How To Install Your Battery In The Trunk.

[firefighterwhite89]

How to move your battery to the trunk (This can get expensive).

Tools needed:
*18+ feet of 0-2 gauge wire(red)
*18+ feet of 0-4 gauge wire (black)
*(×2)1+ foot of 2-4 gauge wire (red)
*(×4) 0-2 gauge wire lugs
*(×4) 2-4 gauge wire lugs
*Wire snips (I used a hacksaw cause huge wire is challenging to snip)
*Wire crimpers
*Battery box
*Large Philips head screwdriver
*10mm socket
*Ratchet (for the socket)


Step 1:Disconnect your ground wire on your battery first then disconnect your power wire; in that order. now pull out your battery.


Step 2:Remove the bolts holding down the battery "shelf." (You can reuse this in the trunk to sit your battery box on)


Step 3: Run your 2 18 foot long power and ground cables to the front of a car from the trunk. (It's up to you how you run the wiring)[I ran mine on the far drivers side down on the floorboard]


Step 4:Put the 4 lugs on each end of the 18+ft. wiring. Put the 4 smaller lugs on the 2 1ft. Long wires.


Step 5:Now take the two 1ft. Wires and attach one end of them to the main power wire lug with a ¾" long ⅜" bolt&nut. Wrap the bolt/lugs with electrical tape(the goal is to keep this bolt/lug connection from shorting/arcing)
http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/ab320/firefighterwhite89/IMG_20111203_093728.jpg

Step 6:Now attach your shorter power wires:one to your starter(10mm nut) and one to your underhood fuse box(large Philip head screw) (of course after you remove the old stock power wires).


Step 7:Find a spot on the motor or chassis you want to attach the ground to and attach it. {I Installed Mine Here:}
http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/ab320/firefighterwhite89/IMG_20111203_093655.jpg


Step 8:Install your battery box however you want it positioned and put your battery in the battery box.
http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/ab320/firefighterwhite89/IMG_20111203_093933.jpg

Step 9:Attach your ground wire, then your power wire to the battery, place the top on the battery box.
http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/ab320/firefighterwhite89/IMG_20111203_093920.jpg

Step 10:Get in your car and drive to the local bank, walk in claiming you have a weapon and rob the bank. Installation complete.


[I installed another ground from my battery ground to the metal trunk chassis. This is optional but advisable]

[Pico]

you know that you should have a fused junction box for protection, taping the wire together with tape is not really that safe.
Im Just Saying

[firefighterwhite89]

you know that you should have a fused junction box for protection, taping the wire together with tape is not really that safe.
Im Just Saying

If only you could get that from just any auto parts store, in which here in Alabama, they don't have anywhere. I tried every auto parts place, truck parts places, even tractor supply and tractor stores. Not even either Grainger had anything I could use to connect the wires with, and they've always had anything and everything you can't get anywhere else, so I did what I could with what i had to work with. just saying.
Besides, isn't that 70amp fuse in the box for that in specific?

Where would you go buy one of these?

[89T]

stereo shop.

fail with the 18 feet of black as well.

[89T]

circut breaker would be nice as well.

[lostforawhile]

you can get the big circuit breaker at advance or oreilies, I think online as well, the breaker needs to go next to the battery as close as possible, not putting you down, but that setup is a fire waiting to happen, I just would hate to see you lose your car or worse in a fire, as far as connecting the wires, go to home depot and look in the electrical section, they have copper connectors with a big lug in each end, you put the wire in each end and tighten the lug, now you cover it with first, friction tape for electrical wires, then you wrap it a couple of times with quality electrical tape. you also need to anchor the battery properly to the car, the plastic boxes are meant for boats not cars. you need a proper metal battery box, bolted through the trunk floor, with a reinforcing plate underneath. If that battery comes lose in a collision it can kill you.

[A18A]

don't forget to install grommets where wires go through metal holes

[89T]

For refrence anytime you run heavy guage wire , your local stereo shop has everything you need.

[firefighterwhite89]

For refrence anytime you run heavy guage wire , your local stereo shop has everything you need.

Never thought about a stereo shop …duh. Lol. Lowe's, Home Depot were all failure. They had massive wire butt splices that were rectangular and the wires were attached via Allen screws. They had 2, 5, 7, 10 attachment steel junctions but nothing like what I needed. What I found at home repair stores seemed more of a fire hazard than what I wound up
doing. On a side note, I have had the power wires attached with a bolt for almost a year without a problem …yet. Just finally got unlazy and wrote a how to.

The battery box is bolted to the original battery sheet metal "shelf " and the shelf is bolted to the chassis. Then the battery box tie down belt is tightened on the top and under the shelf. If I ever am in an accident, I'm screwed. These cars were never designed to be wrecked.I always wear a seatbelt, hope for the best and drive fairly cautiously.

I actually designed this thread for a how to since people are always asking how to do it and where the how to is. Just needs to be fixed up a little.

[firefighterwhite89]

N
you can get the big circuit breaker at advance or oreilies, I think online as well, the breaker needs to go next to the battery as close as possible, not putting you down, but that setup is a fire waiting to happen, I just would hate to see you lose your car or worse in a fire, as far as connecting the wires, go to home depot and look in the electrical section, they have copper connectors with a big lug in each end, you put the wire in each end and tighten the lug, now you cover it with first, friction tape for electrical wires, then you wrap it a couple of times with quality electrical tape. you also need to anchor the battery properly to the car, the plastic boxes are meant for boats not cars. you need a proper metal battery box, bolted through the trunk floor, with a reinforcing plate underneath. If that battery comes lose in a collision it can kill you.

