Dual Battery Install

[Fifthpro]

The two Yellow Top Optima Batteries are sitting on a Tomkin Dual Battery Tray that is designed for the "L" shaped configuration. Not having air-condition, I did not need to re-route the AC lines that come out of the firewall. It also allows for the snorkel tube to run from the air-box, under the tray and out through the fender. (Something to keep in mind for folks that have AC and Snorkel. Mean Green offers a stackable tray that will not accommodate the snorkel tube but works for folks with AC.)

Next is the Isolator, wiring harness and cab control unit, all purchased from Wrangler NW. The wiring harness for the control unit runs through a hole cut in the firewall with one wire stopping in the fuse box and the rest run under the windshield vent terminating on the left side of the dash. I desired a mounting location that was functional, out of the way yet accessible when needed that did not rob me of real-estate that would be better used with something else. I think that I found the perfect location on the dash bar. It required drilling two additional holes in the mounting bracket and then using wire to keep it in place. The isolator is connected with the batteries with the supplied wiring and terminals.

The cab control unit and isolator allows for the following:

Switched to the left: Starts with main battery, charges both batteries, batteries isolated from each other with the ignition off.

Switch in the center: Only main battery starts vehicle, only main battery is charged, only powers accessories on main battery, totally disconnects auxiliary battery from main.

Switched to the right: Connects both batteries with ignition off or on, joins batteries when main battery is dead or motor is not running. If motor is dead, ignition off, batteries can be joined for winching or battery boosting.

The cab control mount:
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg227/Fifthpro/IMG_2088.jpg

The twins!







http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg227/Fifthpro/IMG_2090.jpg

Thanks to Greensideup and Old School for the help on the install!

[USMCHarleyJeepGuy]

Fifth...didn't we already talk about this somewhere?!?!?!?!?

[Pacifier]

He's getting old, that's all. :cool:

[USMCHarleyJeepGuy]

He's getting old, that's all. :cool:

Come on D...Fifth isn't getting "old"...he's chronologically challenged!!! :D(You don't want to hurt his feelings...he might get pissed and...well, piss!):eek:

[02tj]

yeah, I wouldnt want to piss him off! Wouldnt even know you were being targeted! lol

[NovaKnowledgeNow]

Now how hard is it to change the oil? it seems like the filter would be a bear to get at...

[Fifthpro]

Nah, just go in from the bottom.

[greensideup]

It just took him so long to get it done he forgot.

[JeepinSoldier]

FifthPro,

Thanks for a great writeup.

After my heep got stranded in Falls Church after a M&G, I decided to use the last of the Comissary money and do a dual battery install. Getting stuck in Falls Church is bad enough - having a shot battery on the trail would really suck. I had been thinking about the mod for awhile and haveing the ability to self jumpstart as well as the reserve for heavy winching made up my mind.

Now for the question: Why do you say that the Mean Green dual battery tray will not work with a snorkel?

The reason I ask is that before I saw your post I got the Mean Green tray and 2 Optimas. It looks like the snorkle tube will go under the batteries through the stock tray mount. The MG tray will then bolt to the stock mount.

After seeing your post I read the instructions for the tray and called MG. They said it will work with a snorkle and with or without air.

Any insight is appriciated. Im getting ready to start bolting this setup together...........

[Fifthpro]

FifthPro,

Thanks for a great writeup.

After my heep got stranded in Falls Church after a M&G, I decided to use the last of the Comissary money and do a dual battery install. Getting stuck in Falls Church is bad enough - having a shot battery on the trail would really suck. I had been thinking about the mod for awhile and haveing the ability to self jumpstart as well as the reserve for heavy winching made up my mind.

Now for the question: Why do you say that the Mean Green dual battery tray will not work with a snorkel?

The reason I ask is that before I saw your post I got the Mean Green tray and 2 Optimas. It looks like the snorkle tube will go under the batteries through the stock tray mount. The MG tray will then bolt to the stock mount.

After seeing your post I read the instructions for the tray and called MG. They said it will work with a snorkle and with or without air.

