I see no winch in your system, therefore, I don't see the requirement for a second battery. Your running a bunch of lights and a CB.
I have a winch as well as a ridiculous amount of lights and stereo equipment. The winch is the only reason, in my eyes, for spending that much money/time/effort into a dual battery setup.
Yes, it leaves room to grow and expand the amount of doo-dads in your truck, but wait until you need it.

Unless you're into expeditions (week long trail rides).

 

I ran the same Odyssey battery in my Cherokee for years (class 1700 SCORE/MDR too). Worked great, especially considering the size.

 

check caraudio website like caraudio.com or caraudioclassifieds.com both are great for getting big batteries with alot of AH for good prices. for your set up either a bigger alt or just getting a good single battery will do. ive ran almost 100A of current off a 110A alt and 1 good batt with no issues for about 3 years.


however i would say if you feel a need for an upgrade an alt is always the best place to start. the batts are really more of a reserve caspasity for below 13.0V and when the vehicle is turned off.

 

i know im bringing this back to life, but what are some high output alternators out there, and what are some of the best batteries. like i said before i need something that will last me throughout off road races

 

Dual yellow tops in parallel. Good to go.

 

where can i put them, since i really dont have too much room in the engine compartment?

 

I like the Odyssey batteries I run in my 4Runner. I think I got about 10 years out of the first set before I changed them out (still working) and now have about 5 years on the 2nd set:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...atteries.shtml

I've also run a Premier Power Welder 160 amp. alternator for about 13-14 years now, it is still going strong:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...er/index.shtml

Wore out one set of brushes in it about 7 years ago, about time to send it out to get a new set installed.

 

isnt odyssey part of optima? ive heard that optima doesnt have good quality batteries anymore.

 

Thats good stuff there. You'll never be short on power with that setup.

I was able to fit 2 yellows under the hood of my 01, but theres no way that would fit in my 89. Im assuming your 95 is the same, probably even worse if its got ABS. That module takes up lots of room. Installing batteries else where might be your only choice.


Optima's are still good, not saying there the best. But I've been running one of mine for 5 years, and 2 more in the taco that are a couple years old. Don't know the dimensions of the odyssey batts, but the optima's are pretty small, and easy to cram into small area's.

 

I don't think so, they are a totally different construction. The blue top Optimas (marine version) would be the closest to the Odyssey in terms of specs.
- http://odysseybatteries.com/

 

bump!

 

I'm new to all this but I want to do it right. So, is a second battery even necessary if all I am doing is running a winch and three 100 watt lights?

 

Not really. Depends on if your running stuff with the motor off a lot. Or winching ALOT. Which depends on often you get stuck.

 

No, I won't be running accsories with the motor on. As far as winching, it would be more of insurance in the case that I do get stuck. It will just be a trail head vehicle but I won't be getting too crazy in it. At least that's what I think currently. So it sounds like a second battery is unneeded for my application. I'm just adding a winch and three lights. No fridge or cb etc.

Thanks

 

I'm running 4 55w hid lights, a 110w radio, a 200w siren, an led light bar, safety lights and on board air, so I'm going to be running the dual batteries, and I'm going to get the Sierra expeditions dual battery controller cause its a pretty nice set up!

 

That's a nice set-up. I was looking at the Ironman I think it's called. So are you currently running all the gadgets you listed on one battery? If so, what is your reason for adding a battery?

Thanks

 

im not running all this stuff yet due to the fact that i want to post my build on here, but i want to have everything already set up since im going to be making my 4Runner into an off road race car in Score class 6 BITD 7200. the reason im going to be running a dual battery system, is because im going to have a modified MSD Dual ignition system, so i dont want my only battery to run all my accessories while it also handles the engine spark. i also like the dual system, because if my main battery starts losing its power, i can link both batteries so that i can always have 12.8V which is the ideal voltage for it to run.

 

Well that seems logical. I approve your decisions henceforth. Godspeed

 

thanks! right now im currently in the process of designing/figuring out where and how everything is going to go!

 

That was my next question. Would it be a bad idea for you to bolt it to the undercarriage?