TrailRax Badlands Bronco Build

[350vudu]

Interior Build out process:
Below will show pictures and walk you through a summarized process of what we did to the interior of the Bronco.

First was the battery tray with 4X Dakota Lithium 18Ah batteries all daisy chained to our BD/DC charger from REDARC. This is then directly mounted to the battery in the engine bay. Very long process of wiring and making sure everything works.

You can also view the Bronco attic from Blue Ridge overland gear!

Next was 60% seat delete that houses the ARB compressor

We then added some Powerwerx ports to the OEM plastic for the rear cargo area!

​

What did you guys do with the blue wire from the BCDC charger? Tie it back to ignition source?

Sponsored

 

[cr117]

What did you guys do with the blue wire from the BCDC charger? Tie it back to ignition source?

You’re good to just tape it up and leave it disconnected.

 

[350vudu]

Interior Build out process:
Below will show pictures and walk you through a summarized process of what we did to the interior of the Bronco.

First was the battery tray with 4X Dakota Lithium 18Ah batteries all daisy chained to our BD/DC charger from REDARC. This is then directly mounted to the battery in the engine bay. Very long process of wiring and making sure everything works.

You can also view the Bronco attic from Blue Ridge overland gear!

Next was 60% seat delete that houses the ARB compressor

We then added some Powerwerx ports to the OEM plastic for the rear cargo area!

​

@TrailRax

Do you have a link to the terminals used on the lithium battery. I’m trying to wire my batteries in parallel now but can’t find the same terminals used here.

 

[TrailRax]

@TrailRax

Do you have a link to the terminals used on the lithium battery. I’m trying to wire my batteries in parallel now but can’t find the same terminals used here.

Cannot recall the link, we either got it off amazon or a local electronics store due to how uncommon they are.

 

[dvdmnhn]

Very nice . . . A diagram! What prevents the Redarc charger from running down the car battery? Right now, the 12v OEM power feed at the back shuts off in an hour (although mine stopped putting out power, and the fuses are good.

Did you ever figure out why the 12v stopped putting out power?

 

[lakesinai]

Did you ever figure out why the 12v stopped putting out power?

No, I haven't wanted to leave it at the dealer for them to investigate for a couple days. I may run a new circuit, and use an Anderson Plug instead. I've been using the 110v charger plugged into the Bronco 110v outlet, thats failsafe, but slow: On the PLB40, it does 10% charge per hour of engine time. I just dont think the round car plug can handle the 12v load, but when using Anderson connectors, all is well. I will say, ive been using this Dometic Frig to Dometic PLB40, and I see no battery degradation after 10 months. My next install will be a solar panel on the TrailRax half-rack to keep the PLB40 charged. The PLB40 has its own internal regulator. Until then, if I don't drive much for a couple of days, I have to plug the PLB40 into a garage outlet every few days.

 

[LatitudeBronco]

@TrailRax Do you remember what gauge wire you used to run the parallel batteries? and it looks like you then ran them to a bus bar before running to the Redarc system?

I am fairly new to these types of setups, but was planning the same system (ie. 4 18Ah batteries run in parallel, then running those to my Redarc Manager 30, then hooking up my Dometic refrigerator and a Redarc inverter). I understand the setup, but it is the small questions around wiring and hookups that I have been struggling with. Any insights you have are certainly appreciated!

 

[350vudu]

@TrailRax

Are you guys running your Arb dual compressor off the second battery system?

 

[TrailRax]

@TrailRax

Are you guys running your Arb dual compressor off the second battery system?

We are but only running it when the engine is on. The ARB dual is in our 60% seat delete.

 

[KermitBronco]

@TrailRax Do you remember what gauge wire you used to run the parallel batteries? and it looks like you then ran them to a bus bar before running to the Redarc system?

I am fairly new to these types of setups, but was planning the same system (ie. 4 18Ah batteries run in parallel, then running those to my Redarc Manager 30, then hooking up my Dometic refrigerator and a Redarc inverter). I understand the setup, but it is the small questions around wiring and hookups that I have been struggling with. Any insights you have are certainly appreciated!

I'm at UBB this week if you want to see a complete setup. FWIW, we are starting to design an upgrade from current 4x 18Ah (now replaced by 20Ah same size) to 7 x 25Ah to be able to fully power induction cooktop, rice maker, etc.

You can't have more than 4 small batteries because of their small terminals and the 4 max. out at ~860 continuous watts. I currently can only run 1800 watt induction cooktop at level 5 of 10, for instance.

It all comes down to what you want to accomplish.

Hope this helps!

 

[350vudu]

I'm at UBB this week if you want to see a complete setup. FWIW, we are starting to design an upgrade from current 4x 18Ah (now replaced by 20Ah same size) to 7 x 25Ah to be able to fully power induction cooktop, rice maker, etc.

You can't have more than 4 small batteries because of their small terminals and the 4 max. out at ~860 continuous watts. I currently can only run 1800 watt induction cooktop at level 5 of 10, for instance.

It all comes down to what you want to accomplish.

Hope this helps!

An FYI, Dakota Lithium says the 20AH are the same size as the old 18AH but they are not. The new 20AH are about 1/4” longer. The American adventure lab battery hold down brackets don’t fit over them and 4 of the batteries no longer fit in the AAL cargo multi mount tray. AAL no longer sells the cargo multi mount tray for this very reason. I found out the hard way and had to send the 20AH batteries back and source the 18AH batteries which was very hard to do. Almost no one has stock anymore.

 

[TrailRax]

An FYI, Dakota Lithium says the 20AH are the same size as the old 18AH but they are not. The new 20AH are about 1/4” longer. The American adventure lab battery hold down brackets don’t fit over them and 4 of the batteries no longer fit in the AAL cargo multi mount tray. AAL no longer sells the cargo multi mount tray for this very reason. I found out the hard way and had to send the 20AH batteries back and source the 18AH batteries which was very hard to do. Almost no one has stock anymore.

Sorry to hear that! Our team has been discussing the possibility of upgrading to a bigger aux battery, should we ever plan to get rid of the old set up, we will hit you up.

 

[350vudu]

Sorry to hear that! Our team has been discussing the possibility of upgrading to a bigger aux battery, should we ever plan to get rid of the old set up, we will hit you up.

No need, I found (4) 18 AH batteries already and am good to go.

Also, I sent you guys an email with tracking number about sending my rack windscreen back. Never heard a reply back. It’s scheduled to get there tomorrow.

 

[TrailRax]

No need, I found (4) 18 AH batteries already and am good to go.

Also, I sent you guys an email with tracking number about sending my rack windscreen back. Never heard a reply back. It’s scheduled to get there tomorrow.

I will make sure the team gets back to you tomorrow once they are in the office.

 

[TrailRax]

Hey All,

We recently added a new but very useful accessory to our Bronco badlands interior. This is from our friends at Overland Gear guy, we assisted in the design with some input that has worked for us, this thing is awesome.

It has been nice to store small things plus easy access while driving. We even have the sunglasses holder that is felt lined on the top of the headrest. Let us know what you would store in them! Check out more details with this link.


Also sorry for the MIA in this thread, we have some big changes on our Bronco coming that will launch at Overland Expo West in Flagstaff AZ. If you plan to go to this event, we highly encourage you to come by and say hi plus check this build out!

Sponsored