Bed battery relocation

I plan to U bolt it around a crossmember below the bed for strength. I saw the tool box and it looked good just doesn't fit my application. Did you use plastic covers?

 

Haha or unbolt the whole box and throw it out when I replace it

 

Yes I did use the plastic battery boxes.

 

Ok thanks, think I just came up with a design I like, thanks for the help guys

 

One of the best reasons to relocate a battery out of the engine compartment to take it away from the high under hood heat so the battery will have a longer service life. Heat kills batteries and cold reduces their performance. If you use an AGM VRLA battery, you can securely mount it (or a couple in parallel) on it's side and possibly under or behind a seat inside the cab. If you do a lot of off-roading with high vibration, a spiral wound AGM battery will typically outlast a non-solid flat plate battery. Like OEM, I would recommend using flexible plastic conduit or wire loom to run the positive cables to your fuse box, alternator and starter solenoid. When running the conduit through a metal hole, always use a grommet. This is to prevent a fire or battery explosion if the positive cable shorts to the negative (aka ground) metal frame, cab or firewall. I would size the cables at least 150% of the maximum current for safety and lower voltage loss.

For more information on batteries, please see Section 7 in the Car and Deep Cycle Battery FAQ on www.batteryfaq.org.

 

Like mentioned before I would consider holding off on the battery relocation until you figure out your rear LT plans. Might have to redo some work if you are putting a bed cage in.

 

I had mine in my toolbox for a long while, now its behind the bedside. See my build
No need to put it in a waterproof box. Save your pennies

 

Thanks tostidos for chiming In, I follow your build and respect your opinion, I will prob wait on it and I'm ditching the waterproof box idea too

 

Your setup is exactly what I want but I need to make a shield at least because I have glass bedsides and no inside well coverage

 

Jesus, that's so gnarly! Yeah def don't want to do that! And thanks! It's a work in progress at all times

 

Probably not the setup you are looking for (this is more for expo/camping), but I put my second battery in the cab (in the cab could still an option for you)

Used a national Luna power pack with an odyssey 31m. I run the same battery in the stock location.



The NL power pack has all the dual charge controls built in. And best part is its portable so it's easily removed and used in other vehicles.

I ran the wires along the frame rail and up through and existing grommet.

 

That looks really good man, I like the setup and would run duals in the cab but I just don't have enough room being a single cab truck

 

ah - i missed that part (single cab) - seems the best route would be to get a nice mount for the bed and run the wire back there. Boxing it would be optional IMO - its good to keep it clean but could puddle up if you are in the rain a lot, although this could be solved with drain holes drilled in the bottom.

This would be very easy - run the wires the same way I did along the frame rail, then just drill a small hole in the bed for the cables to come up from the bottom and you'd be set.

 

Yeah I'm going to use some ruff stuff mounts into my bedcage I think

 

Where did you order the National Luna gear? Interesting company in reviewing their website.

 

http://store.adventuretrailers.com/products/Portable-Power-Pack.html

 

Self made tray and clamp. Harbor freight disconnect switch.

 

That's a good looking set up!

 

bumpppp. Paging tacokid09...tacokid09

Im now tinkering around with the idea of relocating my battery to the bed as well. With it in the stock location its just tearing apart my core support which ive fixed once before due to this same issue...

Ive already bought 25ft of 1/0 welding cable, now I just need to swing by a stereo shop and pickup a few 0 gauge ring terminals, and a distribution block. oh and I need to build some sort of battery tray as well.


Sooo Ive got a basic understanding of everything except one small thing..... What the hell do i do with the ground that came off the battery




secondly this write up lost me around step/picture 5 specificly the bold print, since my battery is going to be grounded to the frame somewhere behind the cab I need to add another ground somewhere between the engine and frame now?


"
Now its time to replace those wussy ass stock ground wires with some good cable. There are two main grounds that you will need to replace/ relocate. Since your battery is now grounded to the frame you need to ground the engine to the frame as well. The first ground that you need to replace is on the left side of the back of the engine (V-6) "

 

You might want to use a vented battery box to prevent electrical shorts, damage or theft.