Any insight is appriciated. Im getting ready to start bolting this setup together...........

Well, if they say it will work then I stand corrected. I still invision it being one giant PITA but so is marriage come to think of it and we still do that! Let me know when you go to do this...well, I leave Thursday....never mind. :(

[JeepinSoldier]

Well, if they say it will work then I stand corrected. I still invision it being one giant PITA but so is marriage come to think of it and we still do that! Let me know when you go to do this...well, I leave Thursday....never mind. :(

Thanks, yeah the stacking of the batteries is a little involved. But if it was easy, it would not be any fun! :p I just wanted to ask because you may have known somthing that I did not. I respect your opinions and experiance. I know that you have been researching this mod for some time. The MG tray does not come with a battery manager, so I contacted Wrangler NW after seeing your post. They make a cable setup for for the MG tray that uses the same battery manager that you have.

[Fifthpro]

Excellent! They seem to have a pretty good system. If only their web-page was as user friendly. You definitely have to call to get what you are looking for.

[JeepinSoldier]

Wrangler NW is taking thier time shipping the Battery manager out. It is not scheduled to get here until 9 July.

Will have to put up the results of the dual batt install after the Jeep comes back from Chantilly for the rear pinion leak.

[02tj]

Ordered my batt manager kit from 12voltguy.com and had it in 3 days! works flawless! easy install!

[Gonzowerke]

Does stacking them still leave room for the snorkel? If so, how much? My river raider's flex hose is quite a bit larger than the arb's.

[JeepinSoldier]

Does stacking them still leave room for the snorkel? If so, how much? My river raider's flex hose is quite a bit larger than the arb's.

I dont know - how is your hose routed?

The Mean Green tray bolts directly to the stock battery tray mount. The snorkel tube on the ARB goes through the tray mount. Mean Green says over the phone that there should be no interference at all.

Ill post up how the install goes when I can get it done. I have both batteries and the tray but the manager and cable setup is not here yet. Wrangler NW (AMFOR Electronics) is taking forever to ship it to me.

[JeepinSoldier]

Ordered my batt manager kit from 12voltguy.com and had it in 3 days! works flawless! easy install!

What tray and batteries did you use?

My battery manager kit and cables are here! :)

Time for a wrenching party!

[02tj]

I might be free one day this weekend Alex if you want to come over and we can install.

[JeepinSoldier]

I might be free one day this weekend Alex if you want to come over and we can install.

Thanks! Talk about it tomorrow at shake night?

[02tj]

okie dokie! see ya tonight!

[Fifthpro]

Alex,
For one in a long time I am home for a weekend.....do you plan to do the install tomorrow?

Cheers!
Fifth

[JeepinSoldier]

Alex,
For one in a long time I am home for a weekend.....do you plan to do the install tomorrow?

Cheers!
Fifth

Mike,

Nancy has family activities planned for today (Sat)

I spoke with 02tj last night and we are going to work on my Jeep Sun. We are going to attempt to install the dual battery set up, hard wire the GPS power wire and do the Rubicon locker mod while the dash is all apart. While the bezl is off Im gonna look at mounting the Autometer trans temp gauge in the ash tray block off plate. Are you free Sunday?

[Fifthpro]

Hard wire the Garmin.......humm? Interesting concept that would open one of one of the 12V slots.

Not sure about Sunday, wife is killing me to buy a new house and has be driving all over the Springfield/Lorton area. If I am free any at all I will swing by!

Cheers!
Fifth

[Fifthpro]

Jeeping Soldier Stand by for Flash Traffic........

Wife has softball practice for the playoffs (Break)
Departing house at 1030 (Break)
I am heading your way!!! To early?

Cheers!
Mike

[JeepinSoldier]

Mike,

Sorry I missed this earlier tonight. We had guests and were on the back porch consuming BBQ ribs and adult beverages. I am planning on going to 02tj's tomorrow at about 09-0930 to arrive at 10:00 to start the mods. He is about 30 mikes from our location.

I am thinking of mounting the switch for the dual batteries in one of the 12V spots.

