Second battery location: OEM battery box worth it?

[gummycarbs]

I'm looking into a second battery and I'm wondering about location. Most installations use the OEM battery box on the passenger (USA, right) side. A few look like they mount the battery near the firewall.

The OEM battery box looks very nice, but does it really have any tangible benefits? I imagine that it lowers temperatures for the battery, but every other vehicle I've had simply has the battery unprotected in the engine compartment, and those batteries lasted plenty long. Also, it looks like the battery box went away on the 100-series.

Is there any meaningful reason that I should buy a right-side OEM battery box versus just making a platform that holds the battery nearer to the firewall?

 

[greentruck]

The OEM battery box just bolts right in. Cost was very reasonable when I bought mine. No way was I going to have such a neat install fabbing my own stuff to fit the tight space.

 

[inkpot]

Look in the Mud Classifieds for someone parting out an early cruiser and buy a used box. Cheaper and faster than trying to fab up a box that will fit on an uneven part of the inner fender. I would never waste my time trying to fab one up.

 

[nukegoat]

I fabbed my own battery box. It was annoying

 

[LFD2037]

Coming from a thrifty bastard that thinks everything is overpriced, it's worth it!

 

[cme4lyt]

Why would you want to reinvent something that's already been invented ? It's a factory part, Toyota quality, fits, works and isn't that much money !

 

[gummycarbs]

Okay, I misnamed the thread.

I'm not asking if it's worth the money. The price is low and irrelevant. I'm asking if the location and design (i.e. enclosed with a gasket at the top) has any tangible benefit.

Given that it appears that Toyota stopped doing this after the 80 series, I'm inclined to think that it's a holdover from the days of inferior battery tech, or something along those lines.

 

[LINUS]

Tangible benefits or not, it gives you a place to hang relays, fuseblocks, battery switching gear, etc.

For the $$, just step up. It'll be chump change compared to your dual battery switching setup.

 

[george_tlc]

Okay, I misnamed the thread.

I'm not asking if it's worth the money. The price is low and irrelevant. I'm asking if the location and design (i.e. enclosed with a gasket at the top) has any tangible benefit.

Given that it appears that Toyota stopped doing this after the 80 series, I'm inclined to think that it's a holdover from the days of inferior battery tech, or something along those lines.

The only holdover is that it is from an era where a vehicle manufacturer spent more money on making a quality/reliable vehicle versus using the $ to add the latest apple/android BT connectivity bs.

The enclosed tray is a great idea and is nice if you have standard inexpensive wet cells - any leak is trapped from dissolving your nice metal inner fenders etc.

All the mount points are there and well proven to contain a heavy battery long term on rough roads mile after mile.

cheers,
george.

 

[LS1FJ40]

The tangible benefit to me is that it looks "right". It looks factory (because it is).

 

[RFB]

oem box is mint, buy it put it in, move on.

 

[gummycarbs]

The only holdover is that it is from an era where a vehicle manufacturer spent more money on making a quality/reliable vehicle versus using the $ to add the latest apple/android BT connectivity bs.

The 70 series doesn't appear to have had one, and it's probably the most rugged and utilitarian LC variant ever built. It also predates Bluetooth.

 

[george_tlc]

Yeah, but the 80 series is/was the pinnacle of land cruiser development.

cheers,
george.

 

[gummycarbs]

Yeah, but the 80 series is/was the pinnacle of land cruiser development.

The 70 series is still in production and has seen continuous development.

 

[george_tlc]

Yeah, mate has one (the V8 TDI). Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. Nice engine UNTIL you have to do ANY work on it - the engine bay is horrific. We complain about a PHH etc - try and get to anything in that engine bay - have fun with the fan belts for just one example.

The old 70 series was something you could actually work on (his original 70 had the 1fz coilpack motor). The 70 series also (until the V8 TDI version) had a pointy snout - no place to mount batteries on the left/right of the radiator as per the 80 series). The TDI has so much crap under the hood that there's no place to comfortably stick a battery, it has to sit sideways behind the airfilter canister.

Some decisions on how/where a battery mounts (or two) is dictated by the engine configuration and the body shape. With the 80 we are lucky that there's a perfect spot (a pair of them) to put the batteries.

Regardless, choose how you wish to mount your battery, your vehicle your money.

cheers,
george.

 

[LINUS]

Sounds like you're mind is already made up there, @gummycarbs .

Clearly it's a useless piece of plastic that only serves to get in your way.

 

[gummycarbs]

Sounds like you're mind is already made up there, @gummycarbs .

Clearly it's a useless piece of plastic that only serves to get in your way.

No need to get catty. I'm asking for tangible benefits and getting a lot of opinions, cult-of-80-series, mentions of affordability, and hardly any objective facts.

 

[Rwhat]

I'm going to use my daughters college fund to get a 70 series troopie. I haven't told the wife yet.

 

[LINUS]

No need to get catty. I'm asking for tangible benefits and getting a lot of opinions, cult-of-80-series, mentions of affordability, and hardly any objective facts.

Not catty, you by the responses given just seem to have a pre-conceived notion based on previous domestic vehicle ownership & a 'good enough' mentality.

The fact it seals from the engine compartment & Toyota took the time to gasket it, probably means it's semi-effective at sealing out heat.

We all know heat kills batteries, they just show it in winter when those CCA's are needed but no longer there thanks to baking it.

It's why we get ~7 yrs from top tier batteries here that in the sunbelt would be a 5 yr battery.

I've no vested interest in your battery. If you're going to all the trouble of a dual battery setup, I would pay the $$$ for whatever protection that sealed box gives.

That's all I have to say about that. (Goes back to my box of chocolates)

 

[NLXTACY]

The OEM box is beneficial for a few reasons as mentioned but another reason is protection from a broken belt. Broken belts have sliced through radiator hoses so it's not out of the realm of possibility that it could slice through the side of a battery.