dual battery setup? anyone have one or know how to do this?

[MrJames]

Gary

Two batteries in one place under the hood sounds outstanding. This setup would allow for a great starting backup battery with little wiring required.

Would this also be a good place if most of the draw from the second battery was from loads (TV, DVD, etc..) in the rear of the vehicle ?

[97CargoCrawler]

Can a battery be charged straight from a lighter receptacle. A clamp to either wire from the receptacle, one to the positive and one to the negative. Or am I asking for trouble?

Edit: Nevermind, this just shows why I get the voltage surprise all the time, right?

If it was a trickle charger I don't see the harm. Anything supplying say less than 2 amps of current should be OK and not get the wiring too warm.

I have used one of those helper gel cells in the lighter socket on a different van when the battery was too low to crank. It didn't work.

Just curious, does one use a fuse when running thick cable back to a rear mounted battery or inverter? Sounds extremely dangerous without one. If I had a battery in back I think I would have a fuse coming off the alternator before the firewall and one in back close to the battery.

[MrJames]

To me a fuse(s) is a MUST. In a front to rear alternator to battery run I would have a fuse as close to both the battery and the alternator. Cheap cost for most protection.

[MountainManJoe]

I think if your setup is solid and all the wires are well protected, the possibility of a short is extremely low. After all, not everything in the factory wiring is fused either. However, there is always human error and I know I have blonde moments, so I think putting in an ANL fuse or fusible link is worth the extra few bucks. It's probably best to put it as close to power sources (alternator, battery, solar panel etc.) as possible.

[MountainManJoe]

What is the largest battery you can fit in the OEM tray? Anybody know?

[1Gary]

Come on guys.Just take two batteries and put them on a bench to build/weld a dual angle iron battery tray.Then weld that into the van.What is soooooooooo hard about that??.Do I have to do that now when I am not ready yet??.I mean seriously.Do I??.Gezzzz!!!. ](*,)

[MountainManJoe]

Man I don't like to repeat myself,but dang it sure is hard to get you guys to listen sometimes.Look I measured and two batteries will fit in the original location by turning them side ways and build a battery tray out of angle iron.I am not where I am ready to do it yet on Ole Yellar,but that is what I am going to do.It doesn't get much simpler than that. #-o Listen and you will learn huh!!!. ](*,)

Come on guys.Just take two batteries and put them on a bench to build/weld a dual angle iron battery tray.Then weld that into the van.What is soooooooooo hard about that??.Do I have to do that now when I am not ready yet??.I mean seriously.Do I??.Gezzzz!!!. ](*,)

Not only does that not answer my question, but you sound like a broken record.

[1Gary]

Hell I don't have the sizes here.There at the shop. ](*,)

[1Gary]

I gotta build it first???.Really??.I mean really??. #-o

[97CargoCrawler]

I think the dual batt tray sounds nice. However, I have a very difficult time trying to get a single battery into that tight little pocket. How the heck are you gonna get two in there? Maybe the older vans have more space?

[LiftedAWDAstro]

I agree. The stock batter has to be wedged in there. When I was building the hydraulic system on the SPB, I tried to fit a small tank in that spot and could not without removing the fuse block, ECM and battery try.

Gary...there is less room in the 95+ vans than the older ones.

[sandfly]

Before I took the van off the road to sell, i was going to put a metal batt. box into the floor behind the drivers seat where the rear heater was..just cut out the size drop in and either weld or screw(with caulk) to floor. add a 50 amp circuit breaker coming off the alt. splitter in the hot line. from there you can run all your wiring along frame to whatever you need it for. you have to split the hot off of alt. so you don't run down the front batt. I used a 165 amp alt. with a 200 amp splitter. with the original batt. behind the seat in a plastic box..

[krsowles]

Hold on, I thought I heard something...Nevermind. Thought I heard Gary. I have a 91, Gary and was going to boost my ground straps as I've seen posted here and wanted a dual battery set-up. I also thought, once upon a time, I was fairly clever but had not thought of turning them sideways in factory location. I'm sure you just saved me a lot of time, money and frustration! Thanks, Kelly