Large wire crimpers

[chorky]

I am constantly building custom cables for various things - like the winch on my trailer, eventually the wiring from the front of my truck to operate said winch, the battery and ground cables of my cars and for others. When I want stuff, I want it, so I typically want it now.......
I get the "it's awfully expensive to spend 90 bucks for a couple of wires" but with me, I find if I have the tools, I will find uses for them moving forward.

I am much the same way which is why I often buy tools even for the first use in the likelihood that I will need it again in the future. Especially with how difficult it is to get things taken care of in my area. Although cables can be shipped fairly easily. I like the option @HooliganActual and will probably opt for that route.

This or something like it. Have had one similar for about 12 years. It has done everything from 8 to 4/0 gauge cables. Built and repaired many on mining haul trucks and heavy equipment, OTR trucks lots of junk. Have done all my Jeeps with it. Came from Amazon or EBay, one of the two. I wouldn’t solder those, larger crimps usually go by a psi requirement on crimp load. Not sure what size wire your are dealing with or maybe I missed it.

I am working with 4 ga. But I wanted for this thread to also be a resource for others if they do a search for large cable crimping

Sponsored

 

[HooliganActual]

I am much the same way which is why I often buy tools even for the first use in the likelihood that I will need it again in the future.

THIS^^^^

I have a nutsert tool and these crimpers for this very reason. Not long ago I only needed to install two nutserts for my trail rails so I decided to just use the double wrench method. It was miserable but I reasoned that I just had to suck it up for two nutserts and then I'll never have to worry about it again...until I found a reason that I needed to install 10 nutserts....then I bought the tool and wish I had done it in the first place. Now, I don't think twice about buying a specialty tool when needed because it is highly likely I will need it again for some reason.

 

[ZeeJay]

I am much the same way which is why I often buy tools even for the first use in the likelihood that I will need it again in the future. Especially with how difficult it is to get things taken care of in my area. Although cables can be shipped fairly easily. I like the option @HooliganActual and will probably opt for that route.



I am working with 4 ga. But I wanted for this thread to also be a resource for others if they do a search for large cable crimping

Nothing wrong with that at all. Making cables is a Jeep game for sure.

 

[chorky]

THIS^^^^

I have a nutsert tool and these crimpers for this very reason. Not long ago I only needed to install two nutserts for my trail rails so I decided to just use the double wrench method. It was miserable but I reasoned that I just had to suck it up for two nutserts and then I'll never have to worry about it again...until I found a reason that I needed to install 10 nutserts....then I bought the tool and wish I had done it in the first place. Now, I don't think twice about buying a specialty tool when needed because it is highly likely I will need it again for some reason.

Nutserts is one thing I have not done, that I really wish I had done for several applications. I too have looked back pretty angry with myself I didn't go that route from the start. Now I have gone so far without them, it's almost pointless to start with them haha. Maybe not. I might look at redoing the L track in the bed and replace nut/bolt with outserts as several of the holes I can't access to place a nut on the back side.

 

[bgott]

Google " hammer style wire crimper".

 

[HooliganActual]

Nutserts is one thing I have not done, that I really wish I had done for several applications. I too have looked back pretty angry with myself I didn't go that route from the start. Now I have gone so far without them, it's almost pointless to start with them haha. Maybe not. I might look at redoing the L track in the bed and replace nut/bolt with outserts as several of the holes I can't access to place a nut on the back side.

I feel ya brother. I gutted and rebuilt out my bed, solar, everything last fall and it was at that point that I committed to myself that I would redo it all correctly. If I hadn’t decided to gut it and start over, I would still have a bunch of janky hoopty bits. Lol

 

[kevman65]

If you know someone who is an electrician by trade, ask them if they have a set of Milwaukee crimpers and if so may you borrow them for a Jeep project.

 

[Jeepmonster]

I've been pretty happy with this one from Amazon. Price is reasonable, and I've used it so many times.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09TGN1Z7T/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[Pliny]

In addition to BatteryCablesUSA, these are also sources for custom made battery cables:

https://custombatterycables.com/battery-cable-accessories/
https://gregsmarinewiresupply.com/store/

I bought this crimper to do the wiring for my winch and manual disconnect:

TEMCO TH0006

 

[Camaroboi13]

I use a bench mounted vise and a big hammer.

 

[BearFootSam]

FTZ crimpers are good up to 4/0. Been using them for years and I've never had a crimp fail that wasn't my mistake.

Soldering is generally bad in connections that move... they are inflexible, tend to break over time, and flux tends to cause more issues with corrosion. There's a reason why crimping is the standard practice with modern marine and aviation.

The key is quality crimpers that compress the conductors into basically a single wire. The ones that just pinch the cable in the lug aren't great.

The issue with soldering big wire is that you can risk a cold joint if you can't heat the metal locally fast enough to avoid melting the insulation. Poor surface prep or lack of flux activity leads to poor electrical connection.

Generally I prefer a crimp which should provide a mettalurgical bond, essentially cold welding the joint. Whether soldered or crimped, a robust strain relief or sleeve that prevents torqing at the joint is always a good idea and if done properly will seal the connection from moisture.

For big wire I heat shrink and tape zip-ties lengthwise along the end to tie into a point near the connection as a strain relief. It works for connecting heavy coax to suspended dipole balun and has held up in heavy wind.

 

[steven1955]

I took have the Harbor Freight hydraulic crimper too, and I use it for 10 to 4 gauge crimps. It comes with dies for wire as big a 0 gauge. I waited for a 20% off sale to buy this tool in advance of my need.

For wires larger than 4 gauge I use a larger Chinese hydraulic crimp tool. I made a 4/0 cable today with the larger tool. This was a lucky $15 auction find for an unused crimper, although it had steel cable dies. I had buy electric cable dies off Amazon for about $30.

 

[Vtur]

Industrial electrician here. I reaches for these every chance i get as it's convenient. We usually crimps and solder, depending on conditions. Not cheap though. Crimps up to #2.

 

[Lost1wing]

This is where I get all of my battery cables and stuff.

This is where I got my golf cart cables. I couldn't do it any cheaper than what they could do it for. The cables are better than what I could do too.

 

[Lost1wing]

I have one of the 16 ton hydraulic hand crimper from Amazon. I got it for splicing large overhead power cables. It worked fine for that, but when it came time to crimp 2 or 4ga cables, the dies for those sizes just seem to be either too big or too small.

Sponsored