If you’re moving your battery to the trunk of your vehicle to clean up the engine bay, or if you have a drag car that requires it to be moved, having the right battery cables will ensure that your charging system will function at peak performance. Ron Francis Wiring (RFW) offers a Hot Rod Battery Cable kit that has been designed with all the right ingredients for a trunk battery installation. 

There are two options to choose from, pictured above. You can go with a top post kit, or a side post kit. Both kits will come with a crimping tool, extra lugs, and shrink tubing, which will give you a professional quality installation. The positive cable measures 20 feet, while the negative cable measures 15 feet. These kits have been designed with plenty of cable length to allow for trimming to suit any vehicle length.

A reliable rear mount battery application primarily depends on the quality of the cables. Using auto parts store cables, or welding cables, are not the best options because of the materials used in their construction. Auto parts store sourced cable is often of a thinner gauge and uses plastic insulation that has a temp rating of 60° C or 140° F. Welding cable, while a better option, will generally use neoprene insulation with a temp rating 90° C 195° F. The RFW kits use crosslink 1-gauge wire with a temp rating of 125° C or 255° F which is ideal for use in harsh, high temp environments such as engine compartments and will suffer less voltage drop and give you more current carrying capacity.

Equally important are the cable lugs. Their rugged construction insures that they stay round longer and feature a steel clip that is molded into the lug. 

When compared to parts store sourced cables, there are visible differences in the quality of the materials used and cable gauge on the top post and side post lugs.

Editor’s Note: This story was produced and provided by Ron Francis Wiring. However, we felt that the story was educational and beneficial to our readership. Therefore it has been evaluated and, in some cases, edited in accordance with our standards