where did u ground your second battery (1 Viewer)

[lx450landcruiser]

simple as that wheres a good place to ground the second battery? theres plenty of places on the body but i would imagine the frame is that best place but where do i bolt it?

thanks mike

 

[RavenTai]

one place is the neg post of your main battery, a solid connection to the engine would work also

I would not ground to the body or frame, if you ever used the second battery to for starting the engine, the starter grounds to the block, if there is not path directly to the neg post from the block it would have to travel the engines ground strap witch is ushually to the body, the engine is mounted in rubber witch may or may not include a ground path, if you grounded your battery to the frame then it now has to find a path to the frame from the body, as the body is often also mounted in rubber to the frame, the engines grounding strap is usually not made to carry starter current neither are other body grounding points witch are built to carry smaller electrical loads like lights and window motors

but I have not looked closely at the 80's wiring yet so consider this just an educated guess from experience with other auto's

 

[Rich]

You should ground the second battery to the same point on the engine where the primary battery ground cable does. Use the same size or larger cable as the primary battery does. You should use a larger cable than stock if the length of the cable is going to be a lot longer than stock. A second alternative is to use a cable clamp on the primary battery that can accomadate two cables (original cable plus ground from second battery).

A body only ground is not sufficient if your second battery is going to be supplying starting current.

Rich

 

[ParadiseCruiser]

>> You should ground the second battery to the same point on the engine where the primary battery ground cable does.

Agreed. Actually, the late 80s (and LX's?) ground the primary battery both on the engine (large cable) and on the body (fender apron). I ground my aux battery in both places as well.

>> Use the same size or larger cable as the primary battery does.

Also agreed, though I would definately go larger by at least one gauge with both cables. There are many places in the wiring on a Cruiser that could stand an upgrade of wire size, especially an aux battery if you are going to have a winch or other high current accessories on board.

Cheers, R -

 

[Landpimp]

I prefer 1/0 welding cable for battery and winch cables, its cheap(under a buck a foot) and flexible. I ground my batteries to the frame.

 

[Junk]

We're supposed to ground them? ??? I thought they were not supposed to touch the ground if they were in the battery tray.

Seriously - definitely use welding cable. As Pimpo says, cheap and flexible. Have my second batt grounded same manner as the primary, just on other side.