Hey, has anyone added an xtra battery on a gas super duty or a beefed up alternator? I will be adding a winch soon and thought the xtra juice would be helpful. Also may be using a power inverter for camping trips.

Any ideas on how to do this best? It does not look like there is any room for an xtra battery without moving something. I have a reputable alternator shop close by and I'm thinking about getting them to beef up the alternator.

Thanks for the help!

 

If it's a gasoline truck it shouldn't be too hard. All the diesels come from the factory with two. One behind each headlight. There should be room.

DC-9

 

Go here this is where I get my stuff for my plow trucks
www.wranglernw.com

 

there is the same discussion in the excursion forum right now too. the gas trucks are kinda $$$$ on their kits. you have to move the canister that is in the way. but, it come with all the stuff to do it right. someone in the X forum sais total was about $1000?????????????????????????

 

If you want a higher output alternator try this guy.
http://www.svapowerproducts.com/
Call and ask for Ray. Tell him ken75ranger sent you.

 

Here's how I did my dual battery: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/4...tery+info+here

 

rwilimo's setup is real cool! I remember when he posted that.

I have the wranglernw setup, dunno where they get $1000 from. I think the kit is like $350, plus a good battery. The wranglernw kit is VERY complete. You could do it cheaper if you pieced it together but you might not get the same functionality. I'd buy the wranglernw kit again for myself.

Now, back in highschool(early 90s) we all had huge car stereos.. many of my friends went with 200 amp high output alternators. They STILL blew alternators from time to time. Several guys had huge capacitors that they claimed would save the alternator, they still killed them. One of my best friends had a "small" system(350 watts from two amps) with a stock alternator and it never blew. When I started to build my system, rather than buying the big gold plated phoenix gold alternator for $500, I went to an extremely reputable local starter/generator shop and told them what I wanted. The dude there said basically that big alternators were a waste of money and that I should get a dual(or tripple) battery setup. He turned by business away. That's always stuck with me over the years. I do use him for starters and such whenever I can.

So my E350 had a little over 1000 watt stereo and some amature radios, I ran dual Optimas and a stock alternator, 6 years, no electrical failures. My '78 Suburban had a Western Pro Plow, 4 offroad lights, and dual autozone batteries, recently I took the plow and lights off and put a winch on and use the truck offroad, I've owned it 5 years, stock alternator, no electrical failures. And my F250 has around a 600 watt stereo, amature radios, Boss Plow, high output headlights and fog lights, and 90watt corner strobes... all on Dual Optimas. It's a little over 2 years old, stock alternator, no electrical failures.

So you pretty much see what my opinion is... I'll run dual batteries in everything I own my whole life. Unless it's something that is staying completely stock. It gives you a nice big buffer before you start beating on the electrical system.

I'll also mention, the stereo and plows never dimmed the lights on the trucks. No signs that I was overloading anything. The WINCH on the other hand, if I have to do a pull longer than 20 or 30 feet it does start to bog down and the voltage drops on the truck. I rarely need to do a pull like that, but it seems that the winch is the most demanding piece of equipment I own.

-Jay

 

Thanks, for the good info. I'm thinking about moving the charcoal canister to mount the battery. I will probably get the local shop to improve the alternator.

Now, I just need to decide about what type of batteries and if I should use and isolator. What would be better for the second battery? Regular car battery or marine deep cycle battery? Also is an isolator needed and what exactly does it do?

 

An isolator as I always used the term is a box that allows the alternator to charge two completely seperate circuits... So if one battery dies, the other keeps working. The problem with that is if you put a big load on circuit A the battery from circuit B can't help out.

