How to get a good ground in your Mopar

I started to respond to this thread, http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=141022
, and I realized it probably deserved a new topic.

There are a lot of electrical problems that trace back to poor grounds. Our 40+ year old unibody Mopars are particularly susceptible. I believe the problem starts with the factory layout for the negative side of the battery cable. The negative battery cable typically connects to the engine block at the front of the engine. A ground strap, (often discarded during engine swaps), connects the back of the engine block to the firewall. From there it is a series of welded and bolted connections to where ever the ground connection for any particular circuit may land. Corrosion and loose bolts ultimately lead to voltage drops causing dim headlights, noisy radios, etc.

Running a separate ground of appropriate gauge back to battery negative for all circuits would be the ideal fix, but this is not practical as it would result in doubling the volume of existing wiring in the car. My solution has been to bond certain areas like the rad cradle and the brake pedal/steering column bracket back to the negative battery terminal with 8 gauge wire. I use a long 1/4-20 bolt to provide a stud to which ground connections can be made in these areas. I will run a 10 gauge wire from the ground at the brake pedal back to the taillight area to ensure I have good grounds for my taillights. If I am running a battery in the trunk, I will use 00 cable, one run from battery + to the starter and one run from battery - to the engine block near the starter. + and - for the car then can be picked up off the engine block connections. No running the - connection thru the unibody structure for me! This, coupled with bypassing the firewall connector for the battery source/charging system will fix most electrical problems.