Starting Off on the Right Battery... Literally. (1 Viewer)

[OregonLC]

This has probably been done before, so please excuse if this is a repost of an old idea.

As most of you are aware, there are some great battery tray upgrades available from Slee. The only downside is that the it puts the largest (Group 31) in the starting battery location and the smaller (Group 34) in the aux battery tray. Now the DieHard Platinum Marine Group 34 is no slouch. With an RC of 135 minutes, it's a 35% improvement over a standard DieHard Group 35. However putting the Group 31 into the oversized starting battery is a waste of camping potential. With a RC of 205 it has over 2x the capacity of a Group 35. By switching starting battery locations, you now have a tremendous reserve available for 'hotel' loads.

The solution is extremely simple: pull the starter wire over to the passenger side and run a single 2ga cable back to the main fuse box near the OE battery location. The starter cable comes from the center rear of the engine so pulling it over to the Slee aux tray is a 10 minute task. Just unclip it from the factory brackets and route it along the firewall to the Group 34 in the aux tray.

The only needed items are quality battery cable, cable lugs, battery terminals, wire loom, and zip ties (besides the batteries and trays, obviously). Now I took it step further and installed a BlueSea ML-ACR, 150A breaker/switch, and 12-circuit aux panel. I also bough a Nat'l Luna battery monitor (same that comes with the kit sans controller switch).

I have about 700 miles total on it now (400 off road) and it's rock solid. Fridge has run continuous for over 2 days with only coming down one dot on the battery monitor. Always-on radio feeds (Ham & CB) as well as always-on 12v (USB and Cig Socket).

Pics:

 

[OregonLC]

More pics

 

[SmoothLC]

Great idea!

Thanks for sharing Dennis.

I've got this one to do by the end of the year and this is a great solution.

 

[OregonLC]

One thing I forgot to discuss (an apparently take pictures of) is the routing of the main power feed to the rear. I ran twin marine grade 2ga (one black, one red) from the Group 31 posts directly to the BlueSea fuese panel which is mounted where the OE jack was. The cables are jacketed in loom and route up high along the frame rails where they're protected. At the very end of the body, behind the bumper and below the light, is a 1" x 3" plastic piece that pops out. drill it for the OD of the cables, seal it with silicone, and you have the perfect large-gauge wire pass through. The wires route rearward through the plastic cover and then look up in to an unoccupied cavity in the body and make a gentle arc behind the rear plastic to feed directly into the fuse panel. It is a perfect fit.

One last comment. I bought 2 rolls of 1/16" x 1" felt tape. I used this everywhere. At every body panel seam, around every wire and every loom. Wherever plastic can touch, shimmy, slide, bounce, etc. I've done this for years and even have it where the door panels touch the metal door frame. It makes the truck virtually rattle free (except for cargo).

 

[SanDiegoCruiser]

I've thought about doing that, but decided to just run all accessories off the 31 and then just manually link my T-Max over to the aux battery to start if needed. Same end result, just less work.

Great install!

 

[sdnative]

I was just thinking about getting a group 31 for the secondary location and using a smaller for the primary, not only for the reasons you mention, but also to get that the extra weight from way out front and put it between the wheels. 30 lbs is not insignificant. I will reference your install for when I do mine. Great install!

BTW, how do you like that Yaesu? I am considering the same one next year sometime.

 

[OregonLC]

Yaesu is fabulous. Easy to use, intuitive menus, great range, great UI. Ham Radio Outlet if you're looking for one.

I debated a lot between the Icom, Kenwood, and Yeasu and the FTM-400 had the best value/features.