Dual Battery set up, Offgrid-engineering, Adventure Ready or ???

Good morning TW,

As I'm going through the ordering process for my new adventure build I decided my electrical requirements present and future will likely be better served with dual batteries. I have found two options that are "off the shelf" they are as follows.

https://www.**************/collecti...products/2nd-3rd-gen-toyota-tacoma-wiring-kit

This one from offgrid engineer which is $850 w/out batteries... Yikes

or

https://adventure-ready.com/store/toyota-tacoma-dual-battery-kit-remote/

From adventure-ready in Seattle. $775 w/out batteries (slightly smaller Yikes)

Both use the same trays which to be honest is the BULK of the cost of these things so while building it myself is certainly an option I'm looking at a huge cost to buy the components anyway so I might just buy the kit and be done with it. One of these uses BlueSea equipment the other RedArc, is there an advantage to either one?

My thought is I'm going to retain the stock battery location for an upgraded AGM that will still only serve the truck, and the second battery *hopefully* a slightly larger deep cycle will be run directly to a switch-pro and than everything thing else will go off of there. This will allow me to keep a basically stock electrical system which is electronically isolated from all the other things (lights, fridge, charging devices)

I'd also like pick your brains about the possibility of an onboard charger, for a place like Overland Expo where my truck may sit for a few days I can run my 2000i Honda and keep things topped off?

I'm also looking for advice on batteries, I've had good luck with Duracell AGM batteries and as I've mentioned in other posts I like being able to warranty a battery nearly anywhere in this country. I realize Trojans and a few other higher end batteries are better but when one fails it's nice to have options.

I also like Adventure-Ready as a company as they seem active and innovative in the Overlanding industry and I appreciate a business that does that. Thank you in advance all knowing Tacoma World and if there is another option I'm not seeing please let me know. Oh and I am set on a "split" system for weight distribution over to the passenger side and better durability to my poor fender.

This is going on a 2017 DCSB Off-road AUTO.

-YOTA

 

I would give Adventure Ready a call - I believe they recommend a different RedArc product now.

That being said, my truck is currently in their shop and they do beautiful work.

 

Awesome that's just the kind of feedback I need. They do seem like they're the leader in Adventure truck electronics, but I don't want to miss something else obvious. You're obviously very familiar with their work, you'd say it's all top notch I'd guess? Thank you again.

 

Can't speak on the adventure one
But I have the oge kit and it's solid

And from what I can see the adventure ready one is using oge battery tray lol.

I also prefer the placement of the oge isolator

 

While my truck isn't at Adventure Ready, I highly recommend them. They are extremely knowledgeable and skilled when it comes to truck electronics. Not to mention just good people. When I start buying/installing stuff on the rig, my $ is going to Adventure Ready.

 

http://www.genesisoffroad.com/TacomaDualBatteryKit-p/172-ttdbk.htm

This company just started making a dual setup for our tacoma.

 

Thanks so much for the feedback so far as well as the additional source. Adventure ready does seem solid but i might as well exhaust all options first. TY

 

I do have a DCOR so i was thinking the split system, though it’s quite a bit more expensive. Seems like a good option. How is everyone running there splits? All your accessories off the spare? Leave the main battery for starting? Or is everything hooked up to one battery and you allow the smart solenoid to do the splitting and charging? Thanks.

 

lemme know if you find a reasonably priced batter bracket/mount for the passenger side split setup...ive already bought all the components, just havent figured out how im gonna mount it. might end up having to make my own

 

Our kit uses the Cole Hersee smart isolator. It is designed to protect your cranking battery from being drained by your accessories. When it sees your cranking battery above 13.2v for 2 minutes, it will automatically link them together so the aux battery can be charged. They stay connected together, giving you the combined capacity of both batteries to run everything, until they drop down below 12.7v for 1 minute. Then it will automatically separate the batteries, and all the accessories that you have connected to our built-in power & ground bus bars will continue running from the second battery, and not drain your cranking battery. Then we take it a step further. If for some reason your cranking battery gets drained too low to start the engine, you can press the boost button to manually reconnect the batteries to jump start yourself from the second battery. Our kit comes all completely pre-wired out of the box, so there's no wiring for you to do at all. I know some people are concerned about the extra weight on that side, but the incremental weight is only about 50 pounds, and our battery tray is designed to spread that weight out over a larger area. By keeping the batteries together in one tray, it simplifies the installation process, reduces complexity, and leaves the area over on the passenger side available for other stuff like an air compressor or whatever else you may need. Our kit uses Group 34 size batteries, and we use the factory post clamps so it's completely reversible if you ever need to put it back to stock.

Best of all, our kit is only $519, and we keep these in stock for immediate shipping!

Here's a link to our detailed installation video on our youtube channel, and some more pictures. If you have any questions, feel free to call me - I'm Shane Smith, the owner of Genesis Offroad - 901-214-5337 or email info@genesisoffroad.com. More details on our website, www.genesisoffroad.com

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to post @genesisoffroad your system does look very nice and well thought out. I like the idea of quick shipping and about $300 in savings as well. Haven't fully committed yet but I truly appreciate the time you took

 

You're certainly very welcome!

 

Is the manual override to jump start yourself in the cab or under the hood? As I understand it the OGE setup automatically switches to jump start your battery if it's too low to crank which is a nice feature, but likely not mandatory for my needs.

 

Any plans for a split dual battery kit?

 

Excellent question! Our kit has a boost button built into the kit under the hood. Here's a picture showing it better.



So if you get in and try to start the engine and find the cranking battery is dead, you can hop out and pop the hood and press the boost button one time, and that gives you about 1 minute to start the engine before it automatically separates them again. You can also use the boost feature from inside the cab if you have our G Screen monitoring system. This is a 1" lcd screen that you can put inside that will show you the voltage on each battery, and it tells you if the isolator has the batteries connected (Boost On, green backlight) or if they're isolated (Boost Off, yellow backlight). From the Boost Off screen, you can hold that screen down for 3 seconds to trigger that boost feature without getting out of your seat!

 

Holy megapixels! Sorry I thought those were going to post as thumbnails!

 

Not right now, but it just depends on what the customers want. If we did a 'split' system, it would look very similar to our universal single battery kit, which lets you remotely mount a second battery with all the same components, just squished down to fit on top of one battery. But to be honest, right now we are working furiously to get our new 4Runner and Tundra kits launched, so a Tacoma-specific remote mount tray isn't on our short-term schedule.

In addition, our #1 design goal is to make it as easy as possible to install while giving you as many features as possible. A 'split' installation would add to the complexity and cost (2 battery trays and a lot more wire), for what is, in my personal opinion, not enough of a benefit to justify it.

 

This is all good info! Subbed as this mod is in my future!

 

I have the dual battery setup from Off Grid Engineering. This kit is SOLID. All the items included are extremely high quality.
Would highly recommend them. As for the other options I can't speak to them, but lots of companies make great kits.

 

Thanks for the swift reply. BTW your install video was very good.