What guage ground wire for the "magic three"??

[RobWiz]

My battery to engine is already upgraded to a 1 gauge.
So I have two questions.

Is 8 gauge big enough for the battery to chassis ground??
Do I need to replace the ground strap from the engine to chassis, if so which gauge??

Thanks

[Savant]

Originally posted by RobWiz
My battery to engine is already upgraded to a 1 gauge.
So I have two questions.

Is 8 gauge big enough for the battery to chassis ground??
Do I need to replace the ground strap from the engine to chassis, if so which gauge??

Thanks

The strap from chassis to engine (and then battery) is the only route for current to use to get back to the battery.. if it's too small it won't let you get all your available current.. it might also melt and then you lose all current in the car (unless there is some other connection to the engine/battery)..

Does the battery really ground to the chassis? I thought it went to the engine block.. might depend on vehicle..

The rule of thumb seems to be that what ever you use for power wire, you should use for ground.. I'd say upgrade the gound and strap if you can..

[evo2k3]

I am assuming you mean from your alternator to you battery, right? Anyways what ever is run for the 12V+ should be matched on the 12V-.....you should not run 1 on the positive side and 8 on the negative side.

[evo2k3]

beat me to it!

[RobWiz]

From the factory my car came with a little 10aw wire pigtailing off the negative battery wire...the pigtailed 10aw wire goes to the chassis (fender), that's the wire I'm referring to when I say battery to chassis.

I just replaced my stock 75A alt with a 130A unit, and I used 4aw power wire from the alt to battery, so I figure I'm cool there.

My positive battery cable is 2aw, my negative battery cable is 1aw which grounds on the engine. Then I have a factory ground strap going from the back of a cylinder head to the chassis.

My question is to what gauge should I upgrade that ground wire that pigtails off the neg battery cable and goes to the chassis (it's currently a 10aw)??
And do I need to replace the ground strap, if so to what gauge??

Thanks everyone