2011 Tacoma IBS and second battery install

takesiteasy

Adventurer
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:

100_1638.jpg100_1639.jpg100_1646.jpg
 

Dirtytires

Explorer
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

Triarius
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.
 

takesiteasy

Adventurer
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

Adventurer
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.
 

ETAV8R

Founder of D.E.R.P.
Got your post in the other thread but thought I'd ask here too if you have anymore pics of your 2nd battery instal.
 

takesiteasy

Adventurer
More pics.

Here are some more pics of the battery install.
This is the location before the mounting plate is installed. There were three factory studs to mount to. I had to add a shim at the back one to raise that point to the level of the plate. I used rubber washers to isolate the plate and a foam pad where the plate contacts the wheel well. The plate is installed under the air intake bracket and uses that bolt also.
IMG_1031.jpg

This shows the plate in place and mounted. The extra holes in the back are for mounting the battery tray. I used a piece of clear plastic laid over the location to be able to mark where the studs were located and made a template to drill the holes in the plate from that.
IMG_1038.jpg

This shows the battery tray in place.
IMG_1040.jpg

This shows the tray in a wider view.
IMG_1042.jpg

You can see the finished result in the beginning of the thread. I hope this helps some of you out there.
 

takesiteasy

Adventurer
New thoughts and advice needed

Reviving this thread for some more discussion. The system as installed is working well but my original starting battery is dead and needs to be replaced. I have an idea that I would like some feedback on. I would like to have more capacity in the auxiliary battery- the location has space for only a group 34. I can fit a group 31 in the starting battery location. What do folks think of switching the starting function to the smaller group 34 battery and running the camper and accessories off a group 31 mounted in the original starting battery location? It would require rewiring the system, a bit longer cable and some thought to routing the cable to the starter but that doesn't seem too problematic. Any thoughts?
 

flyingwil

Supporting Sponsor - Sierra Expeditions
Reviving this thread for some more discussion. The system as installed is working well but my original starting battery is dead and needs to be replaced. I have an idea that I would like some feedback on. I would like to have more capacity in the auxiliary battery- the location has space for only a group 34. I can fit a group 31 in the starting battery location. What do folks think of switching the starting function to the smaller group 34 battery and running the camper and accessories off a group 31 mounted in the original starting battery location? It would require rewiring the system, a bit longer cable and some thought to routing the cable to the starter but that doesn't seem too problematic. Any thoughts?

I agree that it would not be too much of a problem as long as the install on the wiring was done not to cause problems down the road.
 

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