[Fifthpro]

JS,
02TJ hit me up with the details and an invite. My problem is the 2 hour window I have with the wife at practice......I did not realize the wrenching location was away from Belvoir. Sorry......

The switch location for the control unit you have is a good ideal. I saw a switch panel that the 12 Volt Guy made yesterday on Extreme 4x4 that took the place of the switch panels and ashtray that was an "all-in-one" that may be worth looking at for a future addition.

Take pictures!! I am interested in how this will all turn out.

Cheers!

[JeepinSoldier]

JS,
02TJ hit me up with the details and an invite. My problem is the 2 hour window I have with the wife at practice......I did not realize the wrenching location was away from Belvoir. Sorry......

The switch location for the control unit you have is a good ideal. I saw a switch panel that the 12 Volt Guy made yesterday on Extreme 4x4 that took the place of the switch panels and ashtray that was an "all-in-one" that may be worth looking at for a future addition.

Take pictures!! I am interested in how this will all turn out.

Cheers!

PM Sent.

02tj's dual battery manager and switch panel is from 12 volt guy. It looks really good.

[JeepinSoldier]

Last Sunday, 02tj (Rick) and I spent most of the day installing the dual battery setup, hard wiring the GPS power line, and installing a transmission temperature gauge. Alot of thought and a good bit of fabrication went into it but it looks really good.

Rick had done a dual battery install before, and did most of the wiring for me. Im really glad he did as I dont want my Jeep to burn up! :)

We removed one of the 12 V power ports from the dash center panel below the switches and used the power line for it to hardwire the GPS line. Then we modified the panel by installing the dual battery switch in the place where the power port was, and then drilling a 2" hole in the ash tray block off for the trans temp gauge. The gauge was installed in the hole and Rick made a wiring harness for it.

Under the hood, a Mean Green dual battery tray and 2 Optima yellow tops went in. This setup is tight in 03-06 Wranglers and needs some fabrication. A hole needs to be drilled in the tray for the battery temp sensor. Also, the power/fuse block box must be moved forward and even after that clearance is still tight. This setup does allow for dual batteries with a snorkle and factory A/C however.

We ran out of time befor we could get the last of the cables ran. Hopefully I can get that done in the next week or so. Mounting the isolator solenoid was interesting as well. Rick came up with a great solution - but I think that in the near future I am going to try to have a more secure mount fabricated to the side of the top portion of the tray.

Its 10:55 PM and this was my first chance to post, so pix tomorrow.........

Thanx Rick!!!!!!! :D

[02tj]

Last Sunday, 02tj (Rick) and I spent most of the day installing the dual battery setup, hard wiring the GPS power line, and installing a transmission temperature gauge. Alot of thought and a good bit of fabrication went into it but it looks really good.

Rick had done a dual battery install before, and did most of the wiring for me. Im really glad he did as I dont want my Jeep to burn up! :)

We removed one of the 12 V power ports from the dash center panel below the switches and used the power line for it to hardwire the GPS line. Then we modified the panel by installing the dual battery switch in the place where the power port was, and then drilling a 2" hole in the ash tray block off for the trans temp gauge. The gauge was installed in the hole and Rick made a wiring harness for it.

Under the hood, a Mean Green dual battery tray and 2 Optima yellow tops went in. This setup is tight in 03-06 Wranglers and needs some fabrication. A hole needs to be drilled in the tray for the battery temp sensor. Also, the power/fuse block box must be moved forward and even after that clearance is still tight. This setup does allow for dual batteries with a snorkle and factory A/C however.

We ran out of time befor we could get the last of the cables ran. Hopefully I can get that done in the next week or so. Mounting the isolator solenoid was interesting as well. Rick came up with a great solution - but I think that in the near future I am going to try to have a more secure mount fabricated to the side of the top portion of the tray.

Its 10:55 PM and this was my first chance to post, so pix tomorrow.........

Thanx Rick!!!!!!! :D
No prob bro! Hope you can get that neg cable installed ok and ya didnt get into to much trouble!