What exactly is the point of a circuit breakers? Isn't the 70amp fuse for that?


Why the fail on 18ft of black wire? Our car is a Unibody but from the trunk to the engine is a distance. I gained from 13.6V to 14.1V AFTER i added the large ground from the battery ground about a month or so ago. It instantly ran/idled so much smoother...so fail? Negative ghost rider

[lostforawhile]

N

What exactly is the point of a circuit breakers? Isn't the 70amp fuse for that?


Why the fail on 18ft of black wire? Our car is a Unibody but from the trunk to the engine is a distance. I gained from 13.6V to 14.1V AFTER i added the large ground from the battery ground about a month or so ago. It instantly ran/idled so much smoother...so fail? Negative ghost rider

the issue is that the wire is going through the car, between the car, and where it connects to the fuse box, there is nothing to protect the wire all that distance, if it shorts anywhere between the battery and fuse, it's bye bye car. the splice I was talking about at home depot is designed to put a heavy stranded wire in each end and tighten up the lugs, they look bulky but are very safe if done right, I have pictures somewhere where I built a battery box for my odyssey, you also have the option to crimp heavy lugs on each end of the wire, then use a bolt,lock washer and nut to bolt the lugs together, again bulky looking, but any connection of wire this heavy is going to be that way. I have taken my heavy 2 gauge wire apart several times trying different lugs, I'm paranoid about this electrical stuff.

[lostforawhile]

I got rid of the two small fuses boxes on the sides, and the extra loose wires, but this is the breaker setup. it's as close to the battery as possible
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd158/lostforawhile/S4021294.jpg

[89T]

The gain you speak of by adding the ground wire. well is hard to belive. how long is the ground from the batt to the chassis? Not to mention what size and lenth from chassis to engine block. There should not be that much resistance in the chassis alone, unless there are dirty conections present.

[firefighterwhite89]

The gain you speak of by adding the ground wire. well is hard to belive. how long is the ground from the batt to the chassis? Not to mention what size and lenth from chassis to engine block. There should not be that much resistance in the chassis alone, unless there are dirty conections present.

Maybe I misread the simple digital voltmeter gauge I've used for years. Maybe I'm just imagining it running smoother. So the distance from the Far end of the trunk to the engine ground points isn't too far when grounded to the chassis?

[lostforawhile]

Maybe I misread the simple digital voltmeter gauge I've used for years. Maybe I'm just imagining it running smoother. So the distance from the Far end of the trunk to the engine ground points isn't too far when grounded to the chassis?
you should just ground the battery as close to the battery as possible, you are going to have far more resistance by running the ground to the front, the car itself is the ground, everything else in the car goes through the chassis to ground anyway, with that extra ground wire, it will have to travel to that point, then all the way through the ground wire back to the battery

[89T]

I am not saying that you did not gain anything. I just said it was hard to belive. Typically you want the battery ground to chassis as short and clean as possible. When I say clean as possible I mean sand the paint to bare metal and solder all conections ect.

I am glad you had some gains.

[lostforawhile]

check the crimps at the terminals on your ground wires, and make sure the steel under them is clean, bare metal clean, after the ground is bolted down, coat the ground terminal at the body with petroleum jelly ,this stops corrosion at the terminal. Grounding the battery like this right at the battery should give you the best ground possible. if you aren't sure about your ground crimps, buy one of the short ground cables already made up at the auto parts store.

[firefighterwhite89]

Where did you find your 70amp circuit breaker? I've found 50,80,90,100,125 and 150 amp circuit breakers but no 70amp. Would an AMG fuse work?
And for attaching one 2gauge cable to two 2gauge cables, would a battery idolater switch work? http://m.advanceautoparts.com/mt/shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_Electrical-Switches---Specialty-Cut-Off-Switch-300-Amp-Battery-Isolator-Dorman---Conduct-Tite_16320039-P_N3018_A|GRP2005_____


Here's a few electrical connectors I found at Lowes.

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/ab320/firefighterwhite89/IMG_20111205_131709.jpg
http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/ab320/firefighterwhite89/IMG_20111205_131728.jpg
http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/ab320/firefighterwhite89/IMG_20111205_131823.jpg

[lostforawhile]

it doesn't have to be 70, the reason there's a 70 amp fuse is to protect the main power going into the fuse box under the hood. You might even blow a 70 amp breaker trying to start the car on a cold morning, remember that 70 amps doesn't include the starter. if you are running two gauge cable a 140 or 150 is probably fine, the reason for that is to protect the car from a dead short in that heavy cable going through the body. A 150 amp breaker will blow immediately in a dead short. you still need to protect the fuse box by using the existing cable into it and it's fuse. You would tie the wire that fed the fusebox into the heavy wire coming from the battery, the easiest way to do this is to run the heavy wire directly to the starter lug, then use a heavy duty ring crimp, not the kind you find in walmart, but one of the copper ones you would use to make welding cables. you may have to extend the wire from the fuse box slightly. as far as the wire connectors you found those will work, wrap the connection with electrical friction tape first, then use electrical tape over that. the connection will be bulky, but these are high current terminals.