Dual Battery Setup DIY

With thanks to George and some prodding on RF I will attempt my first right up

This is how to install dual battery's in your truck .

Things you will need .....

2 identical battery's with the same charge ect ... I chose 2 that had 1000 cranking amps .

1 isolator with the same amperage that your alt puts out . (In my case I have a 136 amp ALT so I went with a 140 amp isolator .

1 passenger side battery tray from a CTD .. dont forget the hold down bracket and bolt . Mine is still in the mail but im **** so I used a temp strap

4 cables from local parts store . I used all battery cable line think its 2 gauge
You will need two 72" and two 42" depending on how you route them .

Pack of zip ties and some time .

Total cost around 500 bucks . But well worth it if you are like me and use allot of power . I run a winch , audio amps , CB with linier , power converter, 8 lights ect ...

The purpose is to have one battery for the truck and one just for accessories.

OK ...

Once you have your parts .. first thing ... disconnect your battery .

Next take out your stock air box and install the CTD tray .. bolts right up

Second place 2 new battery's in there locations .

Third .. find a place to mount your isolator .. I put mine on the top of the fuse box lid and bolted it down ... not many places to mount it to but thats your choice .

Now that you have your battery's in place and the isolator mounted ....

Take the red positive that is hooked to your ALT and re route it to post one on the isolator , then run a line from post 2 on the isolator to the ALT , then run another positive line from the post 3 on the isolator to the positive on the second battery . Ground both battery's to the truck .

Hook the original positive wire that was on battery one back up like normal .

Then gather all your accessories and tie them into the second battery's positive post .

And your done ..

Looks great now what are you doing for your intake?

Its in the mail ... should be in Wed . Im going with a dual set up and piping them to SRT hood .

Nice write up. It will be interesting to see what the ctd battery tray looks like installed. Does it come with the battery blanket also?

Yes , if you order it . Need the tray , the hold down block and bolt and the blanket . New to your door 89 bucks .

Nice job, Dave.

nice setup

Dave, can you add the part numbers, and perhaps links to where you got the parts?

Battery tray 55276205AC

Hold down and bolt 55276348AA

Those are from Dodge

The rest you can get at any auto place

Dan, you know Henson is going to have the best price delivered.

Good old O'Reilly Super Starts lol

Looks good man

RubberFrog said:

Dan, you know Henson is going to have the best price delivered.

Click to expand...

Henson?

Ramhunter, is the majority of the project cost in the batteries you purchased?

If you dont mind breaking it down for me, i'd love to see an appx cost for the items.

I know for a fact 2 gauge cable runs about 5-6 dollars a foot. And another matching battery to my current aftermarket one, $160.

The Assassin said:

Henson?

Click to expand...

Henson Motorsports. They are a dodge dealer.

sullivan said:

Ramhunter, is the majority of the project cost in the batteries you purchased?

If you dont mind breaking it down for me, i'd love to see an appx cost for the items.

I know for a fact 2 gauge cable runs about 5-6 dollars a foot. And another matching battery to my current aftermarket one, $160.

Click to expand...

These battery's were 140 x2 a pop because I kept my core , 12 bucks for it
The stuff from the dealer like the battery tray ect .. was 89
The wires and ends were 50 bucks
The Isolator was 85 bucks
And the new air cleaner and parts was around 50

So ... little over 500

Hi There,

I purchased an aftermarket isolator and new battery tray from a 2500 for the right side of my truck quite some time ago so I've had most of the peices but just haven't gotten around to **** the work.

I've been stalling because from what I see under the hood this mod will force me into ditching the old airbox and replacing it with an aftermarket one due to lack of space.

I've been sitting n the fence as to what to do.

Do you have an aftermarket intake, have you found a new location for the stock air box, or were you able to get it all to fit?

This is a project I would like to finish I'm just not sure if I need to runout and buy a new intake first or which one to buy.

Thanks for your help!

Pictures are bye bye :'(

AhmicAir said:

Hi There,

I purchased an aftermarket isolator and new battery tray from a 2500 for the right side of my truck quite some time ago so I've had most of the peices but just haven't gotten around to **** the work.

I've been stalling because from what I see under the hood this mod will force me into ditching the old airbox and replacing it with an aftermarket one due to lack of space.

I've been sitting n the fence as to what to do.

Do you have an aftermarket intake, have you found a new location for the stock air box, or were you able to get it all to fit?

This is a project I would like to finish I'm just not sure if I need to runout and buy a new intake first or which one to buy.

Thanks for your help!

Click to expand...

I've had everything to do this for a couple of months now. Have started using the Yellow Top I bought to be the 2nd battery for powering the trolling motor in my small ABS boat.

I'm going to cut out the front of my fake hood scoop (which was actually purchased as a band aid to cover a dent caused by a fallen pine limb) and cut out the center of the hood. Then it's just a matter of taking about $5 in PVC and re-routing my CAI in the center of the engine, under the scoop, freeing up the side for the 2nd battery tray. Local dealer sold me the tray for $65, dunno if that's their regular price or they gave me a deal cause they know me?

Holdup is I went and got myself a hernia. I've had it for years and it was tiny, but I got stupid and tore it to about 4x the size it was. Stupid cheap insurance won't cover it because it was pre-existing. I'm in the process of signing a policy that will cover 80% of it even as a pre-exist, BUT there is a 6 month period I have to wait.

Unless someone wants to come help me take the hood off and put it back on after I cut, this one is gonna have to wait awhile...

Sorry Dude ... im going to have to find those pics

Here is a quick one on the CAI

^^^ You better be cleaning up those wires under there sir.