[JeepinSoldier]

No prob bro! Hope you can get that neg cable installed ok and ya didnt get into to much trouble!

False hope..... She was furious I was gone all day.

Anyway, I just tried to post pix. Photobucket made me change my password before the last upload and now I have forgotten it. Clicked forgot password and submitted my e mail addy. Got message saying e mail sent. No message in my e mail account. :mad:

So I guess no pics for this forum.

[JeepinSoldier]

OK - created another account :rolleyes:

Here they are:

Switch and gauge from driver point of view and closeup:


http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k366/Batterypix/DualBatt001.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k366/Batterypix/DualBatt002.jpg

[JeepinSoldier]

Under hood batteries and isolator solenoid:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k366/Batterypix/DualBatt004.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k366/Batterypix/DualBatt005.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k366/Batterypix/DualBatt006.jpg

[Fifthpro]

Alex,
Looks good! It is a bummer that you got beasted when you got home. Does she not realize what a great mod you and Ric were doing?

(I would have posted earlier but I have not had Internet for a week.......read: Killing Me)

[JeepinSoldier]

Alex,
Looks good! It is a bummer that you got beasted when you got home. Does she not realize what a great mod you and Ric were doing?

(I would have posted earlier but I have not had Internet for a week.......read: Killing Me)

Thanks - She will get over it. She is just tired of me never being home.

I still have to finish it. I have been working so much at HRC its still not done. Im on leave next week , so I hope to get this done. Im going try and have the contact portions of the steps on the Ricochet Rockers Line X'd as well so I can get them installed. They have only been sitting around since I was in Colorado. :rolleyes:

[JeepinSoldier]

I tinkered with this some more today. More refining than any thing. Turns out that I left the instructions for the cable routing of the dual setup at Ricks, so I could not route the cables today and finish it.

I decided to take a good look at it since I had the luxury of plenty of daylight and no wife constantly calling me on the phone. :rolleyes:

The top battery hold down was rubbing against one of the A/C lines. A slight hand pressure bend of the line gave plenty of clearance. Rick did a great Job of relocating the PCM as far forward as possible, but I still dont like how close the positive power cable to it is to the negative grounded tray. Here is a pic:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k366/Batterypix/DualBatt007.jpg

[JeepinSoldier]

Here is a pic of the center portion of the tray from another angle.

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k366/Batterypix/DualBatt009.jpg


The rear of the top battery when installed is even with the raised portion of the 'box' that holds the battery in place. As you can see there is plenty of room between where the battery will sit and the electronics. I going to pull the center portion of the tray, cut the welds and have it rewelded 1/4" to the rear for more clearance up front. The bolt mounts will have to be relocated as well.

[JeepinSoldier]

Part of the Jeeps wiring harness had to be pulled up when Rick modified the PCM mount and moved it forward. Rick had routed the harness through the PCM mount. To keep it from moving around, I removed the PCM, drilled two holes in the mount and pushed the factory plastic 'tree' harness clips into the holes. Worked great and will not move around.

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k366/Batterypix/DualBatt008.jpg

[JeepinSoldier]

Finally, I checked the security of the mount for the isolator solenoid and then disconnected and rerouted the wires leading to it so they will not rub against anything with vibration. Turns out the way it is mounted is pretty solid. Rick - you are brilliant!!!!! Thanks again. Im going to get one of those metal clips with the rubber inside to attach the wires to the hold down bolt so that they will not move around.

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k366/Batterypix/DualBatt010.jpg

[JeepinSoldier]

While I was on leave, I got the PCM box moved farther forward, and cut a clearance cut in the top hold down strap so it would not rub against the A/C line. Sunday I got the correct length battery cables. (The ones that came with the battery manager were too short for this application.)

During the repeted assembly and disassembly of this mod one of the bolts that goes through the threaded rod got cross threaded. While I was taking it apart to attempt to finally finish assembling it, the threaded rod snapped. :rolleyes:

Of course it was getting dark and I was running out of time so now all the pieces are back on the work bench............