akaphilly

yea you did that perfect. jmoney copy his design and i will be happy!

4runnerteen

Well I have the same thoughts on the Deep cell battery to. Wouldnt the deep cell cause more amps and more cranking power then a normal battery. Thus holding more power and not needing 2 batteries? or am i not catching something?

camo31_10.50

deep cell batteries are meant to be charged, then fully discharged before being charged again...if you use one in a truck..as your normal battery, it will kill it in a very short amount of time.....ask me how i know..i destroyed a $70 deep cycle marine battery LMAO

at least that is what has been told to me..LOL

4runnerteen

O lol. See I was told MArine batteries like changing climates and alot of amps and deep cell liked either full cold or full hot and still have alot of amps. But you might be onto something there. But considering it was still a deep cell im not sure.... Google here I come for knowledge!

robertcrav

I'm guessing there'd be no way to do this with a York mounted on that side of the engine....

don't have that either yet, just plannin for the future.

Ron Helmuth

Can't believe I had not seen this until now. jmoney mad props on all the pics shown so far.Good find on the battery isolator.98 4runner where is the isolator mounted in your photos please?

Hross elaborate on your idea with the inverter-I do think some folks have gone that route but a dual battery setup allows for full redundancy-meaning either battery can serve to provide start up duty or winching as needed.

Only nit picky thing I can come up with jmoney is in reference to the wire up of the Sure Power the post #5 top view I would come up from the bottom with that middle top wire instead of crossing that right top terminal with the wire. So that the signal(power) does not bridge across that connector potentially.

So no concern guys that the Optima is actually a smaller non-stock application? Carries enough power for the occasional winch usage? When the winch is in use and the vehicle is running it is actually drawing from only the Optima or both batteries?

Also very interested to see the battery bracket you made up and I really appreciate your efforts to share with us an ultimate low cost dual battery setup. I have been reading 4crawlers set up but his is an older truck although same general idea.

98.T4R

my isolator is mounted to the fan shroud you can see it in one of those pics just right next to the batteries. without the batteries this cost me $19 i already had angle iron and bolts

Ron Helmuth

thanks I thought that was the edge of it but was not sure

hross14

I was talking about using a deep cycle single battery instead of a dual battery set-up. Then when you go out camping or wheeling you bring along a little 1000 watt generator and use it......

If your battery does die--charge it with the generator and get on your way. If both happen to die--then Karma doesnt want you to make it back.

Henry

j-money$$$

sorry i have not posted any pics of the bracket yet. i have been busy, and it is a pita to get the bracket off. im not doing a thing tomorrow so i should be able to pull it apart, but so far everything works great. i got to use the winch out in big bear on saturday


Sorry if the pic is HUGE

camo31_10.50

we're you seriously stuck in that spot and had to winch out.......wow lmao

it must have been REALLY slick er somethin

j-money$$$

i was stuck farther back that pic is after i winched out. It was SUPER slick in the snow, plus you cant see what the trail is lie from the top. i was hung up on the rear diff. To make myself feel better i watched a Cj7 that was double locked get stuck too

j-money$$$

Here is the trail ahead from my perspective when i was actually stuck. it looks a little different from the bottom

Ron Helmuth

thanks Henry

I see what you were getting at now

willworkfor4x4

I just ordered the isolator, I am going to take on this project as well.
Which wire is the sense wire from the alternator harness I need to wire to the isolator, or is it obvious? If nobody else posts the pics of the battery support I will put together a write-up when I make this.

j-money$$$

the sense wire connects to 1 of the 3 wires that hook to the alternator. I will have to check to find out which color wire is the right one.

LINY4Runner

great write up! surscribed!

hross14

Just an FYI guys--i put a large series Sears Platinum battery (Generic Oddyssey) in the rig and it didnt take much fabbing at all.

I just
1. Took out the old battery tray, cut a new one out of HDPE
2. Used alum angle iron to make side supports--bolted to original battery support
3. ground off the old weld on the battery hold down--rewelded
4. Couple wire/cable extensions and it was done-

I forget the series but it was not the 13 incher (Thats was she said haaaaa) but 10 and change i believe......

Drove around for a week on it before i realized my altenator bracket had come loose......

phildelfino

Great write-ups and good first hand experiences. Thanks for the low budget setup. I'll try this mod soon.

Amonisis

C'mon guys, does anyone know which wire is the alternator wire that has to be connected to the "E" pole on the isolator?