Basesquatch overland build with dual battery setup

[Oaklandoverland]

List of what’s done so far


Valkyrie Rack
Autohome Columbus Variant tent
Valkyrie license plate holder
Cheap Amazon bullbar
Lasfit amber and white fog lights
Lasfit 42” light bar
Auxbeam 6 light controller
DV8 fog light mount
ARB fridge
Redarc 25 Amp DC DC charger
American adventure lab Blue sea switch mount
M.O.R.E. extinguisher mount.
Deltran 5 amp charger
Cobra 500W inverter and remote
3 x Full Throttle FT230 batteries
Solar SB50 plug, 110V plug, Noco charger plug, dometic fridge plug
Mabett door pockets
OEM Transfer skid
Mabett transmission skid
Barnes shock skids
RCI fuel tank skid
Zroadz rock sliders
JCR Table gate table
Window tint rear
Thor compressor mount
Viair 400P compressor
Mabett cargo mat set
Curtis hitc

I thought I would post a few notes for the build. I have spent a lot of time on the forum figuring out the build and there were a few things I worked through that I figured would help as people search the forum.

First, I forgot to add aux switches to my order, which really bummed me out. Went with a Auxbeam 6, was able to mount the control unit above the fuse box with some custom brackets. Looks clean. Ran switch on wire to the ignition coil fuse under hood.

Spent a lot of time figuring out how to run wires from the light bar down. Found a ford light bar wiring diagram and followed it. Essentially it wraps around and under the weather stripping. I caulked the wires in place on the inside edge return then down the A pillar. Lots of room in there and super clean. Way better than drilling or running down windshield. Mounted Auxbeam control where the bronco plate sits by gear shift. Super clean look.

Went with Valkyrie roof rack. They build some really nice stuff, but I wouldn’t do it again. First was something little -they shorted some bolts and wouldn’t ship them withoutme Paying for shipment as they only have a 30 day warranty. Literally sat unopened for months as I waited on my bronco. When I said sure to that, I got no response back. But my bigger issue was chasing down squeaks. Putting my tent on foam pads helped…but was getting a lot of squeaking up front. Finally isolated it to the front mounting plates. Looks like they punch them out and then bend the steel resulting in mid shaped holes in the front plate. I believe this is where the squeaking came from. Eventually made it better with silicone spray.

Also regardless of rack be very careful with the front mounting points above the windshield. One of mine was all messed up from the factory, I think too much paint. I would run thread cleaners on all of it before reinstalling and don’t over tighten. Eventually I got most of the squeaks out. And the rack looks great, there is clearance to remove both panels and it looks wicked with the light bar. If I had to do it over again I would have done the factory rack and added the single rear bar from a Valkyrie. Or gone with Zroads. There are fewer potential issues with rattles and their sliders are awesome.


Next, I spent a ton of time working through a dual battery set up. I am in the battery business. Don’t want lithium in the back. But wanted decent capacity. While having everything hidden. I ended up running a American adventure lab blue sea switch bracket up front. Ran 2 gauge wire to the rear, to a red arc dc to do charger mounted behind the driver side panel. Also mounted a Deltran charger behind same panel. And last installed a 500w inverter mounted to the roll bar. Rather than drilling used slip on nut brackets on outside edge. And a custom interior bracket. Hid bus bars and fuses. Then ran dometic fridge plug and a 110v plug on the removable panel. Drilled in a spot for the inverter remote. Ran wires under the rear cargo area to have a noco plug for the inbound line for charger and an sb50 connector for solar panel. And last and most important installed 3 x ft230 in the rear storage container. 20ah each for 60ah. Similar to a regular full sized battery and found the Full Throttle brand to be excellent. It required some trimming of the center area and rebuilding some plastic . Just formed a chunk of random plastic over the area I cut and glued in place. Turned out pretty good. One day I might have a new box fabricated for the area. Went back and forth on whether to run two batteries with no cutting or 3 and cut. I am overall happy and glad to have capacity without running a lithium bank.

As I ran power to the rear I figured I would mount my compressor in the rear. Thor compressor mount turned out great, and way less than ARB up front. I’m a little concerned about eye candy in the rear but with a cover and tinted windows looks great.

Done for now. Been really happy with the end result.

