2011 Tacoma IBS and second battery install

[takesiteasy]

I have been reading the forum for almost a year but I haven't posted too much. In that time I have learned quite a lot. I am very appreciative of those that have shared their knowledge. In return I thought I would post my recent project.

In anticipation of picking up a new camper from ATC at the end of May, I wanted to install a second battery to run a fridge, lights, furnace and accessories. I decided to mount the battery in the engine compartment for weight distribution reasons and ease of battery maintenance. A plus is that the battery is still there to backup the primary battery when the camper is off the truck. I learned how to do this from other posters on this and the Tacoma World forum. When the recent IBS group buy popped up (another benefit of the forum) I decided to participate and today I finished my installation.

I bought a Sears Diehard Platinum 2 which I also got on sale with an additional discount using a code (Sears2012) I also learned about on here! I mounted the battery in the engine bay on the passenger side where there was room and a convenient set of unused factory studs to mount a plate to hold the battery. I found two factory bolt hole locations to mount the relays near the factory battery. I routed the controller wires through a factory grommet in the firewall. I removed the coin tray on the right side of the steering wheel (which I didn't use anyway) and mounted the controller in the space left after removing the tray. It is visible and easily accessible but out of the way. There was room to mount my garage door opener there too. I am pleased with how it all turned out.

Here's a few pics:

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[Dirtytires]

That looks great. I would like to get a second battery as well. I dont have the room as you do on the pass side.

[Finlay]

That looks great. I would like to get a second battery as well. I dont have the room as you do on the pass side.

Indeed. The 2012s have way less room than that. Colombia overland makes a dual battery tray, although lately my thought has been to add a removable battery box in the bed and just keep the spare battery on a separate charger at home when not in use.

That's a much later project though, so I have time to think that out. Good work on the install, OP. It looks good.

[Tim A]

Awesome! Pls post pics of your camper when you get it.

[takesiteasy]

Indeed. The 2012s have way less room than that. Colombia overland makes a dual battery tray, although lately my thought has been to add a removable battery box in the bed and just keep the spare battery on a separate charger at home when not in use.

That's a much later project though, so I have time to think that out. Good work on the install, OP. It looks good.

Yeah- I looked at that dual battery tray because no one seems to make a tray for the passenger side- probably not a big enough market. I think the dual tray would be a good solution if the passenger side doesn't work for some reason. Having the battery in a box is a good solution too and many people have taken that approach.

[takesiteasy]

Awesome! Pls post pics of your camper when you get it.

I'm sure I will be taking pictures. We have to drive halfway across the country to pick it up and then back home again, dropping my wife off in Salt Lake City on the way out and picking her back up again on the way back. We haven't decided how much camping we will do on the way back as it is a shell model and we don't know if we want to take all our camping stuff all the way out there in the bed without a tailgate and bed cover. That is still under discussion. We are planning on sleeping in it on the way back though. Sending in the order was great but the wait is hard, haha.

[takesiteasy]

We got the camper. Thought I would post a link to my write-up here for future readers of this thread...

http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru...tom-ATC-camper