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Electrical & Computer SystemsDetails discussions regarding electrical components, wiring, all lighting, wire harnesses and HID conversion for your vehicle.
This is a discussion thread titled "dual battery configuration... thoughts please", within the Electrical & Computer Systems forum, part of the Technical & Vehicle Assistance Forums category.
working on getting a dual battery setup. getting a lot of electronics in the truck now... thinking a dual setup is a good way to do. i just cant decide on how to configure it.
there seems to be 2 approaches...
first approach is to keep one battery for factory stuff (starting, lights, etc) and one battery for accessories (stereo's, lights, fridges).
second approach is to keep everything wired to the factory battery, and add a second battery strickly as a backup starting battery.
this first approach seems like a good idea... but one could still end up with a dead battery situation. left the headlights on or something while running the stereo system. but with this approach (and a high power stereo or whinch) when the car is running... the alternator would be split to charing 2 batteries ( i think since the alternaor is run to a isolator then divided to both batteries) thus reducing the amount of power this high power acessory needs.
with the second approach... while the safest and the optimal for high power accessoies... (the way im leaning) do i need a big ol' optima just as a backup?? i have seen little optima batteries... im wondering if i can get away with this http://www.expeditionswest.com/equip...%20236_jpg.jpg
i think i like the second approach best... but maybe im missing something here.... looking for some thoughts on the subject
I don't know how to fit 2 batteries in the Tundra but having done this set up to my Land Cruiser, I can tell you that the second option would be the way to go. I had 2 batteries, one red for starting and all accessories and one yellow for back up. I wired them with a battery isolator from Wrangler and a switch from West Marine, all cables were from a welding shop (1/0 gauge). Everything was bullet proof.
The instructions I used were on Slee Off Roads website -
It's very descriptive. Although this is for a Land Cruiser, I'm sure it would work equally well with a Tundra although you'd have to find the space for the second battery. In the Land Cruiser, the Japanese battery factory battery holder was used (since they are RHD and some things are a mirror image).
If you need additional help, PM me, if you figure out how to make it all fit under the hood, I can definitely help with the wiring.
i think i can fit 2 batteries in the stock location. if i turn the factory battery 90 degrees... i think i can squeeze another one in beside it. id have to make a new mounting plate and tiedowns... but thats pretty easy. i may have to move the fuse panel back slightly. if it wont fit there... id probably try and find a small one like the pic i posted.. and put it by the ABS.
look at TacomaOffRoadGrl pics... they did what im thinking about.
Did you ever get a second battery installed? I recently bought a 06 Reg Cab 4*4 and would like to to with a dual battery setup. I'm wondering about the whole picture, battery tray, solenoid, cables, switches, etc...
battery setup is still on the to do list. i bought the isolator and such... just havent gotten around the the mechanical portion of it yet. hoping to get to that part of the list by mid summer. ill let you know what i come up with. please do the same if you get it done sooner.
__________________ 2001 Tundra Limited 4x4 TRD
Suspension:fabtech performance coilovers (front), Alcans, Bilstien 5150's and Airlft Air bags (rear) Tire & Wheel:American Eagle 187's (16x8 w/4" bs) and Bridgestone Dueler Revos. Axle:4:56's w/ lock-rite (front) and TrueTrac (rear) Protection:bent-up sliders, front bumper, rear bumper w/tire carrier, skid row front and diff plate. Body:Leer shell w/ custom Aluminum rack towers, BVG basket, lights, axe/shovel carrier and cargo bag; 3" body lift Electonics:Complete stereo: Alpine, JL (speakers and amps), dampning. Computer w/ GPS, Topo maps, 8000+ MP3's, video, Wifi, WLan, touchscreen To do:Camera system (axle, nose, rear and action views) with dedicated recording to mpeg via computer; dual battery; custom floor console for switches and camera control.
hi chrisloyd! i'm in the process of working on a similar project. from my research so far, i can tell you one reason why option 2 may not be the best in the long run. if you keep everything wired to the stock battery, you are defeating one of the main goals of the dual battery system. you want to have one battery for starting (not just as a backup for reserve starting) and one battery for deep cycle discharges. the two purposes place quite different demands on the battery. starting is a low duty cycle high current load. running lights, fridges, inverters, etc is a low current, deep cycle load. the winch is the only common device that runs at high current and deep discharge.
i am going to use the solenoid approach to isolate the two batteries. the main starting battery will run everything attached to the ignition circuit on the truck and handle starting chores. as long as the key is off, i can't accidentally leave lights or anything on as they all shut off automatically. so, i should aways have starting power unless i am a total dufus.
the inverter, winch, new amps, etc. will all run to the deep cycle marine (second) battery and when the ignigiton is off, i can happily run that one into the ground. as soon as the engine starts up, the alternator will charge both batteries and i'm good to go again. as long as the second battery is topped off, i should be able to winch out on the rare occasion i need to winch with the engine off (deep water) and otherwise, i can winch off the marine battery. if the engine is running, i can get an extra 200 amps from the primary battery to help with winching.
just some thoughts i thought i'd share since we are working on the same project. please let me know if you see any problems with this plan, so i can update my design before it actually gets done!
this is my first response in this forum. I'm in the process of adding an additional battery in a 2006 tundra. I need two because I do get stupid and leave lights on or play the radio too long. Most of the time I'm in the middle of no where. My question is where to get the extra battery tray and where to put it. I have it in all my off road vehicles. I use a battery isolator, use the extra batter just for the wench. when my main batter is dead I just use a set of jumper cables and jump it. it's clean and easy. I run optimas. Any ideas on where to purchase a tray and where to put it?
on the 04 tundra, the battery will fit between the air filter and abs module. you have to relocate the p/s resevoir to the front with longer hoses and modified bracket. but, it fits nicely there.
i made my own battery box out of angle iron. once the p/s resevoir is moved, there are some nice brackets on the fender well you can mount to. i just bent some 1 1/2" angle around and spot welded it, painted, rubber coated, etc. then got a battery box from wal-mart that fits the size of battery you want. i went with a nice fat trojan battery - about 120 amp*hours.
if i was going to do it again and had the space, i would go with two six volt golf cart batteries in series. you can double your amp hour capacity but also doubles the space and i don't think there's any way it would fit in the engine bay. you'd have to a bed or under truck mount.
dual battery configuration... thoughts please
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