chassis/block/body grounds

[billy]

after i raised my 27,s body 2" and installed spacers i noticed my throttle cable was welding itself to the firewall
i mentioned it to my mechanical geius guru and 1st thing out of his mouth was.
ground the engine to the frame and do the same to the body.
he gave me 2 of those copper braided straps.
ran one from the block to the frame a 12 inch strap.
and one from the body to the frame a 6 inch strap.
i cant believe i forgot the fact that almost every electrical gremlin i have ever chased was a ground problem.
i just figured i'd post this in case somebody gets brain damaged and forgets the importance of a good ground.

 

[Dirtyrat]

Yep, good advice, all the factory cars have engine grounds, and body grounds to the frame generally

 

[Gus]

A good ground will save you a few headaches ??

If you use rubber mounts for the motor & transmission and you put a rubber bushing between the cab and frame.... there will be electrical issues .. until you run a ground wire to the frame which is the same place your battery ground is connected to.

 

[billy]

If you use rubber mounts for the motor & transmission and you put a rubber bushing between the cab and frame.... there will be electrical issues .. until you run a ground wire to the frame which is the same place your battery ground is connected to.

my battery is in the bed of the truck.
but yeah.
i was all ready to start testing curcuits and then the ground thing got pointed out.
the most basic things sometimes....

 

[von-zipper]

And engine/frame ground cable should be the same size as the battery ground cable.

Zipper

 

[Ricks Garage]

or...don't use the body and frame as your ground. On my '46 I ran separate grounds for all circuits, I did ground the engine (for the distributor, starter, generator) Rusty metal does not lend itself to pass electrical current very well.


weld on ......[

 

[donsrods]

I always run large battery cables (pos and neg) from the battery right to the starter, then I put braided straps from the transmission to the frame and one from the frame to the body (unless it is a fiberglass body, then I use a #10 ground wire from the engine block to a ground stud inside the body where all my grounds for accessories terminate).

Don

 

[Sam_Fear]

Ford use to run the negative battery cable to the starter with the wire clamped to the frame. Kill two grounds with one wire that way.

 

[bob w]

I hate to be a contrarian here but I've always grounded to the frame. Never had a bad result doing it. If the battery is in the back I weld a stud to the frame near it and connect the ground cable to it. Also there is a ground cable same size as a battery cable from the transmission crossmember to the transmission. Usually run a smaller braided strap from the engine to the firewall.

 

[Bamamav]

Nothing wrong with grounding directly to the frame. My Freightliner has four batteries, and all four are connected to the frame with a single large cable. At the engine, there are several cables from the frame to the engine, a couple of large ones and a couple or three smaller ones. Cab is grounded through the frame mounts and a couple of cables. If it can produce enough amperage flow to crank the big diesel, the same system will work on a single battery.

 

[donsrods]

Sure, that will work too, it all boils down to personal preference. My feeling is that copper in a battery cable is a better conductor of electricity than the steel of a frame, but I have no proof to confirm that. I only play an engineer on TV.

Don