Alright, my battery relocation kit got here a few days ago and I'm planning on installing it this weekend. However, I was wondering what is the easiest way to route the cable up to the engine? And where's the best place to ground the other cable? I know some of you guys have done this, so I figured you could help. And where is the best place to mount the battery while avoiding gas, brake lines, etc? Right, left side? Or front, back of the hatch area? Thanks for the help!

Paul

Paul, this is a great upgrade! The more weight you can relocate from the front to the rear, the better.

I mounted my battery case on the left hand (passenger) side in the trunk. I used an existing hole in the floor panel to route the cable to the underside of the car. I placed a rubber grommet in the hole and ran the cable thru it to ensure the cable stayed well protected from the inside metal edges of the hole. The battery cable was then routed along the subframe and held in place with pull tight plastic fasteners. For the ground cable I had a short threaded stud welded to the subframe rail below where the original battery box was located in the engine bay. The ground cable was the placed on the stud and a nut used to tighten it in place.

The install is fairly straightforward. The most important thing to remember is to make sure to double check and make sure your positive cable is not exposed to chassis rub or exhaust heat.

Hope this is some help.

I work in the battery business, and second Scott's advice on this. I would do it exactly the way he recommended.

The only piece of advice I would give is; make sure you use the rubber gommets, and make sure you keep that positive cable well secured, snuggly fitted, and well insulated. Having the positive cable come in contact with any metal on the car is a very nasty situation at best. Not to mention dangerous. You can have a complete melt down of all your electrical system if that shorts out. Not to make you parinoid or anything

I would also recommend you put an "inline" (negative) quick dissconnect. That way you can disconnect the battery quickly and easily for a number of different reasons. Winter storage, making mods that require the battery to be disconnected. Not to mention emergencies. Otherwise you have to keep taking the negative terminal off the car (a pain). These work by hand, no tools needed. You can also use a battery switch (more expensive). You can find them at any auto parts store.

Remember one thing that the battery in the trunk should be put in with the battery posts facing left and right cause if you install the battery with the posts going front to back you can damage the cells inside

Tom...www.tkmotion.com...514-920-0094...Making you fast and safe is job one!!

Tom,
I never thought of that! It makes since.

I ran my cables inside along the rocker panels. Making sure there was nothing to chafe the cables. They exit a hole from the kick panel to the inside of the D/S fender. Sealed with a O-ring and sealer. I made sure I had a good quality cable ($$$$$$) with thick insulation.


Both pos. & neg. cables run all the way forward. I had charge problem until I did this.

Tony B.

JUSTNLX if you put a ground to the frame in the back and then a ground in the front from frame to motor it should work just fine


Tom...www.tkmotion.com...514-920-0094....Making people fast is job one!!

Alright you guys, I appreciate all your help, but I still need some advice. tkmotion, your post about the terminals wasn't completely clear to me. Are you saying I should have the terminals parallel to the length of the car, or have the terminals parallel to the rear bumper? And when you guys talk about grounding it, are you saying that simply bolting the ground to the frame in the hatch area isn't enough? I need to ground it up by the engine too? I'm quite unclear on this. Being as specific as possible with me will definitely help me out, LOL. And lastly, Justin, I didn't quite understand how you routed the cable through the inside of the car into the engine bay. By the way, I would imagine that the cable is good stuff. It's a Taylor kit, and came with 2 guage wire. Thanks again guys!

Paul

Parallel to the bumper
Ground it to a good contact in the back,and you ground to the motor cause you have rubber mounts
A good kit comes with a 1 gauge and real good comes with 0 gauge wire the thicker the better


Tom...www.tkmotion.com...514-920-0094...Making people fast and safe is job one!!

Tom,

Did that. Went right into the frame area. It was working ok, but never really charged completely until I ran them both forward. Now it charges like it did when the battery was in the engine compartment.

Paul,

All the wiring to the rear of a Mustang runs along the drivers side rocker panel (Fox body). It is under the carpet and behind the rear interior trim. I ran my cables along side of these wires to the kick panel. Behind the kick panel there is a plugged hole that goes into the fender area. I had to take the D/S fender off to get to the cable. Then I ran the cables along the frame area up by the struts and into the engine compartment. I ground the Neg. cable to the frame then another ground cable from the same ground on the frame to the engine. I also ran the main ground to the processor to the same ground on the frame. If you do this, just remember the cable will be under your carpet and hard to get to if it decides to short out. You need a good quality cable and make sure the cable is not pinched or on any sharp edges. The cable I used I bought at a stereo place. Really heavy stuff, 1/0 is what it was called. Cost less then Napa auto parts, but was like $8.00ft. Plus if you ever run at the strip NHRA rules say that if a battery is relocated in the rear you need a cut-off switch. A cut-off switch kills ALL power to the car from the battery. With the cable on the inside, a cut-off switch is a good idea anyway.

I also have a friend that is a Ford Tech. He said that he has seen cases where the battery was located in the back and the car would not run properly. It drove him nuts until he ran the main ground wire to the processor back directly to the battery. Solved the problem. I thought I would add that one to the pot.

Tony B.