Any passenger mount dual battery issues?

I'm looking to convert my 12v set up in the back to a dual battery set up in the next year and I've been looking at mounting the secondary battery in the passenger side engine bay location due to the structural issues people have been running into putting the batteries side by side. For anyone who is using this mounting location, what if any issues have you had with this set up structurally or otherwise? Would you do the same again or would you put the battery behind the passenger seat or bed if you had to do it over again?

 

There’s a gosh darn ABS system in the way, but that’s a 4cyl issue, I assume you have the v6. Where’s your current 12v system living? I’ve been idly brainstorming a set up in the rear of my accesscab.

 

2nd gen here. No major issues over the past few years. It does take up a lot of space though.

Looking back at it, I think I would try to find a different solution, mostly for weight distribution. Likely in the cab behind the rear seat with an appropriate type battery. But, that is more wiring so I suppose its a trade off.

 

It's detached in the bed of the truck directly behind my fridge slide. I currently power it with a 300W solar panel when parked but for longer driving days when it's hot it would be nice to have something to maintain the charge a little more reliably. I was thinking about routing the wiring through the panel where the inverter is located but then I would need some sort of quick disconnect option when I remove the camping platform I built in the back to mount the battery and fridge to.

I was thinking about buying a cheap noco 5amp charger to connect to the inverter just as a stop gap for my next trip but it would definitely not be something I would want to do long term.

 

I do like the behind the seat idea but the additional wiring/losing that space would kind of be a bummer.

 

Another question I had is for people with the towing package, is the alternator big enough or do I need to look at upgrading it?

 

Should be totally fine stock. One thing you might want to look into (if you havent already) is the charging voltage.

If decide to go with AGM batteries for example, they like a bit more float voltage to stay happy. The 2nd gen trucks could install a simple booster in the fusebox that would bump the ALT output up an additional 0.5 volts. But 3rd gens are electronically controlled now. A few vendors figured out how to modify voltage via tuning though. There are threads on here somewhere that go into that

 

I did this and I love it! Almost twice as much AH's as most set-ups that people commonly do. This is a Victron 12v 115ah AGM Telecom battery.

 

Good points, but it's the bulk voltage is what you gotta worry about. AGM's need 14.4-14.8 bulk charge to really bring them up. I think my AGM normally floats at 13.8. Also, great solution for the secondary battery to effectively charge while driving is to use a DC-DC charge controller.

 

You don't happen to have any shots of how you ran the wiring do you? I'm starting to lean towards this as the best option for what I'm doing and I'm curious what kind of time commitment I'd be looking at.

 

I'm planning on getting a dc-dc charger but I don't want to sink any more money into anything before I decide where I'm going to mount the second battery. Right now I'm thinking about moving the stock battery to the passenger side and putting the second battery behind the seats.

 

FYI for dual battery you’ll want them to both be the same battery size and model so they charge properly. You should replace your stock battery when going dual.

 

That's part of the reason I want to move the main battery to the passenger side. The front core support issues are a bit worrisome.

 

No issues here. So far really liking the additional battery setup.

 

Is this true with a dc to dc charger in the setup? It seems like I’ve seen a lot of setups where they’re running lithium ion for the aux battery with a redarc dual input charger to power from the engine battery while running or a solar panel and I assume they still have an AGM for the engine battery.

 

No, this is not true. If you are using a charge controller, it will boost/ charge the secondary battery appropriately based on the charge profile that you select, ie: Lead acid, AGM, Lithium.

 

I ran a common ground (from the starting battery) and the positive from the starter battery under the truck, along the frame rail and into the back of the cab as pictured (4awg, 12ft, with protective sleeve). One hole to the cab already existed and the other I drilled and I used waterproof grommets. I also ran an accessory positive from the secondary battery to a bus bar under the hood to power my existing camping/off-roading accessories (Air compressor and 360 lighting). That is the wire pictured running along the interior trim (also drilled a hole through the firewall and used a waterproof grommet).

 

Looks great! Thanks for taking the time to post that.

 

Looks good. Is that the OGE kit? It looks like it but I'm on mobile so I'm not sure. How hard was the passenger side install?