I'm thinking about rigging up a dual battery system, basically for the self jumping ability. I'd like to use a regular battery though, 2 reasons: 1: cheaper than the small ones(like the yellow tops) 2: if I need to replace a bettery in the middle of no where, it'll be easier to find.

Problem is where to mount the 2nd battery. There's no room in the engine compartment, and no real good place to put it inside. I was thinking under the truck, opposite the gas tank. Any one have a dual battery set up, or thoughts on a good spot to hide the other battery?

 

Diesels have two batteries under the hood - one on each side. Rebend your ISR to give you some room up there, bolt in a tray and you're good to go.

 

Hey Bill, I don't have any experience with dual batteries in my truck, but I will just give a word of caution about having the battery far away from the motor. In cold weather if your primary battery dies, and your second battery is far away, then you might have difficulty starting. We had a truck at work (diesel) that had it's batteries at the back of the truck and it was a crank to start it in the winter. Just a thought.

 

voltage drop across long wires

What about just keeping a battery in the back somewhere or with your jack stuff and use jumper cables to hook it up if the need arises?

Granted, a special place for it under the hood would be much cooler.

 

check out where roger put his. i'm not sure if this space exists in your 4R or not, but it's worth looking at. http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...atteries.shtml

 

I've looked at rogers dual battery stuff, and liked what I saw(always impressed with what he's got to offer), but I figured I'd see if there were any 2nd gen specific suggestion out there.

I could just keep a 2nd battery on hand, but I figure if I rig up duals then if/when I get a winch and other electrical goodies, it's less of a draw on my battery, set up an isolated system: 1 bat for starting, 1 for goodies, and could use both for winching.

And as far as a voltage drop goes, I've thought about that too, but I figure if I use 2 or even mabey 1ga wire I should be good.

I've done the ISR pipe, and it still seems like it'd be tight. But it's worth taking another look with a mocked up battery/box.

 

Photoleif, you need to get some manual hubs on that piggy!

 

There is a dual battery FAQ thread that might give you some 411.

 

haha, that was a random comment but... very true! i'm actively looking for 'em, and will do something about it sooner than later. do you know of some that might be sent to me in exchange for some virtualized greenbacks?

 

I have a set

 

...that are in decent shape, for IFS, and you're not using?

 

Yes. I should check them out just to make 100% sure they work properly though, and I don't have the bolts for them, but that can be fixed.

 

cool! let me know if they check out OK. i'll search for what bolt length and thread dims are needed. is it the six 10mm bolts per side that hold the cap to the hub budy?