wire

can anybody tell me what this wire was for

 

Ground wire. Body to chassis. You can make up a new one or have someone do it for you. Clean up the connections and replace.

 

Yep, I’ll second the ground wire. Easy to replace.

 

okay that's what I thought it was for but wasn't sure. Thank You

 

Mine turned to powder when I touched it after buying my Tundra. Napa had a suitable replacement, though it's a bit longer. My local dealership told me that ground strap didn't exist and that they couldn't sell me one.

 

It's easy to make you own ground strap. Just get yellow lugs and some 10AWG wire. It'll last longer than that OEM POS.

 

A proper ground strap is made to move around a lot. Using regular old round wire may result in rapid breakage around the crimps at the ends.

 

What? No. Let me be more specific. Get 10 AWG stranded wire (not solid core) and yellow lugs. It'll outlast the OEM. FYI, I'm an electrican that used to work on fighter jets for a living. I know a thing or two about vibration and wiring.

 

Considering the garbage that's available in rolls and on spools at the autoparts store, I would have expected someone with your experience to specify appropriate stranding for the job and strain relief techniques around the terminals.

 

Considering I was only giving a smidgen of advice and not writing a tutorial on how to make a ground strap, I left my initial post fairly broad. Normally, people ask more questions when they want to know exactly how to do something. I'm not one to immediately break out the baby spoon.

 

His advice is worth a much as you paid for it

 

From the EWIS (which you should be familiar with):


So there's a pair of reputable references that heat and vibration aren't so good for wire insulation. When there's unplated copper underneath and the jacket falls off, what happens? Maybe there's a better way? (Hint: like a tinned braid of copper with no jacket!)

 

Both valid points. However, you missed the major factor which caused the OEM ground strap to fail...MOISTURE. Moisture (and salt) acted as the electrolytic solution causing galvanic corrosion between two dissimilar metals (tinned copper or aluminum wire attached to steel) which is why it turned to powder once you touched it. So, a better ground strap would have a rubber jacket to protect it from the elements and prevent it from disintegrating over time. Will it eventually fail? Yup. Everything fails, but not sooner than an unjacketed strap. There are still other steps, chemicals, and compounds to mitigate a lot of those factors and make a better ground strap or wiring harness, but OEM is about cost effectiveness which doesn't always align to the best material/ practice. OEM should really mean Originally Equipped Minimum. Just my 2 cents.

 

These guys are all leading you in a good direction. That looks like you're in a nasty environment. A marine grade, tin coated bonding strap would do you well. A little wire brush and antioxidant wouldn't hurt either.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...-jf6wcjexhqmBPnenjBkOsKzQiqJB96RoCmlAQAvD_BwE

 

If that one is that bad, I’d inspect all your ground wires. It only takes one bad one to start making your dash light up like a Christmas tree

 

This is a very timely thread for me. I was under my truck a couple days ago and bumped this strap and it disintegrated completely. I've noticed the truck running kinda weird since then. How many other ground straps are there to check?