Marine battery as solo unit for truck?

Schattenjager

Expedition Leader
I have used the DieHard Platinum 31M, solo, with great success in my two 80 series Land Cruisers. One of them making the drive from Anchorage to Denver. Reading on the inter web, I see cautions about using a Marine battery as the sole battery in a 12v modern automotive application. I am now in an 06 Tacoma with the larger alternator. I like the idea of 1120 CCA and the reserve power for days in the outback.

For now, a dual battery system is out of the question and I will need a new battery soon.

Should I do as I have done in the past, or is there something I am missing that should be considered?

Thanks!

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crawler#976

Expedition Leader
I've been using a DieHard G65 Platinum as the primary battery along with a Platinum G31M as the secondary in the Power Wagon for 2 years, no problems with either battery. They are combined with 2/0 welding cable, and can be separated via a Blue Sea 500A switch. Unless we're parked while camping, they are used as a single unit.

On the Jeep, we're using a Platinum G34M as a solo battery, and it has performed flawlessly for a year, and that includes limited winch and frequent fridge use.

We currently use three of the Platinum Marine batteries - one in the Jeep, truck, and StarCraft 10RT camper.

Mark
 

spikemd

Explorer
I use a deep cycle/starting battery from Costco at 1/3 of the price of an Odyssey and it has a115ah I believe. Cca somewhere around 800 which is below the specs for my Range Rover but since I live in Ca it isn't an issue for me. It has worked well for me for the past 3 years. I don't want to add a dual battery system.

I use it for my ARB fridge but have since bought a GoalZero Exteme350 battery pack to charge the ARB separately. Going to be adding solar tk keep it charged up indefinitely. I also run GoalZero lights at night from the battery pack. Its really nice not having to use headlamps/flashlights around camp.
 

Stumpalump

Expedition Leader
There are two types of marine batteries. Deep cycle and marine cranking battery's. You want the cranking battery but it may say deep cycle as well. Just make sure it says marine cranking battery. Its basically a car battery but with a thick strong case, thicker lead plates and better connection points inside to withstand vibration and bouncing.
 

4x4junkie

Explorer
Be aware though there are marine cranking batteries that are NOT deep-cycle-rated (they are nothing more than SLI batteries w/wingnut posts on them).

The battery you want is sometimes called a "hybrid" battery, though usually they are just simply marked as "Marine/Deep-Cycle" or "Marine/RV".

As for the warnings about deep-cycle batteries used solo, a majority of them center around the fact that if you ever were to kill your battery to the point the engine won't start, you would be left stranded (unless you have a manual transmission that allows bump-starting the vehicle).

Some also say deep-cycle batteries don't have the cranking power of starting batteries (which is true), but if you're in a warm climate, like another said above, it's seldom ever a problem (note that AGM-type deep-cycle batteries typically have higher cranking amp ratings than equivalent wet-cell batteries... If you get the DH Platinum, that should make that a non-issue even in cold areas).
 

RangeBrover

Explorer
I've been using a group 31m diehard marine in my 2013 cruiser for a few months with no ill effects. I installed it after putting in a winch and onboard air compressor, I plan on pairing it with a 34m when I get my dual battery setup installed.
 

RangerXLT

Adventurer
Don't mean to bust in here but could someone clear up a question? if you ran a set up like this with a 100ah battery, how much could you drain your battery down and still have enough cca to start the truck?
 

4x4junkie

Explorer
Don't mean to bust in here but could someone clear up a question? if you ran a set up like this with a 100ah battery, how much could you drain your battery down and still have enough cca to start the truck?

I would think a 60-70%-discharged battery can still crank an engine over, however every situation is different (vehicles with higher CCA requirements are likely to be affected sooner than ones requiring lower current).

It should be noted however you really don't want to discharge any deep-cycle battery more than 50% if you want the best life out of it. Following that advice, you likely wouldn't have to worry about not being able to start your engine.
 

joneseyyy

Explorer
I ran a group 31 die hard platinum alone for a year before adding a group 34 die hard platinum secondary. Worked great solo but wanted more juice for all the accessories.
 

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