Dual Batteries in a '00

[Jefe]

When I first bought my Optima it was interesting to see how much unused space was left since the stock battery is so large, and the Optima so small. After a little bit of thinking I figured I could probably get two Optimas in the same location as my stock battery.

Optima in stock location:

New dual batt. tray vs. stock batt. tray:

Different angle of new tray (still need to be cleaned up and painted):

Had to hack out a bit of fender well and relocate the ABS module:

View from wheel well (without plastic liner in):

And all together:

Now I just have to decide how I want to wire it all in.

Oh, and figure out how to keep them in place. I was thinking about a strap, but I'm worried that it wear through too quckly.

 

[section525]

Wow! Too cool Jefe. Did you make that tray yourself? Hey, was your X ever in a front end collision?

 

[Jefe]

Originally posted by section525
Wow! Too cool Jefe. Did you make that tray yourself? Hey, was your X ever in a front end collision?

Yup, welded it up all by myself

Not that I know of. I bought it 1 yr used, and it was previously a rental car. CarFax didn't have any colision record on it anyway. Why do you ask?

 

[expo5.0]

hey great idea man. i have a single red top and i cut my stock tray and turned it sideways so that i would have room for my circuit breaker next to it and just 'cause it seemed like fun to turn it. the way i did it i could fit another battery beside just like you, but i need my 140 dollars too (and when i feel like spending it i'll be buying a batcap 800 for the rear)

i had a bit of a problem figuring out how to hold mine down as well. in the end i went with a red bungee cord and wrapped it around the battery and connected it to itself. i plan on checking it every couple of months to see if it wears, but it provided a very tight good fit for now.

nice work!

 

[jssong]

very cool. i thought about doing it, but never got around to it. what do you need two batteries for? doyou have alot of lights? i was considering a new battery, but $$ is the factor. Well at least i know it can be done. THanks

 

[Brother_of_Jefe]

Excellent!

Awesome job! How many days have you had your new welder? And you're already cutting and fabbing!

 

[JoshC]

Very nice Jefe. Just pick you up a small cheap ratchet strap from a discount store when you tighen it up, just cut the excess strap off and use a lighter to melt up the frayed end. I think that would look the best.

PS ever thought about cleaning under that hood

 

[Jefe]

Originally posted by jssong
very cool. i thought about doing it, but never got around to it. what do you need two batteries for? doyou have alot of lights? i was considering a new battery, but $$ is the factor. Well at least i know it can be done. THanks

I do have quite a few lights (4 up top, two fogs) but that is not the main reason.
The stock battery is rated at 900 CCA I think, and the Optimas are only 650.
And the main reason is that I plan to invest in an onboard welder of some sort soon, and most of them need two batterys in series to run.

Originally posted by Brother_of_Jefe
Awesome job! How many days have you had your new welder? And you're already cutting and fabbing!

Hmm. . 6 days so far

Originally posted by JoshC
Very nice Jefe. Just pick you up a small cheap ratchet strap from a discount store when you tighen it up, just cut the excess strap off and use a lighter to melt up the frayed end. I think that would look the best.

PS ever thought about cleaning under that hood

Whats the point of cleaning when it just gets dirty the next weekend?

 

[JoshC]

Whats the point of cleaning when it just gets dirty the next weekend?

very true!

 

[expo5.0]

my red top says it is rated for like 1,050 ca (or somthing close to that) when it was tested in the shop it was closer to 1600! that probably means the cca rating is quite a bit larger than it says

 

[cdsl227]

Very nice! Wish I'da thought up something like that...

I dropped in a yellow top where the airbox was for the winch, fogs and amps.

I'm figuring how to hook up the wiring. I bought a 120amp isolator, but got a 200amp alternator.

I'm hoping it holds up once it's all wired.

Those 200amp isolators cost 4-5 times what the 120s go for!

But nice tray!

 

[DocVijay]

Originally posted by Jefe
The stock battery is rated at 900 CCA I think, and the Optimas are only 650.

I don't remember exactly, but my red top Optimas is much higher than 650 cca. Sure you read right?

 

[Brother_of_Jefe]

Originally posted by Jefe
The stock battery is rated at 900 CCA I think, and the Optimas are only 650.

Optima site lists the Type 34 rated at 800 CCA. But real-world experience seems to show this as a conservative rating, as opposed to some of the other batteries more "optimistic" ratings.

 

[GJarrett]

Originally posted by Jefe
...the main reason is that I plan to invest in an onboard welder of some sort soon, and most of them need two batterys in series to run.

Jefe, great job! If you've been keeping up with the Return from Tellico thread you will note that I am going to equip myself somehow with an onboard welder very soon. I also knew an Optima was smaller but didn't think I could fit two in there. Are you planning on making another dual battery holder? * hint

 

[Jefe]

Originally posted by GJarrett
Jefe, great job! If you've been keeping up with the Return from Tellico thread you will note that I am going to equip myself somehow with an onboard welder very soon. I also knew an Optima was smaller but didn't think I could fit two in there. Are you planning on making another dual battery holder? * hint

I had read the Tellico thread, and although I had already planned to have an onboard welder before I started testing my SAS, that made it even more urgent.

hmm. . I soppose I should measure my batt tray before installing it this weekend, just in case I needed to reproduce it.

 

[DocVijay]

Originally posted by Jefe
hmm. . I soppose I should measure my batt tray before installing it this weekend, just in case I needed to reproduce it.

Now that's a great idea!

 

[Robb]

You can sign me up for the bracket.

Now I just have to decide how I want to wire it all in.

This is my crappy pic of the best way to run a dual battery IMO (might show up really small here). With ignition off, the primary battery is the sole battery in the circuit. If it is drained down, a toggle switch on the dash puts the secondary battery in the circuit to allow the vehicle to start. It also puts the secondary battery in the system with the ignition on to allow both batteries to charge.

 

[matey]

nice man i love the photos im hopeless at following directions

 

[Jefe]

Originally posted by Robb
You can sign me up for the bracket.


This is my crappy pic of the best way to run a dual battery IMO (might show up really small here). With ignition off, the primary battery is the sole battery in the circuit. If it is drained down, a toggle switch on the dash puts the secondary battery in the circuit to allow the vehicle to start. It also puts the secondary battery in the system with the ignition on to allow both batteries to charge.

Thats a good idea. That way if you drain the one down, you still have one good battery to jump-start yourself with.
The other way to charge both would be with a battery isolator.

 

[Jefe]

All Done!

I finished welding up the tray, cleaned it up, and painted it last night:

And put everything back in and wired it up (always parrallel [for now]):

And fired it up and . . .my engine turns over faster