I bought a big 7 upgrade from Jeepcables.com and it was pretty easy to install, even though there were no instructions included. There are a lot of information, videos and pictures of their products, so I won't go into a lot of detail about it.


These are the two connectors for the starter. They were in the same loom. You can see it needed to be replaced soon anyways.


And this is how I prepared it. I took out the old cable, and replaced it with the new one from the kit. Because the old starter connector had two wires going to a single plastic bracket and I was replacing one if the wires, I simply cut the one I was going to retain and soldered and crimped a new end on it. I then put the loom back together similar how it was factory.

All the harnesses were treated the same way when I tore open my main engine harness, which can be found here: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/windshield-washer-reservoir-262090/. I reapplied the corrugated tubing, applied electrical tape to the entire thing to make it more water resistant, and applied friction tape to all the conjunctions and ends. Any loom that has a positive cable in it was wrapped in red electrical tape.


This harness has the PCB fusible link cable in it. I was going to replace it with the new cable and apply red tape like before, but decided just to delete it from the loom, wrap it in black, and run the new cable separately. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture if it after redressed it. But I'll snap one next time in working in there.


This is it completly installed! I like how the positive wires are actually red, instead of black from the factory. And the match the spark plug wires too!

I know it's pretty cut and dry but like I said, there's already so much content on this, I'm just showing the few things I probably did differently. Let me know what y'all think!

 

Also for those who may have caught it before, I am not using the supplied fuse block because I tried to find replacement fuses locally, but couldn't. I didn't want to rely on ordering them as I may be caught at the worst time without one. Instead, I used a breaker. These are better because they are self contained and waterproof, and of course, they do not require fuses.

I am also running a 160 amp Dodge durango alternator (talked about in post #12) and I am running a 150 amp breaker. I also have a 200 amp breaker incase I need it, but figured lower is safer. Oh and also, I'm running the 2 gauge kit.


This breaker is from amazon. It's mounted on velcro for now as I will be installing a second battery for all of my accessories, and will mount it differently then.


I cleaned the terminals, applied felt padding and dielectric grease.

 

With the battery in the stock location, there is ZERO benefit to running 2 gauge to the starter and block. Zero. The stock size is 6 gauge, and it's adequate. 4 is a nice upgrade (but probably doesn't really accomplish anything measurable). Anything bigger is a complete waste of copper, promoted by people who do not understand vehicle electrical systems, but just assume bigger is better.

Yes, even with a bigger alternator, there is no reason to go that big on the starter. You could have a thousand watt alternator and your starter motor will not draw one amp more current whether you have 6 gauge or 00 welding cable.

If you have high current accessories, you should size their supply wires to suit their needs, considering their amperage draw and the length of cable. For example, 2 gauge to a winch might make sense. An upgraded alternator might need an upgraded cable to supply the rest of the system.

There is no circumstance where the battery is in the stock location where a 2 gauge cable to the starter does anything useful.

Upgrading the pathetic fender ground is a much better use of your time and money, and I don't mean just the cable. The actual connection is poor. A fat cable to a poor connection is a waste of cable.

 

I appreciate it. I mean I already bought and installed it, so there's no turning back. I will however, look into using my tap and die set to replace my grounding bolts with larger ones. 👍

 

You say that there is no benefit to running a 2 gauge wire but have you ever felt a battery cable on a hard start car and how hot it gets ? so if his jeep ever is hard to start he will be happy he went with the larger cable .

 

If you are having hard starts, the cure is to fix the problem that is causing hard starts, not to bandaid it with huge ridiculous cables.

Do you carry 3 spare tires because yours are dry rotted and might fail at any moment? Or do you replace the dry rotted tires?

 

I was just saying maybe you get your motor wet and stall it , that would make it hard starting . No need to get mean . I wasn't trying to be a smart *** or anything .

 

Hey! I just got my set, too. Very impressive quality. Your first picture shows the wires and box that goes to the solenoid? Did you just replace the wires on corresponding post terminals? I don't understand the box on my 98 Xj. What's its purpose. I'm thinking I can snip the green wire that feeds into it and put a round terminal on it , then proceed with the other wires. I'm just an old girl...help me out.

 

Alright, so a 98 is different. As far as basic wiring concepts, it's the same, but as far as how it is wired, it may be different because they changed a lot of things in 97. You may not even have that black box.

So for the black box, all it does it hold the wires together and reduce vibrations. I replaced the larger one with the one included in the kit. The smaller one I clipped and put a new eyelet on (I think I described it under the next photo) it's actually fairly simple. You could honestly try to cut the wire out of the plastic housing if you wanted to.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

 

You can see the new eyelet rewired next to the big cable at the top of the second picture. All I did was separate the two and replace the larger wire before I put it all back together.

 

Thank you, Travis, for helping me get my red hot chili pepper xj back in the mix! Unfortunately, the old cables fried the starter. We just lickety split put it on with the big 7 cable kit and she is very happy to be rolling again. Word to the wise...change your cables sooner rather than later!

 

Of course! Let me knownif you have any further questions! I'll try to answer anything the best I can!

 

Nice.
Comments...
Use of a lock washer at the battery clamp, and to your new wires will be a nice upgrade, I like the star type rather than the split type for this type of application of a lock washer. Or use a nylock nut.

Be careful with that breaker, velcro might fail, either the velcro to velcro interface, or the adhesive on the velcro to body or the breaker may fail. Hate to have one of them breaker terminals short to ground if it falls from the velcro mount.

Keep in mind a breaker can fail, so carry a spare!

 

So I do have star type lock washers on the breaker, but not the battery terminals. I'll look into getting some on there.

The breaker terminals do have rubber caps on them to prevent shorting out, but they are not qood quality and fall off easy. I plan on getting different style rubber caps that slide over the cable.

The velcro is a temporary solution as I do plan on running a second stock fuse block, second battery, and battery isolator for auxiliary functions. The breaker and isolator will be securely mounted later as I finalize the set up. This isn't my daily driver anymore so it works for now.

I do have a second 200 amp breaker in case if the 160 amp alternator keeps blowing my 150 amp breaker.

I plan on going through and addressing all of this as I finish my dual battery setup; I have it this way just so it's running and drivable. I also plan on using my tap and die set to enlarge my grounding bolts to the body.

Let me know if there's any other ways I can improve what I am doing!