Quote:
Originally Posted by IdahoMan
This seem like a silly question, but how is it grounded to the frame? With the bolt that holds the cab to the frame? If so, isn't there a rust risk? (I'm a rust paranoid)
Thank you.
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The braided cable makes a more direct ground, not trusting the cab/body bolts. A similar technique is used to ground hoods and decklids (for radio interference protection), preferring a more direct ground and bypassing the hinge attaching bolts. In today's vehicles, with much higher electrical content (and much higher downside to poor grounds) the body is grounded to the chassis in multiple locations.
The whole "star washer"/breaking the paint idea was a terrible idea in terms of corrosion. That's how the taillamps on the stepside were grounded. The rust was so bad that every spring I would pull the tailgate, taillamps and brackets off and repaint them and reinstall. After I did that the turn signals didn't work - because I lost the ground. I ended up adding a short jumper wire from the bulb socket directly to the frame rail, which solved the problem.
I have the same problem on my open car trailer; I'd really like to ground to clean, bare metal but the problem is clean, bare metal rusts. The two requirements are at odds with one another.
K