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[Aztec1382]

thats alot of wires
coming out nice

 

[NVCowboy]

I'm liking the batteries under the floor. I'm looking to run some hand held spotlights and a game call. Can a couple of batteries like yours be wired to the alternator? Do I need another component? I believe there's a charge wire fir the factory trailer tow harness under the driver's rear panel.

 

[MNBigfoot]

Great write up, thanks for posting. Just an FYI, not sure if it's needed, but the Bronco's with the mid-package and above (invertor), get a bigger alternator.

 

[Oaklandoverland]

I'm liking the batteries under the floor. I'm looking to run some hand held spotlights and a game call. Can a couple of batteries like yours be wired to the alternator? Do I need another component? I believe there's a charge wire fir the factory trailer tow harness under the driver's rear panel.

you need a dc to dc charger, can’t use a solonoid as it is a smart alternator. There is a harness there but it won’t help. You have to run at least a 4 gauge battery cable back to the rear to the dc to dc charger. I used a factory ground spot

Great write up, thanks for posting. Just an FYI, not sure if it's needed, but the Bronco's with the mid-package and above (invertor), get a bigger alternator.

for sure

Great write up, thanks for posting. Just an FYI, not sure if it's needed, but the Bronco's with the mid-package and above (invertor), get a bigger alternator.

Yep. I’ve been keeping fridge on and alternators been keeping up. dc to dc is only 25 amps and charging a 60ah pack.

 

[Gritty]

Great write up, do you have a link for the wiring diagram for the roof light bar? I like to see how it's run using the weather stripping and A-pillar. I need all the help I can get, thanks in advance

 

[robepa]

I am in the battery business. Don’t want lithium in the back.

Nice setup! I'm curious about your statement and the reasons. If is it for safety concerns do you see a difference between the NMS and LiFePO4 chemistry?

 

[Gettyup]

List of what’s done so far


Valkyrie Rack
Autohome Columbus Variant tent
Valkyrie license plate holder
Cheap Amazon bullbar
Lasfit amber and white fog lights
Lasfit 42” light bar
Auxbeam 6 light controller
DV8 fog light mount
ARB fridge
Redarc 25 Amp DC DC charger
American adventure lab Blue sea switch mount
M.O.R.E. extinguisher mount.
Deltran 5 amp charger
Cobra 500W inverter and remote
3 x Full Throttle FT230 batteries
Solar SB50 plug, 110V plug, Noco charger plug, dometic fridge plug
Mabett door pockets
OEM Transfer skid
Mabett transmission skid
Barnes shock skids
RCI fuel tank skid
Zroadz rock sliders
JCR Table gate table
Window tint rear
Thor compressor mount
Viair 400P compressor
Mabett cargo mat set
Curtis hitc

I thought I would post a few notes for the build. I have spent a lot of time on the forum figuring out the build and there were a few things I worked through that I figured would help as people search the forum.

First, I forgot to add aux switches to my order, which really bummed me out. Went with a Auxbeam 6, was able to mount the control unit above the fuse box with some custom brackets. Looks clean. Ran switch on wire to the ignition coil fuse under hood.

Spent a lot of time figuring out how to run wires from the light bar down. Found a ford light bar wiring diagram and followed it. Essentially it wraps around and under the weather stripping. I caulked the wires in place on the inside edge return then down the A pillar. Lots of room in there and super clean. Way better than drilling or running down windshield. Mounted Auxbeam control where the bronco plate sits by gear shift. Super clean look.

Went with Valkyrie roof rack. They build some really nice stuff, but I wouldn’t do it again. First was something little -they shorted some bolts and wouldn’t ship them withoutme Paying for shipment as they only have a 30 day warranty. Literally sat unopened for months as I waited on my bronco. When I said sure to that, I got no response back. But my bigger issue was chasing down squeaks. Putting my tent on foam pads helped…but was getting a lot of squeaking up front. Finally isolated it to the front mounting plates. Looks like they punch them out and then bend the steel resulting in mid shaped holes in the front plate. I believe this is where the squeaking came from. Eventually made it better with silicone spray.

Also regardless of rack be very careful with the front mounting points above the windshield. One of mine was all messed up from the factory, I think too much paint. I would run thread cleaners on all of it before reinstalling and don’t over tighten. Eventually I got most of the squeaks out. And the rack looks great, there is clearance to remove both panels and it looks wicked with the light bar. If I had to do it over again I would have done the factory rack and added the single rear bar from a Valkyrie. Or gone with Zroads. There are fewer potential issues with rattles and their sliders are awesome.


