Danny G Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 OK, So my best friend from growing up and I were talking on the phone about my resto-mod 86 F-150 and one of the things he brought up that I should should do outside of OBA is an secondary battery or deep cell under the hood. There is definitely plenty of room for this, and could potentially be wired to a power inverter. The discussion then becomes: 1) how to properly wire this up into the truck, obviously it will have to be wired in parallel with the main battery. 2) If using a deep cell it may be good to put a cut off switch, but then that may cause charge issues, so running parallel with the mains pre/post starter relay seems the way to go. 3) where is the best place to mount this battery? Is there some preexisting holes for diesel variants? Should I get another OEM battery tray and mount it near the washer reservoir? I do plan on doing the 3g swap at the same time as this. I may also be rerouting/rewiring the harness so it runs around the engine bay rather than every which way across the top of the engine by making basically plug and play harness extensions, my only concern with this would be built in wire harness resistance values that the computer may be looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 I think dual batteries in these trucks were on the same side. Consider going to the Bricknose auxiliary battery tray. These were on the left side. I think these later trays are a much stronger setup. You will have to change to the later washer & overflow reservoir though. Gary has done all kinds of mental calculus (and his usual eight page microanalsis) for having a house battery. It's here in the forum -somewhere- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 I think dual batteries in these trucks were on the same side. Consider going to the Bricknose auxiliary battery tray. These were on the left side. I think these later trays are a much stronger setup. You will have to change to the later washer & overflow reservoir though. Gary has done all kinds of mental calculus (and his usual eight page microanalsis) for having a house battery. It's here in the forum -somewhere- The wiring for the aux battery is best shown on these Charge & Power Distribution - Gas Engines pages of the 1985 EVTM. You'll want to see the illustrations on Page 14, and then the main wiring is on Page 15. But the aux battery itself as well as the relay is shown on Page 20. As you'll see, they used a large yellow wire that is probably already in your truck. It ends below the steering column in the engine compartment. Then you'll need a relay, but the wiring to pull it in is probably already there as well. But the aux battery tray won't be there. It is shown on this page in Documentation/Fasteners & Illustrations/Front Clip/Fenders & Aprons. And that's on the driver's side. But the later battery holders are much stronger, as Jim points out. I'm going with at least one of those on Big Blue's transformation. But, since I will have an air cleaner box and power distribution box to fill the left fender, I may have to move the aux battery to the right side. Hopefully two of the latter battery trays can be used for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Roma Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 The wiring for the aux battery is best shown on these Charge & Power Distribution - Gas Engines pages of the 1985 EVTM. You'll want to see the illustrations on Page 14, and then the main wiring is on Page 15. But the aux battery itself as well as the relay is shown on Page 20. As you'll see, they used a large yellow wire that is probably already in your truck. It ends below the steering column in the engine compartment. Then you'll need a relay, but the wiring to pull it in is probably already there as well. But the aux battery tray won't be there. It is shown on this page in Documentation/Fasteners & Illustrations/Front Clip/Fenders & Aprons. And that's on the driver's side. But the later battery holders are much stronger, as Jim points out. I'm going with at least one of those on Big Blue's transformation. But, since I will have an air cleaner box and power distribution box to fill the left fender, I may have to move the aux battery to the right side. Hopefully two of the latter battery trays can be used for that. “ But the later battery holders are much stronger...” Which “later” ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 “ But the later battery holders are much stronger...” Which “later” ones? 1987 and later. They mount as shown below with a brace that goes up to the fender. And, they secure the battery at the bottom with a rubber clamp instead of the piece at the top that always corrodes. But, the brace goes VERY near the starter relay, so that probably needs to be moved. Or eliminated by using a PMGR starter and a HD Bosch-style relay, which is what I plan to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny G Posted October 19, 2019 Author Share Posted October 19, 2019 1987 and later. They mount as shown below with a brace that goes up to the fender. And, they secure the battery at the bottom with a rubber clamp instead of the piece at the top that always corrodes. But, the brace goes VERY near the starter relay, so that probably needs to be moved. Or eliminated by using a PMGR starter and a HD Bosch-style relay, which is what I plan to do. Unless you have a junk yard near by that has availability looks like this may be a home fabrication to mount a battery on the lh fender. Or maybe mounting an existing style in reverse. Do we have the full PN for the trays and supports. 10732 and 10769? Heck it may be worth doing just because these trays are pricey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Roma Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 Unless you have a junk yard near by that has availability looks like this may be a home fabrication to mount a battery on the lh fender. Or maybe mounting an existing style in reverse. Do we have the full PN for the trays and supports. 10732 and 10769? Heck it may be worth doing just because these trays are pricey. Still less expensive than ebay, the RH is $150! The full part number for the LH is F4TZ10732A, for the RH /B. Hold down F4TZ10769A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 1987 and later. They mount as shown below with a brace that goes up to the fender. And, they secure the battery at the bottom with a rubber clamp instead of the piece at the top that always corrodes. But, the brace goes VERY near the starter relay, so that probably needs to be moved. Or eliminated by using a PMGR starter and a HD Bosch-style relay, which is what I plan to do. The bricknose battery holders mount ABOVE the inner fender and the battery clamping wedge is either glass filled plastic (nylon?) or steel. I have seen both, but never rubber, even hard rubber like an old comb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Roma Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 The bricknose battery holders mount ABOVE the inner fender and the battery clamping wedge is either glass filled plastic (nylon?) or steel. I have seen both, but never rubber, even hard rubber like an old comb. The rubber etc. details are for 87/ trucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 The rubber etc. details are for 87/ trucks. I HAVE an '87 truck, and had an '89 parts truck. If you want me to pull it out and take a picture, I will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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