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Topic: 650 CCA Battery in XJ

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ChevelleSSLS6
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650 CCA Battery in XJ
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So...
I got a 1988 Camry for a crappy boring DD/rust magnet/econobeater so my nice Jeep can play when the snow's really bad :) and camping and stuff.

The camry came with a brand new 650cca ac delco battery, which is a lot better than a 2 1/2 year old 540cca exide.

Well, the 650 is too big for the stock battery tray- the terminals on batt are in the wrong places so they're toward the front of the Jeep- and the cables can hardly reach.

I'm wondering if I should get longer battery cables (this would mean I'd have to prolly cut into the harness tape and stuff, or just cut the ends off and ziptie new cable to existing harness), dremel the 'lip' off the battery tray for clearance, or is there a 650cca battery that'll fit in the stock location without modification? (including the terminals being on the correct sides so I don't need to swap cables around and stuff)

Just wondering how you guys did it...
-Matt

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1996 XJ "Snowball"- 3.5" lift, bunch of little mods.  I hate pegleg rear axles!
1974 AMC Javelin "Jade Grenade"- 360v8, 4sp, green inside and out. Underfunded Project.
2009 Kawsaki Vulan 900 "Rocket III"- Summer DD
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I have larger bats in all of our XJ's/MJ's.

95% of them I just re-routed the cables around some of the other junk. I know on my XJ I simply undid it, re-routed it and gained probally a good 12" of length to where I needed it.

It's hard to say to be honest with you. It depends on the specific battery. I've been using the same one's I used in my BMW's and they work well.

The biggest problem I ran into was securing them down. I had to make a custom bracket.

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1994sport
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an easier but more expensive fix would be an optima battery. Their footprint is pretty small, but 950-1000 cca.

gel ,and spiral cell batteries.

When my blazer got wrecked it got hit on the battery side. The truck still started a week later in subzero temps. When i pulled out the battery to salvage it, it was cracked in the bottom, and leaking.

damn good batteries....

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ChevelleSSLS6
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for the cables to go to the right terminals, the posts are toward the front, and the cables stretch across the batt.... they arent long enough to cross. I'll take a look and see what I can come up with at home. If I can cross the cables so I can set the battery in with the terminals to the rear, all will be well then! With this AC Delco battery, I'll probably be able to use the stock hold down bracket, just drill the holes bigger to allow for the fatter battery.

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My Fleet
1996 XJ "Snowball"- 3.5" lift, bunch of little mods.  I hate pegleg rear axles!
1974 AMC Javelin "Jade Grenade"- 360v8, 4sp, green inside and out. Underfunded Project.
2009 Kawsaki Vulan 900 "Rocket III"- Summer DD
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Posts: 3934
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ChevelleSSLS6 wrote:

for the cables to go to the right terminals, the posts are toward the front, and the cables stretch across the batt.... they arent long enough to cross. I'll take a look and see what I can come up with at home. If I can cross the cables so I can set the battery in with the terminals to the rear, all will be well then! With this AC Delco battery, I'll probably be able to use the stock hold down bracket, just drill the holes bigger to allow for the fatter battery.


Correct, leave the terminals in the rear and just cross the wires.

 



__________________
'93 XJ Cherokee Sport - build thread
'89 XJ Cherokee Laredo - build thread
'88 MJ Comanche Pioneer SWB - build thread
'87 MJ Comanche LWB
'94 YJ Wrangler - build thread


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ChevelleSSLS6
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1994sport wrote:

an easier but more expensive fix would be an optima battery. Their footprint is pretty small, but 950-1000 cca.

gel ,and spiral cell batteries.

When my blazer got wrecked it got hit on the battery side. The truck still started a week later in subzero temps. When i pulled out the battery to salvage it, it was cracked in the bottom, and leaking.

damn good batteries....


hahahaha, they're out of my budget after I got my bike... 07 kawasaki ex650.smile

so my Jeep likely won't see flex-a-lite electric fans either... among other things anytime soon.

edit: I tried swapping the cables around, they're a bit short, and I'm iffy on cutting into the wiring harness... might just see if parts store has a 650cca battery that fits in stock location that's less than a optima, or swap the 650cca back into my 88 camry DD and the 540cca into the Jeep for the meantime.  Jeep+motorcycle+dd has a missfire+college=lotsa $$ going out, and not a lot coming in.hmm

 



-- Edited by ChevelleSSLS6 at 00:29, 2007-09-04

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My Fleet
1996 XJ "Snowball"- 3.5" lift, bunch of little mods.  I hate pegleg rear axles!
1974 AMC Javelin "Jade Grenade"- 360v8, 4sp, green inside and out. Underfunded Project.
2009 Kawsaki Vulan 900 "Rocket III"- Summer DD
 
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