Next, I spent a ton of time working through a dual battery set up. I am in the battery business. Don’t want lithium in the back. But wanted decent capacity. While having everything hidden. I ended up running a American adventure lab blue sea switch bracket up front. Ran 2 gauge wire to the rear, to a red arc dc to do charger mounted behind the driver side panel. Also mounted a Deltran charger behind same panel. And last installed a 500w inverter mounted to the roll bar. Rather than drilling used slip on nut brackets on outside edge. And a custom interior bracket. Hid bus bars and fuses. Then ran dometic fridge plug and a 110v plug on the removable panel. Drilled in a spot for the inverter remote. Ran wires under the rear cargo area to have a noco plug for the inbound line for charger and an sb50 connector for solar panel. And last and most important installed 3 x ft230 in the rear storage container. 20ah each for 60ah. Similar to a regular full sized battery and found the Full Throttle brand to be excellent. It required some trimming of the center area and rebuilding some plastic . Just formed a chunk of random plastic over the area I cut and glued in place. Turned out pretty good. One day I might have a new box fabricated for the area. Went back and forth on whether to run two batteries with no cutting or 3 and cut. I am overall happy and glad to have capacity without running a lithium bank.

As I ran power to the rear I figured I would mount my compressor in the rear. Thor compressor mount turned out great, and way less than ARB up front. I’m a little concerned about eye candy in the rear but with a cover and tinted windows looks great.

Done for now. Been really happy with the end result.

Question! Why not Lithium? Inquiring minds would like to know.

 

[Bruno]

Went back and forth on whether to run two batteries with no cutting or 3 and cut. I am overall happy and glad to have capacity without running a lithium bank.

Super thoughtful setup. Great to see dual batteries finally being explored for the Bronco. I hope to add a system.

Questions:
* Do you have a schematic diagram of all the components, and how they are wired together?
* Did you consider a Heavy Duty Alternator - to help charge the batteries faster?

THANKS!

 

[swooshdave]

Question! Why not Lithium? Inquiring minds would like to know.

After dropping that much coin on the tent the lithium batteries may have been too much.

 

[NorthShoreBronco]

Very nice set up! Will be following this thread for more details!

 

[Oaklandoverland]

Great write up, do you have a link for the wiring diagram for the roof light bar? I like to see how it's run using the weather stripping and A-pillar. I need all the help I can get, thanks in advance

Followed these instructions found on forum. Worked great.

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...er-stripping-wire-routing-instructions.68718/

 

[Oaklandoverland]

Nice setup! I'm curious about your statement and the reasons. If is it for safety concerns do you see a difference between the NMS and LiFePO4 chemistry?

I prefer sticking with good old AGM lead acid batteries. Not everyone will agree with that, however I believe there are a few good reasons. IF something happens, shorts, etc- lithium is impossible to put out. You gotta let it burn, which in turn burns down the truck. And this is mounted right near the gas tank. It is true that the lithiums you can cycle down farther with less damage, but these AGM's do an excellent job cycling as well. You'll get a few hundred cycles out of them. I have a 60ah pack, it's pretty rare I will cycle these all the way down. If I'm going to camp for a while, I'll bring solar along. Kill the lithiums, and if the BMS kicks in - you won't be able to recover them. When it is time to recycle them - they are difficult to recycle. I really didn't want to try to run a bank of lithiums running little F2 connectors. The batteries I went with have a 1/4 inch ring terminal and I can get a real connection on them.

I'm running a 42ah battery in my jeep running a slightly smaller fridge, it's going on 4 years and running strong. I see no reason to go lithium - other than I really like the American Adventure lab mounting plate and system. It's super clean. Debated going with two 20ah batteries for 40ah total and using an aluminum mount available for cheap out there - but decided to kick it up.

 

[Oaklandoverland]

After dropping that much coin on the tent the lithium batteries may have been too much.

On the battery pack I didn't care about the cost. For me it is about volatility, ease of recycling, better connections, no worries around cold (or hot) weather. But the volatility is huge for me. I had several lithium fires over the in various businesses I managed. So lead is a simple way to reduce the risk. No different than why we all buy insurance. Chance may be small of damages - but just not worth it for me.

 

[Gritty]

Followed these instructions found on forum. Worked great.

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...er-stripping-wire-routing-instructions.68718/

Thank You, Sir

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