Second battery

[Bellime]

Due to the great amount electronics built into the Bronco, I want to install a secondary battery. Plus any monitoring needed to track this. Any suggestions? I believe the engine bay is best to keep the battery cable lengths minimal.

Sponsored

 

[swami37]

Unnecessary

 

[Squatch]

If you need an extra battery, you're likely doing some car-camping and want a Bronco RV. For that, I'd recommend a LiFePO4 battery:
https://www.epochbatteries.com/collections/rv-van-camper-lithium-batteries
*not an endorsement of the brand, just an example

 

[SS Bronco]

I agree all the electrical is concerning, I cary a jumper battery pack from dewalt. Any brand will do, $200 and no extra work installing a battery.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Unnecessary

Interesting answer.
Please explain what leads you to this conclusion.

 

[swami37]

Interesting answer.
Please explain what leads you to this conclusion.

Common sense

 

[Brian_B]

The cheap way to do this is just keep a second battery in the back and swap it in if needed. Or the small booster kits that have been mentioned - easy to use when needed, and inexpensive.

I don't know if there's enough room under the hood to shoehorn a second full-sized lead acid battery. You could do something with LiPo, but that gets really complicated unless you are willing to risk burning it all to the ground. There's plenty of room back in the back, but you'll need to run a good deal of large gage cable to get back there if you are wanting to do anything more than power auxiliaries with the second battery.

There is this kit coming out "soon" -- the drawback is that you have to replace your OEM battery with 2 smaller batteries, so .. it's true that if one dies you have a spare, but your batteries only have about half the capacity in the first place, so .. not really a net gain.

https://www.genesisoffroad.com/gen3-bronco-dual-battery-kit.html

My recommendation - keep a good OEM-size AGM battery installed, keep a booster handy if you are worried about it going dead, and keep a trickle charger on it if you plan on having it parked long term.

 

[XirallicBolts]

A second battery under the hood is going to be difficult.
I've had issues with mine going into deep sleep because it doesn't get driven on the highway much.

Mounted a 10amp charger under the hood and popped an RV outlet in the bumper so I could plug it in at night.

Keep a lithium jumpstarter under the seat just in case we somehow drain the battery beyond what the BMS permits

 

[brkdncr]

What’s the use case for this? The stock electrical system is designed for its load and the load of additional accessories.

you can get a frame mount battery box.

Sponsored