[biggurn]

Well, now that I am running a winch, with plans for extra lights, maybe a CB, and a HAM radio, I decided it was time to add a 2nd battery. For my mod I went with the Carquest knock-off of the Optima sealed battery. I chose the Carquest for two reasons: (1)I have heard good reviews from many others and more importantly (2) my brother is the manager of a Carquest and got me the batteries at cost plus 10% so I got both for 85 a piece.

On my ranger the battery is located under the driver's side seat. From what i understand the original battery box was made from plastic, the current unit was made by the original owner from what appears to be scrap metal and was anything but square (new battery wouldn't even fit) so i went to work building my own. It is 10.5 inches long, 6.5 inches wide, and 7.5 inches deep. I built the entire unit out of 1"x1" (3/16 thick) angle.

I cut the front angle iron so as to allow the batter terminals and cables to be accessed with out risk of grounding them out. The chain link welded on is for a nylon strap that will run up and over the batteries to keep them from moving.

The batteries will drop in vertically from under the seat and then sliding the back battery back so the front one can drop in. The front battery will be the primary with the back battery being on an isolator so as to protect the primary from draining when running the winch with the engine off. Now to get the whole think painted up nice and black.

 

[RZRRich]

Very nice .... and another great write-up, thanks for sharing that with us. :wink:

 

[biggurn]

Very nice .... and another great write-up, thanks for sharing that with us. :wink:

Hey, it is always a pleasure. I really enjoy having an outlet where I can share information that might just help someone else out!
and on that note... the Sure Power 1314 Battery Isolator/Separator arrived today. I Thought I had it figured out where I was going to put it but the chosen local just wasn't right. So I pulled back out the dual-battery box and added a mount to the front of it just for the isolator.

It is a 4 inch long piece of the same 1"x1" (3/16) angle I used to build the battery box out of...

By mounting the isolator where I did I ended up with several advantages, 1st it is protected from any direct water/mud inundation and 2nd it allowed for shorter cables to be utilized for everything, ensuring better power transfer. I still haven't set up the axillary start function or the dash light, but will do that once I have a little more time.

 

[biggurn]

i realized today that this mod probable applies to more that just the 2004 and older rangers, so I changed the name to "Ranger Dual Battery Box (Under Driver's Seat Set Up)" Hoping that it might help more members find what they might be looking for.