Leisure battery in dual battery Surf (1 Viewer)

[CanSurf]

Hi there,

I have a 1990 Hilux Surf with the dual battery setup. I want to add another battery for strictly leisure activities (i.e. camping) that I can run various 12v stuff off of and never have to worry about draining my starting batteries. The question is where to put it? Has anyone done this with their Surf or 4Runner and if so, where did you put the battery?

Thanks,

Wes

 

[lunyou]

does your rig have a compartment under the back seats? You might could put it in there and rig some kind of plugs coming out somewhere creative. Just a thought.

lunyou

PS i have never done this but sound feasible

 

[CanSurf]

Nope, there is no compartment under the back seat. I was thinking about using the cubby holes in the back over the wheelwells, but they are too small.

does your rig have a compartment under the back seats? You might could put it in there and rig some kind of plugs coming out somewhere creative. Just a thought.

lunyou

PS i have never done this but sound feasible

 

[lunyou]

is this thing like a 4runner or pickup?? Sorry for my ignorance.


If its like a 4runner you could build a nice box out of wood, metal, or anything else and put a material that matches your cargo space and just use some type of adhesive to stick it to the floor. My wife's 4runner has the cd changer in a homeade box that is carpeted(cargospace is carpeted) and then it is velcroed to the floor with some industrial stenght velcro(i can barely move it). I know you would have to have something stronger then velcro though to hold a battery from bouncing around.

sorry if all of this is for the wrong type of truck(im still figuring out the different names for the different rigs that you guys have)

lunyou

 

[bh4rnnr]

Friend Nick ended up using a Battery Box that he found at Wal-Mart(was like 7 dollers I think) and mounted it in the cab behind the Driver seat. Being that it is a 87 pickup ext cab, he is not loosing much room in the back.. Good luck.

 

[CanSurf]

I can't put it behind the front seats because then the back seats won't fold down (I sleep in the truck). I can't put it in the back velcroed to the floor because it would be in the way. I'm not sure if this is going to work or not, but I thought I would see what ideas people had.

Thanks,

Wes

 

[lunyou]

okay lets think we can do this. Im assuming that the surf is built almost exactly like the 4runner. How old is it?

Does it have the interior roll cage? If it does you could weld a metal box to it somewhere out of the way and mount the battery in it. The boxes that usually hold the jack and other tools are too small??

lunyou

 

[CanSurf]

It's a 1990 surf RHD. There is no interior roll bar. It should be almost exactly like the Canadian version (I'm assuming US as well) 1990 4Runner. The only major difference is the engine (surf's is diesel) and obviously the RHD.

I'm thinking the only real option is to either get a really small battery that will fit in the wheel well cubby hole (I don't know how small these batteries come) or to fit it in the back area somewhere with velcro or something like you suggested earlier.

Wes

 

[lunyou]

well i know you can buy small batteries like the kind you put in a lawn mower or 4wheeler. If you wanted it hid out of sight you could buy however many would fit in the small cubby hole(or how ever much power you wanted) and wire them in series(or parrelell) i forget which and you coudl theoretically get the same amount of juice from a few small batteries as one big one.

Since nothing really fits in around the rear wheel wells you could put directly in front of or directly behind the wheel wheel since you probably don't sleep at an angle around the wheel well.

lunyou


lunyou

 

[CanSurf]

Ok, thanks for the ideas. I'll take a look and see what's out there for batteries and then make a decision.

Thanks for the help,

Wes

 

[lunyou]

no problem sorry i couldn't help anymore.

lunyou

 

[purerockfury]

Wes,

Check this out: http://www.odysseybatteries.com

The PC 680
A 3" wide dry cell w/ 680cca.

A lotta amps and not much space.

Hope this helps.

 

[lunyou]

^good idea

lunyou

 

[CanSurf]

Cool, thanks. Those are nice and small. I'll see if I can find a dealer in Canada and get some prices.

Thanks!