Dual Battery Setups vs Portable Power supply

[SPITmadFIRE]

Also, to make sure we’re talking about the same grommet, look at this video. This is where I learned about this path.

Ahh I’m assuming you have a 10s auto transmission then — that grommet he pulls out is a blank on 10s auto trucks because it’s used on 7MT configs for the primary clutch cylinder to pass through the firewall to get to the clutch pedal. Here’s a photo from my 7MT badlands showing the same grommet, and the larger rubber grommet that’s next to it that I’ve been carefully punching holes through for accessories:

I could definitely work a 4AWG wire through that large grommet, but the next route for the wire is the one I’m most curious about. I took a long time trying to cleanly snake my ARB hard wires from that grommet into the trim panel that goes from the driver’s left knee area down to the foot sill of the doorframe. If you have a really clean route for super thick 4AWG from grommet to doorframe that would be super helpful to see.

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[BroncoInTheATL]

Ahh I’m assuming you have a 10s auto transmission then — that grommet he pulls out is a blank on 10s auto trucks because it’s used on 7MT configs for the primary clutch cylinder to pass through the firewall to get to the clutch pedal. Here’s a photo from my 7MT badlands showing the same grommet, and the larger rubber grommet that’s next to it that I’ve been carefully punching holes through for accessories:

That’s exactly right. I do have the AT. I’ll still take some pics of the door frame tomorrow.

 

[SPITmadFIRE]

That’s exactly right. I do have the AT. I’ll still take some pics of the door frame tomorrow.

You rock, thanks again!

 

[climb2descend]

I'm going to be running a two battery setup using the AAL stuff, just got the batteries and mounts, where are you guys getting the F2 spades for the batteries that can accept 8AWG, ill assume just cutting some of the strands off the conductor? I can only seem to find ones that accept 10-12AWG. Seems like more then 10AWG is overkill for the short run from battery to bus bar in the cubby, the F2 is only sized to 10AWG.

 

[NVCowboy]

I’m not trying to run a fridge (just a game caller), so I probably don’t need a lot of batteries. I do like the idea of mounting in the rear tray. I also have concerns regarding charging the battery in the cold. I don’t live in the cold, but it’s cold when and where I plan on using it (I installed lead acid on my cargo trailer conversion because of this). I just have a hard time believing that the rear tray is going to be any warmer than outside ambient. Probably best to just run a portable battery and call it a day, but these installs tickle my ocd in a good way.

 

[BroncoInTheATL]

You rock, thanks again!

Here is a pic of the wire entering the cabin and passing through the doorframe. Hope this helps.

 

[BroncoInTheATL]

I'm going to be running a two battery setup using the AAL stuff, just got the batteries and mounts, where are you guys getting the F2 spades for the batteries that can accept 8AWG, ill assume just cutting some of the strands off the conductor? I can only seem to find ones that accept 10-12AWG. Seems like more then 10AWG is overkill for the short run from battery to bus bar in the cubby, the F2 is only sized to 10AWG.

This is what I used:

https://www.amazon.com/Insulated-Di...ur_browse-bin:18945766011&s=industrial&sr=1-1

 

[ElDuderino]

Is this something I'd be able to do on my own? I'm pretty inept when it comes to electrical, but I'm mechanically inclined and I'm good at following YouTube videos lol.

I like the AAL setup in the rear storage area.

I'm interested in being able to run my fridge in the back + charge camera batteries, drones, lights, ect. without having to worry about my main battery dying. Is an aux battery setup right for me? Or should I just go with a portable power station?

 

[BroncoInTheATL]

Is this something I'd be able to do on my own? I'm pretty inept when it comes to electrical, but I'm mechanically inclined and I'm good at following YouTube videos lol.

I like the AAL setup in the rear storage area.

I'm interested in being able to run my fridge in the back + charge camera batteries, drones, lights, ect. without having to worry about my main battery dying. Is an aux battery setup right for me? Or should I just go with a portable power station?

I have a Goal Zero, which I‘ve used for the purposes you described. It got me through an 8-day overlanding trip in Colorado last year and several overnights here in the Southeast. One problem was that the 12V plugs (either the Goal Zero into the truck or the fridge into the Goal Zero) would pop out on the trail and I’d get to camp and find the fridge had lost temp. Another is that the Bronco’s 12V only runs for a short time after you turn the truck off. There are a number of good portable power solutions and you could try one of them before investing the time and effort for this setup. Like you, I don’t have much electrical experience but between YouTube, a phone call with AAL, and a friend, I was able to do it over the course of about 8 hours.

 

[SPITmadFIRE]

Here is a pic of the wire entering the cabin and passing through the doorframe. Hope this helps.

This looks clean! Nice work!

Did you route both the negative and positive wires in that sleeve? Or are you only running positive to the trunk, and grounding the DCDC charger somewhere on the body in the trunk compartment?

From your other pictures looks like you only ran the positive wire back to the trunk. Not sure if my concerns about being able to ground such a high wattage connection back there make sense.

 

[BroncoInTheATL]

This looks clean! Nice work!

Did you route both the negative and positive wires in that sleeve? Or are you only running positive to the trunk, and grounding the DCDC charger somewhere on the body in the trunk compartment?

From your other pictures looks like you only ran the positive wire back to the trunk. Not sure if my concerns about being able to ground such a high wattage connection back there make sense.

There was a ground point in the trunk, near where I installed the Dometic port.

 

[SPITmadFIRE]

There was a ground point in the trunk, near where I installed the Dometic port.

Yeah I've used the grounding point over there for smaller load use cases like my WeBoost install, but was worried about it handling a full 240 watts at full blast

 

[ElDuderino]

I have a Goal Zero, which I‘ve used for the purposes you described. It got me through an 8-day overlanding trip in Colorado last year and several overnights here in the Southeast. One problem was that the 12V plugs (either the Goal Zero into the truck or the fridge into the Goal Zero) would pop out on the trail and I’d get to camp and find the fridge had lost temp. Another is that the Bronco’s 12V only runs for a short time after you turn the truck off. There are a number of good portable power solutions and you could try one of them before investing the time and effort for this setup. Like you, I don’t have much electrical experience but between YouTube, a phone call with AAL, and a friend, I was able to do it over the course of about 8 hours.

I think I will go for a power station and see how it goes. Anker has a sale going right now, I think either a 1,000-1,500 watt station should fit my needs. Thank you for the information. If I ever decide I'd like to go on longer trips, I will definitely consider getting an aux battery setup. Thanks for the information!

 

[ElDuderino]

So, I've flipped again and decided that I think I may want to try this setup. Is there a parts list, or videos I can watch to guide along with doing this? I'm aiming for the AAL setup with the batteries in the back storage area.

 

[emulous74]

In my Colorado ZR2 I just installed a Redarc BMS30 connected to 3-105amp Lithium batteries. For my 2-door Bronco I’m using an EcoFlow Delta2. The only problem with the Delta2 is it limits chargering using their dc cigarette connection to 8 amps meaning it will only charge at 100 watts, which would take 10 hours to charge it to full.

So I installed a dc to dc converter from Victron that will give it 20-30 amps at 24 volts, which is in-line with EcoFlow’s solar chargering. So I cut off the MC4 connectors on an XT60i harness and attached the ends to the victron so I know get over 400 watts of charging and won’t need to carry the extra battery for the Delta2.

Having it portable means I can bring it where I am, which is nice not being tied to the truck when I need power.

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