custom battery cables; pictures of cable ends

Custom Battery Cables

Technical Info and Other Useful Stuff:

Do You Need New Cables?

Battery Cable Tips and Tricks

Different types of Cable Ends

Different Wire Types

What size cable do you need?

Wire size, thickness, amperage

How we assemble cables

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Here are the different types of cable ends to help you choose exactly what will work best for you:

Straight Top Post. This is the most common battery terminal and probably what you think of when you think of when we talk about battery cable ends.

Elbow Top Post Battery Terminal. These are available in Right or Left. They are useful in certain applications where space is a concern or if you want a different look. (Right elbow shown). Elbow terminals are a little more expensive. We charge an extra 1 dollar.

Battery terminal

Side Post or Stud Top Terminal. These are the heavy duty replacement for the cable ends used by some OEMs on new cars and for stud top industrial batteries. Some folks use them on a second set of battery cables on a dual terminal battery for a high amp accessory like a winch or competition stereo.

Flag Terminal. This style is used for dual battery setups where two or more batteries will be connected in parallel on a single cable. Please note that because these require 2 connections and 2 heat shrink, the labor for these is double. I stock these in 1/0 thru 4/0 positive. Sometimes I have negative flags but often they are special order

Battery Terminal with extra wire capability. Use this end when you want to run an extra wire for fuse block or high amp accessory. Flag terminal is shown but I have these ends available for top and side post. Click picture to see other styles. These terminals are a little more expensive. We charge an extra 1 dollar. They only come in 2/0 for top or side post and 2/0 and 3/0 flag terminals.

Not every hole size is available with every wire gauge. For example 4/0 gauge lug with 1/4 holes is not something we stock and can be hard to find. Here is a table with what we normally stock ("yes") and what we can order ("special order") and what is hard to find ("n/a").

Wire Size	Top Post Straight	Top Post with extra wire	Elbow Top Post	Side Mount or Stud Top	Flag (For dual top post batteries)	Flag with extra wire	Double barrel (For dual stud top batterues)
8ga	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
6ga	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
4ga	Pos & Neg	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
1-2 (1 or 2 ga)	Pos & Neg	No	R & L Univ only	Yes	No	No	No
1/0 or 0 or "one-aught"	Pos & Neg	No	Pos & Neg in Left and Right	Yes	Pos and Neg	No	Special Order
2/0 or 00 or "two-aught"	Pos & Neg	Positive Only	Pos & Neg in Left and Right	Yes	Pos and Neg	Positive Only	Special Order
3/0 or 000 or "three-aught"	Pos & Neg	No	Pos & Neg in Left and Right	Yes	Pos Only	Positive Only	Special Order
4/0 or 000 or "four-aught"	Pos & Neg	No	Special Order	Yes	Pos Only	No	Special Order

Ring Terminal or Lug. This is what you need to connect to the starter, solenoid, alternator or deep cycle battery. A heavy duty end is shown. The metal used in the heavy duty ends is twice as thick. The HD ends are also wider and more expensive.

Heavy duty ring terminals are also available with a 45 degree or 90 degree bend. Not all sizes are available. These terminals are more expensive than the "normal" heavy duty lugs. I do not recommend trying to make your own bent ends. Odds are the ends will crack.

"Double Barrel" lugs are available but I do not normally stock them. Use the double barrel lug for a ground in the middle of a ground cable or in place of "flag" battery terminals on marine, stud top or golf cart batteries. Double barrel lugs are only available in 1/0 and larger with 3/8 hole. These require 2 connections and 2 heat shrink so the labor for these is double. They also tend to make the cable much stiffer. Personally, I think just using 2 normal heavy duty lugs is a better setup because you can change the angle of the cables and you can just replace 1 when needed.

Wire Size

1/4 std lug

5/16 std lug

3/8 std lug

1/2 std lug

1/4 HD lug

5/16 HD lug

3/8 HD lug

1/2 HD lug

5/16 HD w/45

3/8 HD w/45

1/2 HD w/45

5/16 HD w/90

3/8 HD w/90

1/2 HD w/90

8ga

Yes

6ga

Yes

4ga

Yes

2ga

Yes

n/a

1ga

Yes

n/a

1-2 (1 or 2 ga)

n/a

Yes

1/0 or 0 or "one-aught"

Yes

2/0 or 00 or "two-aught"

Yes

3/0 or 000 or "three-aught"

Yes

n/a

Yes

special order

4/0 or 0000 or "four-aught"

Yes

special order

As the battery terminals and lugs get larger, more copper is required to make them and therefore they cost more.

To purchase wire, battery terminals, lugs or tools go to our Wire, Battery Terminals and Lugs page.