground on the rear frame also..........it has worked good for me. I am running a 100 amp Rockford fosgate breaker. My ground is a little smaller than my power cable, I think I will get a bigger ground cable and call it done.


thanks

aerotest

iTrader: (2)

Grounding to the chasis in the back will work but will cause a higher current draw during starting becasue of the increased resistance seen across the whole chasis. Ground for the starter is returned through the engine block, hence the factory ground on the right side of the block close to the starter. Best installation it to provide a return path as close to the starter as possible i.e. the factory location. The higher draw could cause the battery to struggle as it weakens. Sounds like the increased draw isn't a real issue with others.

steveo346

iTrader: (18)

i agree with this gentlemen,as i was told the same thing from a local tuner

ramairws6

iTrader: (33)

This statement is 100% correct. I also spoke to my local tuner which stated the exact same thing. I was having issues after battery relocation as the engine cranked slowly on startup. I ended up runing a 2 guage wire from my engine to the negative side of the battery and it works great now!

spy2520

iTrader: (3)

Makes alot of sense. I guess the main point it it isn't necessary but it wouldn't hurt. I bet if you could measure the resistance it would show to be atleast slightly worth it.

ls1zfast

I just had an interesting experience with a battery relocation. The above theory should be true and most likely is true. However, I just did a battery relocation where I had a 2 gauge stranded copper ground wire running from the battery to a ground on the bellhousing. The car wouldnt even start.

I began troubleshooting and determined that the problem was the ground, my power wire was functioning perfectly. So, I started experimenting with different places to ground my battery... all on or near the block and all as near the starter as possible. I actually grounded to the starter bolt itself at one point. None of these locations helped much. Getting closer to the starter was better, but the car still sputtered and struggled.

Needless to say I was frusterated as ****... I was sitting there thinking and saw an old factory ground cable from another build lying around. On impulse, I ran this cable from the battery to a place on the frame under the bumper of the car, sanded a bolt off, slapped it on and boom... the car fired as good as it did before I did the relocation.... wierd. I am wondering if the distance in the run from the battery to the starter or block was resulting in some kind of loss that was removed when I just went a few feet to the frame????