Got a great deal on a gel battery any ideas on what to do to control the charging system? And how about mounting? need to know where I can get The stuff to do the job right. Seen the expensive parts in the Blue room looking for inexpensive not cheap. Thanks Tain

I know nothing about this topic but I'm very interested to see what you come up with.

Are you going with a double battery setup? That is what it sounds like if that is the case you have a couple of options. The difficult thing is the mounting. I have seen some that turn the battery and then put two in side by side. If you go that way you need to fabricate or buy the tray to hold it. You can also mount it on the other side of the engine bay. This si the route I would go as I don't need anymore wieght on the drivers side to increase the lean any more. If you do that then the tray that you get can be generic and much cheaper but then you have cables runnig from one side to the other. Once it is mounted it is as simple as connecting them together. I used some cale that I had form an old welding stinger or you could even us jumper cables. That route is less costly than going and buying the special cable that you can get and it carries the current and load just fine. Next get some solder on connectors and a torch and connect them. Most will run them in paralel but you can run them in a series but you need a battery switch to run them through.

I've seen some overpriced kits as well. Good advice here. There are people in our very area that can fab up anything you can think of in short order and for good prices. Consider that lots of workers in trades from carpentry to metal fabrication to electricians and even to car mechanics are out of work. I've needed some stuff done on my house and in other areas since I went on the disabled list and have had a very easy time finding skilled workers who were happy for the work and for something to do. You could probably find a metal guy to fab you up a mounting system quickly, and then the electrical part isn't difficult at all as our friend the Skiing man says above.

Is there anywhere else in the vehicle that people have tried mounting batteries? I used to have an Audi that had a battery mounted under the back seat (seriously). It was all about squeezing the slant 5 cylinder engine into the small compartment.

My old Eclipse had the battery mounted at the back corner of the engine compartment entirely for the sake of weight distribution because those cars go FAST. I agree with skibumm that you will want to consider weight distribution because carrying another battery is like carrying another passenger really. They are pretty hefty and dense. Balancing the weight between the two wheels is a wise idea.

If you get this figured out and come up with a good solution then I am sure we'd all like to see it and copy it. So let us know what you come up with!

Speaking of all of this... my neighbor across the street taught welding at the college here in Orem forever and I've seen this guy fab up some crazy amazing stuff in a matter of an hour or two in his driveway. When I got my first FJ he was the first guy over to talk about it and he loved it. If I can come up with a good project for it that requires any kind of metal work then let me know and I'll run it by him. I almost went over to convince him to build me a roof rack, but then I got a bonus and bought a Gobi Stealth. When it was all said and done I wished I'd asked him to do it to be honest with you. I think he'd have been much more careful with the welds and quality of steel he was using. Anyway... he probably would love to fab something up and see what he can do with it. I once watched him build a full enclosed trailer to haul around his homemade little paraglider aircraft in about 2-3 hours. He's a wizard. Maybe one day you guys can all come to my house and he will see us and it will coax him out of his garage and it will be custom bumpers, battery mounts, and skid plates, along with mini camping trailers for all. Haha.

I thought that I would just mount it on the other side next to the firer wall and run cables over to the oem battery and wire it parrell but don't know if the double battery will affect the alternator or if I need a fancey switch or circut to handle the charging end of the batteries. I get it mounted in the next couple of weeks will post pics. But still researching the wirering and looking for battery tray to mount to right fender in side the engin compartment. So if anyone has any ideas pleas post them up. The battery was an Optima Red brand new but cheap so I bought it. Thanks Tain

First you need to decide why you need a dual battery system, that will dictate the kind of system you need.

I prefer an isolated dual battery system in almost all cases, unless you need the cranking amps of dual batteries in constant parallel, then what are you really achieving? With an isolated system, when the start battery fails or goes dead, you have a charged battery ready to fill in its spot, need those ultra cranking amps and you can manually pair them. I've got dual battery setups on both of my vehicles, my FJ40 is running dual Optima's with a NW Wrangler manually switching system that allows me to flip back and forth between batteries with a switch on the dash, winching is about the only time I pair them up, otherwise its there in the rare event I have a start (main) battery failure. On my Tacoma I have a more modern system, a pair of Odysseys controlled by a National Luna Intelligent Solenoid kit, not only does it allow my to monitor the individual battery levels in the cab of the truck, it also allows me to manually pair them and has built in low voltage and overcharge audible alarms. Those alarms are very helpful when I find myself base camping in the desert for several days with fridge running in the bed and lights getting used on and off. I can let the start (main) battery run down below safe levels knowing I have the back-up battery to start the truck and re-charge the main. Clear as mud?

So while the fancy systems may seem like wasted money, its absolutely a 'get what you pay for' scenario in which when you have the needs for an isolated system, its completely money well spent. There are 'budget' isolators available at places such as NAPA or even marine parts outlets, I'd suggest using some sort of isolator at a minimum.

I finally got the battery box in, any ideas to put a controller in?

Where did you get the battery tray from? How does it fit? How much $$$?

I plan on eventually going with a dual battery as well. The second battery will be used to run all auxiliary lighting and the aftermarket stereo. Any info you can add to this thread will be great!

A local guy come up with it. It is held down with 3 points the 2 in the front and 1 underneath the box. I think you could come up with a simpler box and cheaper but not more durable or solid, it started at 50$ and ended 100$. I need to but in a dual battery controller now, I plan on talking to cruiseroutfit to see what he has. I'm excited to finally be getting this done. a very long list of things I want to do. Thanks Tain

Looks good Tain! Did you look into the dirty parts dual battery kit on the blue room? I hear it has everything you need minus the batteries, but it's quiet expensive. Let us know how this works out. I'm planning on doing this too.

Brad (always cooking something up) is looking into a dual battery. You might ping him about it.

Just did my dual install last week.


dual battery 002 by cnckart, on Flickr


dual battery 003 by cnckart, on Flickr


dual battery 001 by cnckart, on Flickr

#2 wire was used throughout. I am using a PAC battery isolater. It's rated for 500 continuous amps and a peak of 700. Over kill I know, but it was only $65 on Amazon. Also got the DPDT switch off Amazon as well.

If any one needs any help feel free to hit me up.