I just finished adding a second battery. Some of you might like to see it. I used a 135* bend off ebay along with a MAF cone adapter. Also went with a 200 amp continuous duty solenoid. Don't mind the battery hold downs, they are temp's till I can get some thicker ones made.

 

Damn looks sick as hell, doing a dual set-up next week

 

Nice job!

 

Very nice. Well done. Does it run any different?
I have been wanting to do this exact same thing.
Congrats on job.

 

Why the solenoid? I thought you could just hook the batteries straight together.

 

because if you leave your lights on, you won't be able to start your truck if you wire them straight together. with a solenoid, you can drain one battery completely and still start using the other one. (there are other reasons, but that's a good example)



also, @meswoleshane: do you have a schematic of your setup (ie, where each battery hooks to the starter, alternator, fuse box, etc). i really like the clean look you've got going there

 

racersg, It runs about the same, maybe the rear window works faster? I have an amp, a few aux lights and 12V outlets. I plan on adding a winch in the future as well. I did this mostly for camping, this way I don't have to worry about the air matress pump or 12V fan killing the starting battery.

irab88, Here is the wiring diagram:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru...y-setup-for-50

 

subscribed thanks for the great pictures and link!

 

 

That looks good. Did you have to relocate anything or was there enough room for the extra battery?

 

Had to relocate the cruise control closer to the air box. But not to hard to move. My taco doesnt have abs. If it did there would be no way this would fit. And my lights shut of automatically so no need for solinoids or isolators

 

Im a little new to this whole thing but wouldnt two batterys wired together cause double the cranking amps which could pop fuses or fuseable links. Other then haveing a winch or a huge sound system why would you need to do this?

I know toyotas have pretty low amp alternators but if your driving it shouldnt matter
I have four aux. lights wired with two relays and i see no change in anything other then at idle?

Plz explain.

 

Yes it doubles the cranking amps. But thats ok because starters and all other electronics only use what they need. You can never have to much Cranking Amps.

And the reseon for running 2 batteries in parallel like that is becuase it doubles the capacity for power. Its simple and effective. The only thing is you should always use the same size and age battery when paralleling.

I could parellel 5,000 12v batteries together and still start a car. Look at solar homes, their tv doesnt explode if their battery bank is to big.
And actually more damage will occur from under powering winches and starters.

 

Their are many reseons for going with both types.

If you run 2 batteries with an isolator, you can run one battery until its dead and still start your car. But you only have 1 batteries worth of juice for running stuff with the motor off.

If your not worried about being able to start your vehicle, or it doesnt matter becuase the inverter your using shuts off before the battery is depleted beyond the ablility to start a vehicle. Then it would benefit you more to run the batteries in parallel. Now you have 2 batteries worth of power when running stuff with the motor off.

 

Dual battery setup with an isolator is next for me. I just installed a loadboss 170 amp alternator and a bigger battery. My plans are another set of lights, an inverter, and an amp. I already have a cb and stereo of course but Id like to add a scanner. My question is this....I read in a forum online that the batteries should be the same, is that true? Doesnt make sense to me. I planned on my secondary (accessory battery) to be a bit smaller. You see a problem with that? Thanks.

 

My understanding is that the batteries will drain each other down when left connected if they are different. That is the purpose of the solenoid. My second battery is actually bigger than my starting battery (I had it already). I have had no problems with this.

 

Any difference in temps or performance with the relocated and angled intake pipe? Having an idea for this with my 3vze

 

Nothing noticeable. I would guess the intake temperature would be lower this way (not going across the radiator or engine bay). It is also in a higher position than the stock box.

 

Ideally same voltage, capacity and charge state when parallel charging. The solar guys go so far as to not even mix batteries from seperate manufacturing lots. Here is a decent link I think sums it up well.

 

Sort of off topic but going through the links above I found a source in Dallas TX for HO alternators for the 3.0 v6 http://storesense1.mysuperpageshosti...ail.bok?no=520