Battery Mounting Locations???

[Brian894x4]

I was thinking that the cable lengths would be around 10-15 ft. I plan on running a rope through my truck so I can buy exactly the right length (plus a foot or two). That cable gets expensive and I don't want to waste any.

Normal winch electrical cables are 2 AWG. THey are short, and used intermittently.

I think that a 1/0 cable would take alot of amps before it heated up enoug to matter. Even for a long and hard pull, the duration is not all that extreme. Plus there would be alot of coper to absorb the heat.

Just some thoughts.

Voltage drop is going to be the big issue. Which means that your winch may not run as effeciently, but like I said, if you run the winch off the rear bumper that could solve that issue. The other is voltage drop between your alternator and your batteries. I'm not exactly sure how big of cable you should use. Somewhere in the internet, I've seen a chart that shows how big the cable should be verses how many feet.....

 

[DaveInDenver]

Voltage drop is going to be the big issue. Which means that your winch may not run as effeciently, but like I said, if you run the winch off the rear bumper that could solve that issue. The other is voltage drop between your alternator and your batteries. I'm not exactly sure how big of cable you should use. Somewhere in the internet, I've seen a chart that shows how big the cable should be verses how many feet.....

My notes here say that for AWG 00 cable you can expect about 0.065 to 0.1 ohms resistance per 1000 feet (varies somewhat by manufacturer). So the drop through 0.1 ohms/1000' cable if you're pulling 200A through a 20' cable you can expect is about 0.4V. I don't have a winch to know if that's enough to seriously affect the motor's efficiency, but that's less than pulling the same 200A through an AWG 4 cable (0.24 ohms per 1000') that's 12' long. The drop of 200A through a 4 gauge cable 12' long is 0.6V.

Edit: Noticed re-reading the post that he was thinking of 1/0 and not 2/0 like I looked at. The voltage drop of 1/0 is going to be slightly higher than 2/0.

 

[Grim Reaper]

Under the bed opositite of the tank. I am pretty sure a second battery to deal with portable fridge and camping power will end up in that location on my truck
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/DualBatteries.shtml

 

[Ramdough]

Thanks for the replies. I would love to fit my batteries under the bed, but I don't know where I would have enough room. I have looked.

If I rerouted my exhaust, then I could probably make room, but that is not gonna happen any time soon.

Right now, in the bed looks like the way to go. I have seen people with removeable hitch winches mounted on the front and moved to the rear. With the batteries in the midle, I am mid way between both.

I am thinking that a removeable winch may be the way to go. Not as convenient as a winch in the front, but more versatile.

 

[Ramdough]

update

Option 1 is winning now.

I am thinking that it has the least risk involved and it has the least impact on my truck. I can measure current and voltage on my deep cycle batteries and voltage on the starter measured through my charger wires.

Since my main concern is the life of my deep cycle batteries, the current and voltage measurements are important. The starter battery only needs to have enough voltage on it to start.

I have a 150 amp circuit breaker that I will use on the hot leads next to the deep cycle batteries.


If I don't like this setup, it is not a whole lot more work to switch to option 2 from option 1 as oposed to going strait to option 2.