Big 3 upgrade on early 99 f250 powerstroke 7.3

[Rawdog1989]

I'm in the process of getting the big 3 upgrade, batteries, and alternator done on my f250 superduty with the sky high audio ofc 1/0, xs power batteries, and mechman alt but I need to know how much of a run i will need and to find that out i need to know how to properly do the big 3 and help figuring out what kind of xs batteries I need. On my f250 I have 2 batteries so it has me a lil confused on how to do the big 3. Should I connect the power and ground on the 2 batteries together with the 1/0 or just the main battery would be good? Also any advice on the batteries? Xs power has so many different ones. I think I have the right alt I'm getting the 320amps.

[Dafaseles]

2 hours ago, Rawdog1989 said:

I'm in the process of getting the big 3 upgrade, batteries, and alternator done on my f250 superduty with the sky high audio ofc 1/0, xs power batteries, and mechman alt but I need to know how much of a run i will need and to find that out i need to know how to properly do the big 3 and help figuring out what kind of xs batteries I need. On my f250 I have 2 batteries so it has me a lil confused on how to do the big 3. Should I connect the power and ground on the 2 batteries together with the 1/0 or just the main battery would be good? Also any advice on the batteries? Xs power has so many different ones. I think I have the right alt I'm getting the 320amps.

How much power are you going to run? 

Wire the 2 batteries together, positive to positive. You can also wire the negative together and ground it once, or run separate grounds. That's up to you. 

The big 3 consists of upgrading your positive line from your alternator to your battery. Those mechman alternators are measured at 1800 RPM. You might be able to get away with a single run of 1/0, but if it where me, to be on the safe side, I'd run 2 to the battery positive. 

Then, from your battery negative, to your engine block/ alternator. There should be a stock wire already in place. Don't remove it, just add your ground(s) to it. Then, if you're grounding to the frame, go battery negative to the frame. If your grounding to your chassis, upgrade the factory ground from battery negative to the chassis ground. Just add to it. Or, you can do both and make it a big 4 upgrade. 

If it makes it easier, just replace the batteries with the same group in whatever XS has. That's usually more than adequate. Unless your pumping tons of power, then you have to start looking into bigger batteries. 

[Rawdog1989]

Thanks appreciate it. I'm only running a kicker zx 2500.1 old school with a ds18 15 ext for now until I can get the big boys. My plans are to run the 1/0 power  from the alt to a smd dual fuse block then run the battery to the same fuse block within 18 inch from the battery then from there run the run to the amp for power and and for ground I was gonna do the same from the alt then to a 4way distribution block then negative on the battery then to the frame then from the frame to the amp for ground. Now I have to say the factory power/ground is stout it's way thicker than the 1/0 cca I have now(cheap kit). The only flimsy wire I could find is the ground for the chassis to the battery and frame to motor. Do I have to to do the chassis to if i choose to run on the frame for ground? Also how would I determine the group of the battery. I'm very green when it comes to this so I appreciate all the input.

[Dafaseles]

4 hours ago, Rawdog1989 said:

Thanks appreciate it. I'm only running a kicker zx 2500.1 old school with a ds18 15 ext for now until I can get the big boys. My plans are to run the 1/0 power  from the alt to a smd dual fuse block then run the battery to the same fuse block within 18 inch from the battery then from there run the run to the amp for power and and for ground I was gonna do the same from the alt then to a 4way distribution block then negative on the battery then to the frame then from the frame to the amp for ground. Now I have to say the factory power/ground is stout it's way thicker than the 1/0 cca I have now(cheap kit). The only flimsy wire I could find is the ground for the chassis to the battery and frame to motor. Do I have to to do the chassis to if i choose to run on the frame for ground? Also how would I determine the group of the battery. I'm very green when it comes to this so I appreciate all the input.

You should definitely be fine running that power. Depending on how much more you want to throw at it in the future, you might need more, but you can cross that bridge when you get to it. 

I wouldn't use the same fused distro block for the run from alt to battery, and battery to amps. If you look closely at the block, one side has a solid "bar" on it. That kind of acts as a solid distribution block for that side, rendering that side technically not protected by the fuses. Though, thinking about it, if you make sure to put that bar towards the battery side, I think you'd be alright. 

I wouldn't do the block and have all the grounds go to that. The more grounding points, the better for current flow. The alternator is the beginning point, and the end point of the electrical circuit in your vehicle. The easier it is for that ground current to get back to the alternator, the better. So the more avenues it has, the easier it will flow. Instead of all the current trying to pass through a single intersection (the block). The battery itself is made to handle that kind of traffic. So think of the battery negative to be that distro block for the ground. 

There should already be a cake from your battery negative, to the engine block. That engine block ground, is the same as your alternator ground essentially. Your alternator ground is one with the engine block. 

If you're not grounding anything to the chassis, you probably don't have to worry about upgrading that ground. Don't remove it though. 

What I mean by battery group is the size of your battery. The stock size of your vary that fits in the stock location(s). You can find out what group size your battery is by just typing in your year, make, and model into any auto parts store website and see what size comes up. Or, it's in your owners manual as well. 

Get rid of that CCA crap. It'll end up causing you more problems than it's worth. Get some OFC or at least pure copper welding wire (welding wire goes by the AWG size chart solely, so it's smaller than car audio cable. So if you need 1/0 car audio cable, you'd use 2/0 welding cable). CCA can't even compete with OFC when it comes to the amount of current it can handle. It costs more, I get it, but it's worth it, it's safer, and it'll last you a lot longer.