Off-Grid Engineering Dual Battery System Q&A

OFF-GRID ENGINEERING NO LONGER CHECKS TACOMAWORLD. WE VERY MUCH APPRECIATE ALL OF THE SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY HERE. YOU, THE MEMBERS OF THIS SITE, ARE A HUGE PART OF OUR SUCCESS. PLEASE EMAIL INFO@************** WITH ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ABOUT OUR PRODUCTS.


Since the last thread posted about our systems is almost a year old and the products and company have evolved immensely since then, I thought I would open up another discussion pertaining to our battery systems and other power products.

While the old group buy thread (available for your viewing pleasure here) has a ton of good info, it also has a lot of old info.

I also thought this would be a great place to drop off the installation diagram for our most popular kit. I get asked for it A LOT. So, this may be a convenient spot for it to be stored for reference.



Here is a clear view without the instructions on top.



For the space conscious. We also offer a "side-by-side" kit.

 

I was posting the FAQ's on this page but its tough to maintain them in two spots. For the most up to date version of our dual battery FAQ's, check here:

https://www.**************/pages/faqs

 

Sub'd

 

in the location of the second battery tray - 2015 offroad have a little device there.. like a small rectangular whatcha-macallit..

how is that relocated?

 

Ah yes, the whatcha-macallit. Toyota calls it a "fuel resistor" and the OGE auxiliary tray has a convenient new mounting location built right in. The "fuel resistor" is unbolted from the fender, swiveled 90 degrees and reinstalled on the back of the new tray. No modification to the wiring is required.

 

What benifit do you get by moving one battery to the passenger side? Just better weight distribution? Or is there more to it? With the price difference between the two kits, placing both batteries on one side is quite appealing. Plus you can retain that passenger side area for a compressor. P

 

for us second gen guys, if you have the two batteries in the stock battery location, you have to remove one battery to get to your oil filter..

 

Ooh that would suck.

I'm fully planning on getting a kit, just debating on which way to go.

I emailed asking about a kit without trays to keep the cost down a bit. But always wondered about just going with the two dirver side batteries and callling it a day.

 

Valid question. The "split kit", as I like to call it, definitely provides better weight distribution as major advantage. The Tacoma already suffers from chronic "driver's side lean" and adding an additional 40-70 lb battery does not help. The split kit also allows the installation of much higher quality, higher amp/hour batteries because of the weight distribution. For example: Placing two Odyssey PC1400 batteries side by side would be approximately 115 lbs of battery on one fender... which, in extreme circumstances can lead to sheet metal fatigue. For this reason, we always recommend Optima batteries for side by side installation. They only weigh 35 lbs a piece and are lower profile. However, this sacrifices 34 amp/hours between the two batteries.

Ok. We've beat weight distribution to death. Why else is the split kit better? It is 100% bolt in. No cutting, splicing, crimping, drilling, or permanent modification to the truck is required, whatsoever. The side-by-side kit requires lengthening of the factory cables and drilling.

All that aside, you are correct. If you need the additional space on the passenger fender, then you can't go wrong with the space-saving, cheaper option, side-by-side kit.

 

Can you provide a simpler management setup without the in-cab switch or can the ML-ACR be used without that?

 

You are correct... partially. With careful placement of our tray before mounting, and our recommendation of the lower profile Optima D35 batteries, the oil filter is still very accessible. If you were to choose bulkier batteries, access could be compromised.

I would love to hear someone chime in that has installed one of our side-by-side trays for their opinion.

 

Absolutely. The ML-ACR can be wired for permanent automatic mode. You won't lose any of the functionality either. Since the 7622 ML-ACR has a manual override feature built right in to the unit itself, all you'd have to do is pop the hood and press the yellow button for self jump starting or other high amp situations, such as winching. This built in button has all the same features of the little red switch.

 

Perfect. I'm sold on the split setup. I'll email you again once I recover from. Christmas and the group buys @ramonortiz55 keeps draining my wallet with.

I see you posted an answer already to this, but how does this affect cost. I've wondered this too since I get sick of touring cables into the cab. Outside of running a winch cable (which hopefully is rare) I don't care what the batteries are doing and would like it to be as simple as possible. I.e. run accessories from the second battery and only starting from the first battery outside of that I don't car.

 

Hahaha. @ramonortiz55 has a reputation for doing that around here.


I can definitely appreciate the simplicity of a fully automatic system. There is no better relay on the market for this application either. The ML-ACR is dual voltage sensing and fully capable of handling the battery management without input from the user.

Id be happy to knock 50 bucks off the price of an entire system for wiring the ACR without a switch. It would save us 30-45 minutes of labor, so I think thats fair.

 

Any downsides to not adding that switch?

 

The in-cab switch provides the ability to manually link and unlink the batteries or place the system in automatic mode without have to pop the hood and get out of the vehicle. All of those features ARE available by accessing the relay though. The one feature you miss by not having the switch is the LED's that indicate whether the batteries are linked or unlinked.

 

Sub'd

 

Thanks.
I'll be installing my winch next weekend. If I can access the winch without opening the hood I'll do the extra switch. If not and I have to open the hood to switch the winch then I'll skip it.

Thanks again!

 

Sub....Looking to do a battery relocation to bed like @deeezy who got products from you! Great workmanship!