Dual battery for 15 Tacoma

Did you just buy a generic tray or build a tray for the location?

 

I'll weigh in since I was tagged earlier. Sorry, but I have been swamped trying to get my bearings shipped, and the electrical kits from the GB built and shipped.

There is little proven support to show that the crack in the fender is due to excessive weight of the battery. Ive done a little research on this. For one, insurance companies and the DOT are constantly filtering through repair situations to see if there is a commonality. If it were true that a stock battery could cause a crack like that in a body panel, then Toyota would be forced to issue a safety recall since ANYTHING related to a battery issue would be considered a safety item. I would like to see some documented tests proving that it was the weight of the battery, combined with the design of the sheet metal that caused this. There are million of other small trucks and cars built with the same thickness of metal, and similar battery support locations, and you don't see this cracking of a fender issue. I honestly would think that cracks like those in the fender areas would be due to other issues. a 50 pound battery is not going to cause that if it is properly secured and held down (No ,the optima is not 70 pounds). Now if it were loose and bouncing around, then I could maybe see this, but that would be owner issue there. I wheel my truck HARD and neither of my batteries has caused any kind of an issue being located under the hood. I have several customers who run my dual battery system in racing pre-runners and have never had a problem either. And these guys RACE their trucks.

Now what I would say is the most probably cause for the cracks, as my research has shown, is actually due to body flex with the frame twisting on normal, and heavy off road traveling. What happens is as the frame twists (which is normal) the cab mounts "pull" in slightly different directions, which results in stretching of panels. Since metal does not typically stretch, the end result is a tear in the sheet metal, which is exactly what it looks like in the photos posted earlier. It looks more like a tear, not a "stress crack".


Now on to the dual battery systems themselves. I am personally not a fan of the IBS and other solenoid based dual battery systems. Why? Well, for one they are automated (computer controlled) this they are prone to the same electrical issues as other electronic devices. The second, and the biggest reason I don't care for them, is that they are not a TRUE isolation system. They simply use a solenoid to connect the second battery in parallel with the primary. The only way to have a true isolation system is with a solid state charging isolator, which is just how most marine systems are. My systems use a true isolator. That is really the best way to go when setting up dual batteries.

 

Hey guys Im thinking about putting a dual battery set up in my 15 as well. I was just wondering at what point do you really need to go with a dual battery. I like the idea of having a cranking battery and a deep cycle for lights and such when camping just not totally sure if i really need it. Also at what point do you need to start thinking of a larger alternator?

 

The "when" is really determined by the amount of accessories you plan to install and what individual electrical demands they require. While you may not need a dual battery setup for say just one extra light, that doesn't mean you won't want to add something later. Depending on how you use your truck too. If you plan on going camping say for a few days. Leaving one light on may drain your battery and you may not have a backup, or have the ability to get a jump if you're by yourself. Having the dual will give you a backup at the very least.

 

I'm down to be a tester as well I'll PM you now

 

Right. So I have a 20" rigid bar and a couple floods on the way and I plan on some point to add a 50" on the roof as wellll some smaller rear facing camp lights. I work on fishing boats and we will usually have one battery bank with cranking battery's and one bank set up with deep cycle for our "house" battery's. I was thinking of basically doing this same set up for my truck with a marine switch so when the truck is off and I need lights or power I could just have it switched to the deep cycle and leave my cranking battery alone for starting.

 

I got a lot of info from this thread.

 

I have the IBS installed, and have put my second battery behind the left rear seat after removing the plastic storage tray. All the wiring is temporary, shortly I plan on:

-Making my own battery cables, using 1GA for main batt to house batt positive and ground wiring
-Using 4GA for wiring a circuit breaker, fuse block, and shunt for monitoring voltage and amp draw from the fuse block
-Using the holes provided on the back wall of the cab to mount a sheet of acrylic or wood to mount my fuse block and associated wiring on
-Trimming all the IBS system wires to size and properly crimping and sealing them now that I have test fired everything
-Upgrading my main battery wiring with a setup from BamaToy1997
-Still working on a way to secure the Odyssey to the back wall of the cab

I have almost everything I need on order, will post my progress.

 

Most school buses run dual (or sometimes even 3,) battery systems.

 

Nice - I am about to add a dual battery to mine with the IBS, I've decided I am going the same route as you and putting the battery in the cab, most of the electronics are in the cab or are out to the back of the truck so having it all inside made sense to me.

Did you ground your second battery to the frame and if so where did you penetrate through?

I also see you decided on placing the monitor under the lid, were you going to run the wires inside the console body?

 

Yea the second battery and fuse block in the cab made sense to me as well. Especially since I have some additional lights to add to the roof and shell soon.

Currently I have my aux battery grounded back to the body ground right next to the main battery, running right next to my positive wire to the aid battery, which I don't consider ideal or long term. I am working on a big 3 wiring harness upgrade and maybe once I get a multimeter on everything post-install I'll ground loads to that.

I am going to get an a bolt welded to the frame under the back of the cab for more grounding options, I don't like a ground that long. There are some rubber plugs on the back wall and back corners of the cab for running wire through.

There was a hole already in the console for me to run my monitor wiring through, with the wiring going from under the center console to under the drivers seat, then hid under the foot paneling for the left doors. The firewall wiring plug has plenty of room for feeding your wiring through to the engine bay.

 

did you ever come up with a tray for that area?

 

old thread but did you have anything to mount that battery or did you just place it in? I have a battery box I could use to assist with mounting it there but I just don't want it jumping up when the truck is in rough terrain.

 

I busy building this same setup. I have the battery in a battery tray and still working out how to fasten it down. Regarding grounds there is a harness ground point on the top side of the frame in the middle on the passenger side. I will likely go there. But has anyone found a shorter ground or something in the cab??

 

Here’s my experience with dual battery installs.

Post #1 - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/arrowshots-build.301096/page-3#post-8235464

Post #2 - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/arrowshots-build.301096/page-3#post-9206634

Part #3 - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/arrowshots-build.301096/page-8#post-22809645

Part #4 - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/arrowshots-build.301096/page-8#post-23146285

Comments:

1. I really like my IBS controller. Have had no issues with it whatsoever. Do agree with Bill’s comments though.

2. Never saw any issues with radiator support developing any structural damage and I do wheel hard (sometimes unintentionally).

3. Also did the Big Three install.

3. Think I get parasitic leach from the long runs of cable. Batteries have died fairly quickly when leaving auxiliary switch on for the night or playing music. I also installed a Dasaita head unit and although never ran any tests it is probably a real power hog. Probably will move primary battery back to front and auxiliary/relays (ton of those) behind rear passenger seat. Will use storage box in back for occasional runs into Mexico.

 

I'd never have both batteries in the stock location for this reason ... but there are other alternatives.

 

It's a great looking solution, no doubt about that, but it is also a great way to destroy your wheel wells and firewall much sooner as well.

If you take a look at the FJ cruisers they would crack right in the middle of the wheel wells and they would also get stress cracks in the firewall as well. This would duplicate that eventually.