Battery DEAD, DEAD !!!

[Komet]

Glad it was temporarily dead dead, and not the more serious dead dead dead.

 

[454cid]

I don’t have any issues with a side terminal. I like that cables aren’t on top and tucked away.

Same. I think my problems started when I was over torquing them. I'm more careful now, and don't seem to have issues.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Ding , ding, ding!!! Battery terminal for the win! The negative side post had backed out ever so slightly. Tightened it and she cranked right up. Thanks guys and gals!

I keep a wrench in the door, to tighten them periodically. I've noticed on my trucks, if the voltmeter looks like it's not charging enough, or on the Burb, if it took longer to crank and start, that is a sign to check them.

 

[Schurkey]

3/8-16 x 1.5-ish long bolt, flange nut, and 3/8 flat washer.

Thread flange nut onto bolt as far as it will go, flange facing away from the bolt head.

Remove too-damn-short OEM battery bolt from cable assembly. Wire-brush BOTH SIDES of the battery cable terminal, and the lead battery terminal also. Battery terminal must look "bright silver" not black, and not fuzzy green. Force washer into rubber insulator around cable end on the bolt/nut side of the terminal (not the battery side.) Newer vehicles have removable hard-plastic insulators, earlier ones use a permanently-attached rubber insulator. (The washer is not important except to space the nut farther out for tool access. If you can cram TWO washers in there, even better.)

Thread aftermarket bolt (with nut) through the washer, through the cable end, and into battery finger-tight. The nut should still be loose.

Hold the bolt, tighten nut to clamp cable end to battery. Since bolt is fully-threaded into the battery, it'll hold slightly more torque than the OEM battery bolt. This is essentially the same concept as head studs or main studs in an engine.

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Bolt sticking out kinda ruins the "sealed" part of the sealed-terminal battery system, but allows easy access for clamping jumper cables onto battery terminals for jump-starting other vehicles.

The "official" torque for the OEM side-terminal battery bolts is 11 ft/lbs. Even I, who is decidedly torque-wrench-crazy, do not torque the battery cable bolts. Maybe I should start...

 

[Komet]

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Delete the side posts, regain your sanity.

 

[Caman96]

I’ve arrived at my own nirvana!

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Quick battery disconnect and everything stays tight.

 

[AK49BWL]

I put screw-in posts on my side post battery and changed out my terminals so it's like I'm running a top post battery. Next time I'll just buy the 34/78 battery with both terminal sets lol.

 

[Rock Hard Concrete]

The battery in my dually froze solid 2 winters ago. I replaced it with a very expensive AGM battery along with a new alternator. One day a couple of months after replacing the battery, I went to go start it and the truck was deader than dead. No lights, chimes, nothing. The terminals were not loose, and after charging the battery it has never happened again. Spooky.

 

[Keeper]

3/8-16 x 1.5-ish long bolt, flange nut, and 3/8 flat washer.

Thread flange nut onto bolt as far as it will go, flange facing away from the bolt head.

Remove too-damn-short OEM battery bolt from cable assembly. Wire-brush BOTH SIDES of the battery cable terminal, and the lead battery terminal also. Battery terminal must look "bright silver" not black, and not fuzzy green. Force washer into rubber insulator around cable end on the bolt/nut side of the terminal (not the battery side.) Newer vehicles have removable hard-plastic insulators, earlier ones use a permanently-attached rubber insulator. (The washer is not important except to space the nut farther out for tool access. If you can cram TWO washers in there, even better.)

Thread aftermarket bolt (with nut) through the washer, through the cable end, and into battery finger-tight. The nut should still be loose.

Hold the bolt, tighten nut to clamp cable end to battery. Since bolt is fully-threaded into the battery, it'll hold slightly more torque than the OEM battery bolt. This is essentially the same concept as head studs or main studs in an engine.

You must be registered for see images attach

Bolt sticking out kinda ruins the "sealed" part of the sealed-terminal battery system, but allows easy access for clamping jumper cables onto battery terminals for jump-starting other vehicles.

The "official" torque for the OEM side-terminal battery bolts is 11 ft/lbs. Even I, who is decidedly torque-wrench-crazy, do not torque the battery cable bolts. Maybe I should start...

That is exactly what my trucks look like, although not a flange nut. As stated, caution on over-tightening the bolt itself.... I've had shops pull the threads out of the battery in the past when they hook the battery back up. A quick disconnect should be installed at the same time.

 

[454cid]

I’ve arrived at my own nirvana!

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Quick battery disconnect and everything stays tight.

Same but different here. I have the brass bolts/studs on both sides and use the OEM cables. The cable that goes to the driver's side box has it's insulation removed, so it's more like a ring terminal. I don't have the disconnect, but I do have a harness for my NOCO Genius 1 installed.

I also have a Walmart battery... it's all I ever buy.