Has anyone here ever done this ?? Put the batteries in the rear under the box..maybe a trap door to them ??
I am thinking of doing this as it will give me more room to work on things up front and less weight there too !

 

Thought about it til I priced the cable to do so...

 

Seems nothing worth while is cheap or EZ huh

 

I don't think the weight/space you save would be worth it. It's always best to keep battery cables as short as possible.

 

Well for me it will be done . For instance, to change out a LT bulb can be exasperating,,with the batts and their boxes gone opens the whole area up.!
I will be able to see my oil leaks better too LOL . I get over a 100 lbs off the front axle as I have the big commercial semi truck batts there (had to modify the OEM plastic boxes a little to make it happen..not much and a whole lot more crank power ! )
As for volt and amp drop.. will not be much using proper size cable ,welding cable 1 o is it?
Plus with the batts together the 5' span of cable that now ties them together will be gone as they will be side by side, . So mounted under box 3' behind cab, passenger side... my math says no difference in wire length. well with a extra cab there might be 5 ' ? (at the most )

 

I'm either going to run 2/0 or 4/0 marine tinned when I do mine... whenever that is... Lots of heavy braided ground straps needed as well.. batts to frame... frame to motor etc..

 

Absolutely !!

 

i would do like i say in the diesel power mag, a pair of optimas bolted to the frame rail.

 

Am here in Juneau, have not seen such a mag., you a have a pic or a link ?? thanx!!

 

Dieselpowermag.com i think. i dont know what article it is. all i remember was it was on a 7.3L powerstroke

 

On my Dodge...the only place I see that will work and be serviceable is opposite side if fuel tank....a hatch in the bed.

 

Ok been getting things together for sending the batteries to the back of the bus... Concerned about the grounds though

Currently there are 2 1/0 grounds one going from one battery to the block and the other from the auxillary to the block.

Also fom the auxillary is a 8ga to the frame and a 10 ga to the body
Also from the main is a 10ga to the body and then and 8ga that disappears into the harness... S109 in the wiring diagram.

So I was planning on grounding the batts direct to the frame using 2/0 cable.. What to do with all the loose ends?

Connect the engine grounds to the frame?
Connect the chassis grounds to the frame?
Connect the 'other' batt grounds to the frame?

Any idvise on how to ensure a secure reliable ground connection to the frame?

 

I have not been able to do mine yet as other proj. have interrupted me...I would do that (GRD to frame ) and then any stray ground wires up front run a GRD to them from the batts and or also GRD to frame too.That way you have a very definite connection. It might be redundant...but the electrical whizzes tell me the British the only people that wire their cars right ( Pos GRD) The power comes from the NEG side rather then the pos side.....not that it matters as as continuity has to be equally good on both sides as the flow is only as good as the best connection is either side