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WHat battery are you using for a dual battery setup?

Old Nov 1, 2010 | 08:28 AM
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From: all over see below
WHat battery are you using for a dual battery setup?

The ones i found were to long , which ones are you guys using or what measurements should i be looking for?
thanks
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Old Nov 1, 2010 | 12:11 PM
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x2 65 series sideways on the stock tray. Tight, but works for 1760CCA @ 0*F
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Old Nov 1, 2010 | 12:42 PM
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What exactly, if you don't mind me butting in, is the deal with dual batteries? Other than turning the engine over, our trucks don't seem to really need a bunch of extra juice. I know I used my truck as a rolling stereo for yardwork last week for about 6 hours (substantial stereo...not turned up too loud) and it didn't bat an eye when I cranked it.
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Old Nov 1, 2010 | 03:37 PM
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I dunno where you are from Subliminal, but winter sucks with one battery, especially if you don't have a place to plug the truck in, like when I lived on campus last year. The grid heater drew the life right out of a bran new battery, so I went with a pair of optimas.
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Old Nov 1, 2010 | 04:32 PM
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Originally Posted by Subliminal
What exactly, if you don't mind me butting in, is the deal with dual batteries? Other than turning the engine over, our trucks don't seem to really need a bunch of extra juice. I know I used my truck as a rolling stereo for yardwork last week for about 6 hours (substantial stereo...not turned up too loud) and it didn't bat an eye when I cranked it.
2 words, Accessories and backup, I don't think that you can have too much of either......Mark
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Old Nov 1, 2010 | 06:17 PM
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>>> batteries = the more, the better <<<

^^^ Enough said. ^^^
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Old Nov 2, 2010 | 08:08 AM
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Riiight...overkill...got it.
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Old Nov 2, 2010 | 09:34 AM
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Originally Posted by Subliminal
Riiight...overkill...got it.
Can't really tell if you are kidding or not, but if your not, you've got some real lifes lessons waiting for you...it'll kick that attitude right out of you. You have appearently not been around long enough for stuff to fail on you. We had a saying on the fire department that went "you can have ten years of experience or you can have 1 year ten times". Life taught me to learn from the experience of others. Try to remember this when you are waiting for a jump from a 16 year old girl, just my not so humble, but very experienced opinion...Mark
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Old Nov 2, 2010 | 09:50 AM
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Hey Mark,

I was indeed kidding...hence the winking smiley. Those are there so those of us who communicate over the internet can tell the mood/motive behind posts, whereas usually you can tell by a laugh or a smile.

That being said, I've got one battery on my boat, one in my truck, one on my lawnmower and one on my other two cars. I also grew up in Alaska where the temperatures are pretty **** cold...although I think when my dad bought his 89 W250 new, he put two batteries in it, too...but he had a camper on the back, too...so that might have had something to do with it.

My main reason for questioning is that my truck starts up so damned quick, and my alternator seems to pump out so much juice, it doesn't seem like a second battery would be necessary...I thought maybe there was a justifiable reason for it, outside of just having a backup...

At any rate, as you were.
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Old Nov 2, 2010 | 10:15 AM
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Originally Posted by Subliminal
Hey Mark,

I was indeed kidding...hence the winking smiley. Those are there so those of us who communicate over the internet can tell the mood/motive behind posts, whereas usually you can tell by a laugh or a smile.

That being said, I've got one battery on my boat, one in my truck, one on my lawnmower and one on my other two cars. I also grew up in Alaska where the temperatures are pretty **** cold...although I think when my dad bought his 89 W250 new, he put two batteries in it, too...but he had a camper on the back, too...so that might have had something to do with it.

My main reason for questioning is that my truck starts up so damned quick, and my alternator seems to pump out so much juice, it doesn't seem like a second battery would be necessary...I thought maybe there was a justifiable reason for it, outside of just having a backup...

At any rate, as you were.
As I said backup and accessories....you'll learn. Not having a backup can kill you in Alaska, right? If not I'm going to stop watching all those stupid "everythings more dangerous in Alsaka" shows, that's for sure...PS Thanks for the comnputer lesson, I never knew that. I'll try to do better now that I know that emoticons are not open to interpretation and they excuse all...
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Old Nov 2, 2010 | 12:23 PM
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It's true, I guess. If you're driving miles away from people in the middle of a snowstorm and it's 15 below zero, you do need to be somewhat prepared...especially in a 20 year old truck.

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Old Nov 3, 2010 | 02:28 AM
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Damon seems to be a pretty good natured dude, Mark. I'm sure he meant no ill will behind his humorous sarcasm. I highly doubt it was criticizing or judgmental sarcasm.

Moving right along! My dual battery set up cost the same as 1 31 series battery ( about $150). Not to mention, 31 series batterys are almost impossible to find around me. Napa had to order it for me and they were the only ones that knew what it was when I was calling around for prices in my local area.

To be perfectly honest: I probably don't need it even in Maine. The Utility truck with 1 31 series starts as good or better than the Dually with the 2 65 series. The truck just came like that and I thought it was creative. So I made a new cable and soldered all my new connections on since the PO just used jumpers on the studs that didn't allow load sharing as well as my new 2/O soldered connections do. I should have rigged it with a battery switch so I could select 1, 2 or both but I was really tired of electrical work at the time with other gremlins I was working on, so I buttoned her up. Have 2 selectable batteries is most definitely an advantage. I have no redundancy, only added capacity.
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Old Nov 3, 2010 | 03:34 AM
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1 ,2 or both...Rule switch, right?
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Old Nov 3, 2010 | 03:41 AM
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ha... idk Tim. We've always referred to them as a "Boat Battery Switch" around here since all boats around here have them. It may or may not be local made up terminology!
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Old Nov 3, 2010 | 04:05 AM
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I have considered a dual set up too. My truck cranks great until it sits all night in cold weather. If I let the grid heater cycle on and off or wait on the Wait to start light to go off the battery doesn't have the juice to crank it. Guess it could be something with the grid heater so I usually don't wait and just fire it right up. My mud truck doesn't have a grid heater and either has to be plugged in (oil/ block heater) when its cold or jumped off. Most places we mud don't have electricity so I thought about duals on the truck with a converter.
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