The NorthStar AGM Battery + Voltage Booster Upgrade

Buy a second gen (aka the best gen).

 

A few have looked at it to try but so far none been successful.

 

Maybe the OVtune dude?

 

I think someone in the thread was reaching out to him to see. Not sure what ever happened with that.

 

I had a 2014 and I loved it. They made me an offer to trade for a 2017 that I just couldn’t turn down. I like the new one even more. It rides a little better, a little quieter, and gets better gas mileage. Although I do miss the ‘14s engine and transmission.

 

You could always switch to a gm one wire

 

Researching a Dual Battery setup for my 2012 TRD Offroad and starting from scratch.

Does anyone have experience with the DC engineering high output alternators?

https://sdhqoffroad.com/collections...tacoma-4-0l-270-amp-xp-high-output-alternator

They list the output voltage at 14.8 but would that still be limited by the Alt S Fuse? Would 270 amps be too high of an output for an AGM battery (charge it too fast)?

 

Those alternators are freakin' expensive, but they look beefy AF and could possibly solve 3rd Gen AGM battery set up problem.

 

That's what I was thinking. One of those paired with two AGM batteries. I have a 2012 though so it sounds like the .5V Voltage booster diode would be enough if I went that route. Still torn on running a smart relay or redarc dc to dc charger. Ive been reasearching this a lot and its one rabbit hole after another! Side note: Who the hell came up with group sizes?? They make absolutely no sense and follow no logical order making it even more confusing to select a battery setup.

 

This thread is a broken record...

My $0.02: Given you have a 2nd gen and can use the 0.5V booster, I wouldn't bother doing anything beyond installing that and getting the extra 0.5 volts. In my mind its all about keeping it nice and simple.

 

I bought the little fuse and it works flawlessly with my 2 Northstar Battery hook up.

 

Lucky you and your 2nd gen, lol. I haven't put in my battery yet because I'm half waiting for a solution and half waiting for my battery to die.

 

2nd Gen FTW

 

I think I will do that with the kit from OGE and two Northstar AGMs then. Just need to pick MLACR or Redarc BCDC.

The previous owner of my truck installed an Autocraft AGM. It doesnt say anywhere on the battery or online; but, assuming an AGM is an AGM, Im going to start off by just adding the voltage booster for the single battery.

 

It was my first time seeing and knowing that there is an alternator that could produce sufficient power to recharge an AGM battery for 3rd Gen trucks.

 

@crashnburn80 I'm going to assume that the heavy duty alternator would work, but would the ECU do some strange things when reading the new alternator levels?

 

That was my only concern for you third gen guys. Would it be somewhat pointless if the ECU is just going to dial it back again. May want to reach out to that company.

 

@SDHQ OFFROAD Can you chime in on this?

 

A bigger alternator doesn't put out more volts, it just puts out more amps. The stock alternator will charge the AGM just fine if you can trick it into providing the correct voltage. The bigger alternator is nice if you're running something like dual or triple AGMs and want the capacity to be able to charge them all at once, while providing enough juice for the truck and all its needs to be met as well.

 

Should really step up cable sizes. Maybe add an additional ground or two. Kinda have to think of it as a system & not just components.