Aux battery under the truck?

[Silver dude]

I don't have space under the hood of my xterra for a second aux battery which I need for my edgestar fridge and winch. I don't like taking up additional interior space. So I was thinking about under truck mounting perhaps opposite the fuel tank where there is space. I understand this is probably not ideal. But, is it still a reasonable idea say with a waterproof battery box, diehard platinum series?

 

[Silver dude]

Also any suggestions recomendations on dual battery kits would be appriciated.

 

[Karma]

HI,
I don't know your vehicle so I have to speak generally. Usually, under the vehicle is vulnerable. And not just to impacts but also dirt, water and lubricants. So, my uninformed opinion is it is not a good idea.

Are you sure you can't fit it under the hood? Some of the after market kit makers are pretty clever. Have you researched it?

I know my dual batteries are under the hood in my Jeep YJ Wrangler where it did not look like it would fit.

Sparky

 

[Silver dude]

HI,
I don't know your vehicle so I have to speak generally. Usually, under the vehicle is vulnerable. And not just to impacts but also dirt, water and lubricants. So, my uninformed opinion is it is not a good idea.

Are you sure you can't fit it under the hood? Some of the after market kit makers are pretty clever. Have you researched it?

I know my dual batteries are under the hood in my Jeep YJ Wrangler where it did not look like it would fit.

Sparky

Yeah I was unsure of it but really couldn't think of any reason it would be totally horrible. Eeverything is preventable, water, damage, with a proper install. The biggest drawback I see are the long leads needed to get it to the rear. In a situation where I might place a lot of load on the battery (winch) I'd like to keep the leads shorter in length. I've seen dual battery setups under the hood in vehicles like mine but they used the smaller Odessey dry cell batteries side by side. I'd go that route but I currently have a recently bought diehard platinum starting battery. Not wanting to shelve my new battery it to buy two smaller expensive batteries. Was just browsing to see if others had run setups like I had described (under vehicle) to see if they have any issues or tips.

 

[dirty Bakers]

Haven't done it but will pursue it soon. I see no issues in my situation. Yes the battery will get dirty but I work. In the heavy equipment industry and it would blow your mind how dirty those batteries get.

 

[Silver dude]

Yeah I was going to say the same. I work as a diesel mechanic maintaining city buses all day. The batteries are all low on the bus on drawer sliders. But, they are in a little different enviroment then a expo vehicle. But, with a sealed agm type battery in perhaps a waterproof battery box I see no issue other then not being able to phyically easily check the connections.

 

[Silver dude]

If anything the center of gravity of a low slung battery in the frame might be worth the effort. Only way I could fit another battery under the hood would be both heavy batteries on one side with nothing but the air box on the other. Which might not seem bad but the fuel tank and fridge is also on that side while nothing is on the other. So I picture it lurching feeling weighted to one side.

 

[dirty Bakers]

Do you work for veolia? We work on those buses also. I have been out in the field to work on a cat scraper and had the chisle my way throught thr mud to get to the batteries, yes those batteries were dead. But how long had they been like that, months.

 

[McZippie]

Diesel Ford Van's (Sportmobiles) have dual batteries mounted on the frame rails.
I have 3 of these battery boxes with AGM batteries mounted on the frame rails of my Ford E350 van.

ebay link to Ford frame rail battery boxes
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FORD-OEM-VAN-BOX-TRUCK-MOTORHOME-BATTERY-BOX-NEW-E350-/320625347192

 

[Silver dude]

Do you work for veolia? We work on those buses also. I have been out in the field to work on a cat scraper and had the chisle my way throught thr mud to get to the batteries, yes those batteries were dead. But how long had they been like that, months.

Nah just the city of Rockford. Service a fleet of Gilligs, Nabi's, New flyer's, and Ford E series vans, Chevy 5500's. Your right though I mean even then I wash my vehicle after a mud run wouldn't be hard to dust the hose under there for a quick rinse off. Still thinking a sealed battery box with hydrogen vents would be the way to go. Just worried about them filling with water. I guess I could even drill drain holes. I mean it wouldn't fill with water quickly if the holes are small. I don't generally spend much time fording water anyways.

 

[Silver dude]

Diesel Ford Van's (Sportmobiles) have dual batteries mounted on the frame rails.
I have 3 of these battery boxes with AGM batteries mounted on the frame rails of my Ford E350 van.

ebay link to Ford frame rail battery boxes
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FORD-OEM-VAN-BOX-TRUCK-MOTORHOME-BATTERY-BOX-NEW-E350-/320625347192

Very nice! thanks for the link. From the picture the lower looks metal. Is the box sealed or just sheilded? What series of battery do they take? What are you running in them?

 

[dwh]

Water, dirt and lubricants aren't going to hurt a battery unless they get inside the battery. Non-issue with a sealed battery. Road salts might be an issue, but I doubt they have much effect on plastic and lead. Corrosion of the battery cables or any steel parts of the connections (i.e., the bolts and nuts) would be what I would be worried about, but not very worried.

My old trucker uncle used to just slob a heavy coat of axle grease over the battery connections on his semi to protect them from corrosion.

Protection from impact is of course extremely important.

 

[Spectyr]

I have a 96 XJ and due to added things in the engine bay I put my second battery in the back incorporated into my storage deck. I am using the national Luna system that I really like and haven't had any problems with.
I am not familiar with the underside of a xterra but I wouldn't want to risk bashing my battery off something. The national luna kit came with more than enough cable to run from the main battery under the hood, along the unibody and up through one of the drain plugs (which I resealed) under the back seats. I then run off that to a blue sea fuse box for all my accessories. Let me know if you want some pix as I am on my phone right now and have no idea how to attach from here.

Edit: I'd use good quality dielectric grease not regular grease on exposed connections.

Good luck

Mark

 

[McZippie]

Very nice! thanks for the link. From the picture the lower looks metal. Is the box sealed or just sheilded? What series of battery do they take? What are you running in them?

Not sealed, metal box, composite plastic top.

Group 65 Battery

I run Odyssey 65 PC1750, the exact same battery is available from Sears (Diehard AGM) at a lower price.