Now, the wranglernw kit comes with a big solenoid which some people call an isolator. The way it works is when you turn the truck off, or to accessory the batteries are seperated. But when you turn the truck to start or run they're connected together. I like this, since I hook my added electrical stuff to battery B and the truck just runs on battery A. So if I have it sitting in accessory and the battery wears down, it's battery B that wears down and A will still be there to start the truck. I had a solenoid like this in my van too, but I did that myself, the kit takes it one step further and gives you a switch in the cab to seperate both batteries at all times(in case of a malfunction) or to connect both batteries at all times, so you can sortof jumpstart yourself if battery A dies but B still has lots of juice. I could have used that jumpstart feature on my van years ago, so it was a nice touch when I got the kit for my truck.

As for batteries, I've always used Optima Red tops, as I don't mess around while my engine is off much. If you wanted to listen to your stereo for hours with the engine off, then start it up and go, I'd say go with the yellow top. There are supposedly better batteries out now, but since I always had optimas before I just got them again with this truck. My Suburban does have two autozone batteries and they work fine, although I do expect to replace them a little more often than the optimas. Also the Suburban never has any load when the engine is off, even for a little bit.

-Jay

 

Adding to what the others have suggested, when you get the batteries in place, make sure that you pull the positive lead for the winch off of one battery's positive, and the negative lead for the winch off of the OTHER battery's negative. This will balance the load on the batteries better, and get you a lower impedance source.

Winches pull a LOT of current, my 8274 will sometimes pull 400 Amps in a heavy pull. So EVERYTHING has to be big, big wire, big connectors. There is no such thing as wire that is too big, in this application. Every millivolt counts.

 

You want a relay or solenoid as cyberjay mentioned. He hit the problem with the isolator on the head. Also the problem with high output alternators is in order to acheive the high amp output they have to wind them really tight. I used to compete in car audio sound offs and had to have alot of power. When they wind the alt. tight it puts more stress on it and shortens their lifespan. I tried a couple high output alts and they all burnt up fairly quick and for the money it isn't worth it. I also have alot of experience running multiple batteries, my f150 had six of them when i was competing. I used mostly optima and was friends with the interstate guy that sold them to me. They are good batteries and what the battery guy explained to me is that red tops are made for starting and yellow is made for accesories. Yellows are made to drain all the way down and recharge time and time again but they aren't the best choice for starting a vehicle. Yellows only have a 1 year warrenty and reds have i believe a 3 year, maybe 5 but i think i remember 3 year warrenty. The nice thing about them is they are sealed and you can mount them anywhere in any position. Right now i am adding a second alt to my f250 7.3. It has two batteries and instead of adding a high output alt like alot of people suggested i opted for a second stock alt. Less stress on each alt so they should last longer and about the same price to do. Hope this helps a little.

 

thats the same guy i got my alternator from, i recomend him to everyone i can. good product and easy to install. the hardest part was releasing the tension on the serpentine belt.

 

[QUOTE= the battery guy explained to me is that red tops are made for starting and yellow is made for accesories. Yellows are made to drain all the way down and recharge time and time again but they aren't the best choice for starting a vehicle.


Thanks for all the good info. You guys have helped me dicide everything except which batteries to use.

Should I get one of each, red top for starting and a yellow top for accessories?

 

Just as an FYI the red tops are strictly for starting and if you use them for winching/plowing/stereo use it voids your warranty. The yellow tops are for those use and now come in a two different models. One that is a deep cycle like what ponch37300 described and starter/deep cycle model that is designed for both starting and heavy deep cycle use.

Personally I would skip the Optimas and go with the Odyssey batteries as the quality of the Optimas have dropped in the last 5 years. The older Optimas were really good batteries, but the ones in the last 5 years have been crap. I have a 10 year old red top Optima that is still going strong and a one year old yellow top that just died. Looking at the two side by side you can see the build quality has really gone down.

 

i also have two red tops that are in my dodge and were installed back in the beginning of 1996. i have a 10000 warn winch and a big stereo that draws some big power. the newer ones aren't as good as the older ones. way to go ronin. since i haven't bought a new battery in several years, i didn't know that i want to add another battery to the one in my X now. its got the biggest bosch "best" battery in it now. with the stereo in it, the lights go dim even with the big alternator.