From Freightliner ambulance to RV - we hope!
- Thread starter rossvtaylor
- Start date
rossvtaylor
Adventurer
Pat, let me know your thoughts on them. I've used hydraulic or electric crimpers at work... they're great, but spendy.
rossvtaylor
Adventurer
You guys and your big-budget hydraulics... I'm jealous!
Here are the photos missing from above. First, the exposed terminal strips and the mess remaining after I removed the center console body:
Damn... I keep getting an "upload failed" error. Last night, I thought it was due to our crappy home internet - which, where we live, is just Verizon wireless tethering through our phones. But this morn, in the office in town, I'm still getting errors even with "real" internet. Really, I have pics!
Ozrockrat
Expedition Leader
No pics it doesn't exist. 
After playing with generic crimpers I have now started soldering all my big cables. I was spoilt with the quality crimpers we used to have and the stuff I have now just doesn't float my boat. But at under $30 I may give a set of those a try. Especially if they work for all size Anderson plugs.
After playing with generic crimpers I have now started soldering all my big cables. I was spoilt with the quality crimpers we used to have and the stuff I have now just doesn't float my boat. But at under $30 I may give a set of those a try. Especially if they work for all size Anderson plugs.
patoz
Expedition Leader
No pics it doesn't exist.
After playing with generic crimpers I have now started soldering all my big cables. I was spoilt with the quality crimpers we used to have and the stuff I have now just doesn't float my boat. But at under $30 I may give a set of those a try. Especially if they work for all size Anderson plugs.
I've heard all three sides of the argument...crimp vs. solder vs. crimp and solder. Personally, I like crimp and solder even though it's not necessary.
Here is a little light reading about terminating cable ends:
http://www.cruisingworld.com/how/crimp-or-solder
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/wire_termination&page=1
rlrenz
Explorer
If you really want a heavy duty crimper, I found a Square-SD / Anderson hydraulic crimper a few years ago.
It can handle wire from #8 - 750 MCM (which is about as large as your thumb). It does an excellent job on any large wire - I did my inverter connectors in about 20 seconds per terminal.
As with any hydraulic crimper, you have to have a good fit between the wire and the terminal - ideally, you have to wiggle the terminal onto the wire.
It can handle wire from #8 - 750 MCM (which is about as large as your thumb). It does an excellent job on any large wire - I did my inverter connectors in about 20 seconds per terminal.
As with any hydraulic crimper, you have to have a good fit between the wire and the terminal - ideally, you have to wiggle the terminal onto the wire.
rossvtaylor
Adventurer
Pics... I tried! Trying again here!
So, that one above shows the terminal strips which had been screwed (two high) to the sidewalls of the console's wood box.
And, here, is the back of a switch panel - this looks worse than it really is. I needed to relocate 8 or 9 switches, but didn't need the siren or air dump or strobes or light bar... so, for those, I marked the wires and capped them.
The switches are smaller, vertically, than are the Freightliner panel switches. But, I had a bunch of blanks in the panel and am relocating the ambo switches to those cutouts. Here, they are just dropped into place for planning. As much as this may pain some, I'm going to RTV them from the back (with a bead along each side) to hold them in place within the larger Freightliner cutouts. The fit well side to side, so this is just to keep them aligned and from falling out of the openings.
I'll not get into the solder/crimp war. I admit that I soldered the connectors on that jumper cable, but I read compelling arguments for crimping alone. So, these I just crimped. The $26 crimper I bought worked great on the ring terminals I crimped onto the #1 cable. And it worked well, but took more force, on the thicker-walled Warn/Anderson/Napa connectors.
That's all for now. Except for the new winch cable I ordered. Remember this was a used winch and this weekend, when I unspooled and rewrapped the whole thing, I found a couple of kinks. So, new cable is on the way. And if you think the crimp/solder argument is heated, just look at the cable/synthetic discussions. For many reasons, it's staying cable for us.
Trying again here!So, that one above shows the terminal strips which had been screwed (two high) to the sidewalls of the console's wood box.
And, here, is the back of a switch panel - this looks worse than it really is. I needed to relocate 8 or 9 switches, but didn't need the siren or air dump or strobes or light bar... so, for those, I marked the wires and capped them.
The switches are smaller, vertically, than are the Freightliner panel switches. But, I had a bunch of blanks in the panel and am relocating the ambo switches to those cutouts. Here, they are just dropped into place for planning. As much as this may pain some, I'm going to RTV them from the back (with a bead along each side) to hold them in place within the larger Freightliner cutouts. The fit well side to side, so this is just to keep them aligned and from falling out of the openings.
I'll not get into the solder/crimp war.
I admit that I soldered the connectors on that jumper cable, but I read compelling arguments for crimping alone. So, these I just crimped. The $26 crimper I bought worked great on the ring terminals I crimped onto the #1 cable. And it worked well, but took more force, on the thicker-walled Warn/Anderson/Napa connectors. That's all for now. Except for the new winch cable I ordered. Remember this was a used winch and this weekend, when I unspooled and rewrapped the whole thing, I found a couple of kinks. So, new cable is on the way. And if you think the crimp/solder argument is heated, just look at the cable/synthetic discussions. For many reasons, it's staying cable for us.
rossvtaylor
Adventurer
Ah, damn... I should have thought to ask uncle Oz! You and Scooter have all the cool things.
BTW... have you got a shock absorber recommendation for our rigs? It looks like a Gabriel FleetLine (85918) or Gas SLX (89449) are common. But I'm guessing you know the one true one!
rlrenz
Explorer
Back when I used to work with military vehicles with winches, we liked to have the cables neatly wound on the drum. When you want 1/2" cable to look neat, it takes a little effort - we'd usually anchor the cable hook to a telephone pole, place the truck in neutral, release the brake, then engage the winch PTO and let the winch pull the truck to the cable. One guy would walk close to the winch and use a 2x4 braced on his leg to keep the cable neatly aligned. When all was said and done, the cable looked picture-ready, and we'd drape the chain from one front tow hook to the other. As long as the truck driver had remembered to take the PTO out of gear, the job was done, and Heaven help anyone who unwound the cable without a good reason.
rossvtaylor
Adventurer
Thanks Bob. That sounds like a good idea and I also read that the cable should be wound on, at least the first time, with about 1000 pounds of tension. Fortunately, we have just such a telephone pole!
rlrenz
Explorer
Just made sure the ground is level.....
Ozrockrat
Expedition Leader
Slight uphill works as well.
My votes.
Synthetic and crimped
(never solder then crimp but crimp then solder is OK)
Ozrockrat
Expedition Leader
I am still using the Fleetline ones that came with the truck. They handled Baja roads OK. But I did talk to the guys from King Suspension about getting some big buggers (3") when I put the other axles under the rig.