I have a 2001 Runner, Im going to be adding alot of accesories in the near future i.e ,communication radios, winch, auxlilliry lighting, hard wired inverter and so on, but before I do I need to upgrade my alternator and get a second battery set in place with some sort of power mangment system. Has anyone delt with this ??? Thanks!

 

I did a dual battery in my 2nd gen 4runner put the second battery in the same spot as the drivers side had to 180 the over flow bottle. I ran a battery seperator off a stock alt and it keeps both batterys full even when I run my stereo system(1600 watt 10 speakers) 8 130 watt lights and winch all from the second battery , the truck itself is running off the stock battery and has only stock components running off of it all with zero issues.

 

Your shopping list looks a lot like my current setup. I'm running the stock alternator, an Optima blue top aux battery laying on its side above the front passenger side wheel well held by a DIY battery bracket, and a Sure Power type 9523A battery isolator.

The whole system works well. My stock battery runs all the stock equipment (except that I've wired all my 12V power outlets to the aux battery). The aux battery runs all my accessories (2m ham radio, 120W of aux lighting, Warn M8000 winch, hardwired 1000W inverter, 12V cooler).

There are better isolators out there than the one I have, but the price was right on this one and it has not let me down yet. I've had it installed for over a year, now. It keeps both batteries charged up nicely, and does a good job of keeping them seperated when the truck is not running. On a 5 day camping trip at the end of the summer, I drained my aux battery every night with my stupid little innefficient cooler, but my starter battery was always fully charged.

 

Have you considered a yellow-top optima battery? The deep cycles available now are pretty good; even those AGM or Gel-Cell batteries are a lot better than they used to be

 

I have a Blue top Optima in there now with a stock alterantor. Looks like the first thing I need is a isolator , so i'll look into that. Ideally I would like to have a central power distribution (Bussbar) point where i can terminate all my accesories. It would be good to thave a central point for all my fuses too. I'll post what I find. Thanks all.

 

Found this for you Taco owners....
http://www.bajataco.com/dualbatts/dualbatteries01.html

 

Thanks! All

 

You only need the isolator when you get the second battery (I think you know that... just wanted to clarify).

You are on the right track about the aux fuse box... makes wiring auxiliaries so much easier. I mounted one of these to the top of the flip up door on my air filter box. It fits there perfectly, and it is close to my aux battery. If you do this, when you run your wires to it, leave a couple of inches of slack so that it doesn't give you trouble when you want to open your air filter box cover to check/change your filter.

 

gallant, do you have any pictures of your double battery, aux fuse box, isolator setup under the hood. thats what i want to do with my 02 and room in there seems REALLY tight.

 

I would love to see how you fit that second batt! Im wondering where in the heck im going to put my AUX batt myself, I figure I'll have to move something near the passenger side of the engine bay or mabey go to the cargo space. Pics would be sweet.

 

Here are a couple of quick pictures... there are no descriptions in there yet, but they're pretty self explanatory. Let me know if you have any questions.

EDIT: OK, I got some descriptions in with the pictures now. If you click on the pictures, it should bring you to a larger view with some descriptions below the pictures.

 

awesome thanks for the pics gallant, i am going to be doing a double batt setup and aux fuse box in the very near future. i have the aux fuse box waiting to be installed and am probably going to pick up another battery when i get home.

 

You're welcome. Let me know if you have any questions when it comes time to do your install.