Um, that's a little weird. Software glitch I suppose.

I still hold my ground though and state that by adding anything that needs to be belt driven to the belt system on a motor will indeed rob power, and with these 2nd gen motors, we need all the help that we can possibly get.

 

Yes indeed, the connection is positive to positive, negative to negative, so the battery is in a parallel configuration.

A higher current output alternator will benefit you by reducing charge cycle times, but won't necessarily last any longer than a stocker. In fact, it might not last as long. There's only just so much cooling air available to the internal rectifier, so bumping the current limit upward without somehow increasing the cooling capacity will make the diodes in the rectifier run hotter -- and heat is (primarily) what kills semiconductors. If you want a greater lifespan of the charging system, you'd do well to dump the serious money required to get a higher output unit that runs an external rectifier.

An isolator would be a good investment so that running loads in the camper cannot deprive you of energy needed to start the engine. It sucks to find yourself stranded because you fell asleep with the lights on.

 

to run dual batteries, anyone that posted + to + and - to - is correct. you can get dual battieries on most 3/4 and 1 ton trucks from the factory. most cases its because it has the snow plow package installed on it. or you bought a diesel. i am going to be installing dual batteries myself for my plow setup, and was also wondering about that emissions crap too...

 

I'm glad someone made this thread, I've been thinking about dual batteries for quite some time. I have/plan to have a lot of lights and accessories so I'd like the extra juice......


And no one has actually answered his question...... about fitment issues

 

I am also going dual batteries. I have the tray and the cables just neet to install it

 

I would most definitely be using a good quality batt isolator, the 20-60$ ones are just crap, In most cases the cheap ones will allow back feeding from one batt to another. The ones in the link are what we installed on most of the houseboats at my old work, and unless badly treated they would last many years.

http://www.emarineinc.com/index.php?cPath=139_30

Something to think about if you hook these two batts together in parallel they will both be powering your camper at the same time(and draining both), I would be using the aux batt just by itself for the camper, yes hook it up to the charging system. It will have it's own set of batt leads one ground to the frame and the pos to just the camper leads,If you are going to be using your trailer plug to power this camper you should move it's 12v aux power lead to the aux batt. By doing so you are Isolating your start batt.

 

Okay then...

The emissions doodads can safely be moved out of the way. Depending upon the model year, there may even be holes already in place on the fender well to support the move.

 

I have been running 2 batteries for over a year now with no problems . I have one under the hood and one sealed deep cycle behind the passenger seat . The charging system has always worked perfect. I use the deep cycle for my trolling motor on by fishing boat and I have a quick connect to take in in and out of the truck. I also have my stereo amplifier wired into the deep cycle and have a shut off switch for each battery . So when I'm camping and I want some tunes i just shut off the battery under the hood so if I have too many wobbly pops and run it down...i flip the switch and the truck still starts .

 

if you have a right side battery box from a cummins,(94-02) it will bolt right in place, on the pass fender, but the gas emmission junk will have to be moved, (or deleted, if you are an area to do that)

 

For that you need a larger alternator, not twin batteries.