Poorman's dual battery setup

ryani

New member
I recently finished up my dual battery setup for my 98 runner. I found a gentleman that had 75 batteries that were used for battery backup system at a hospital. They were 12v 55 amp/hr and fully sealed units. They were in service for only 6 months so for $30 i figured why not. I bought a 80 amp relay made P.A.C. for $16 and the fuse holders and fuses were $13. So for under $60 I had my system.

I first made a battery tray out of an old electric meter socket that was laying around at work. I turned the stock battery sideways and the new battery's dimensions were identical to the stock one in regards to height and length. It's width was only 5.5 inches. I used the factory battery hold down but did a little bit of modifying to it to make it work
.
I moved the Radiator overfill to the side of the battery tray and mounted the relay to the firewall.
 

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Tim A

Adventurer
very cool did you plan for some kind of isolator so you can run accessories off just the aux batt?
 

ryani

New member
The only isolator is the 80 amp relay. I can run my equipment off the battery with the truck off without draining my starting battery. I really haven't given it the full test to see how long it will run my inverter and 12v acessories. Were going camping with it nest weekend so it will get the first test then. I'm excited how good it acutally turned out
 

Tim A

Adventurer
Oh OK I didn't know the relay acted as an isolator. Pls let me know how it works as I'd love a cheaper alternative to the DIY kits out there.
 

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