Can I keep a battery behind the passengers seat ?

[Turbz]

I am looking at setting up a dual battery in my dual cab lux. I have a full sized snorkel and have no room for a second battery in the engine bay, unless I replace the standard with a deep cycle, and squeeze in a small cranking battery somewhere ( this could get expensive ). What I was wondering is, am I able to buy a huge deep cycle ( some sort of dry cell job ) and mount it on the rear floor ( at the back passengers feet ). It is where my sons baby seat is, and it will be years before his feet will go anywhere near it.

Or should I just use the original spot for the deep cycle, and buy a small cranking battery and relocate that ?

Thanks heaps. Looking forward to some possible outcomes.

[Z()LTAN]

im pretty sure you cant have a battery in use, inside the cab of the car, because when a battery charges it emits hydrogen gas...

Bad stuff if u ask me

[dirtyGQ]

yes and it is explosive... but if you go a sealed dry cell or gel cell than i can't see why not

[Turbz]

That is what I was thinking. Perhaps some kind of sealed battery, in it's own box might be ok? Anyone else have any answers?

[bazooked]

alot of mercs and bmws come out with a big mofo battery under the rear seat , the batteries are maint free but they do need to be vented to the outside of the vehicles for fumes as mentioned earlier, so just do it.

[Oscars]

the new merc hatch has its battery under the drivers feet, get a sealed battery and get a battery box from a marine shop

[Cossie]

yep, just get a sealed battery (orbital etc) and shove it in a plastic battery box. Just be real careful with the battery cable routing.

[DamTriton]

With the AGM's be a bit careful with them in an accident, as most will still give sufficient current to arc up, even with the case cracked and 90% of their guts cut of.

Most wet cells fail to function at all once you drain one of the cells of acid, so apart from having 200 ml HCl acid slopping around the vehicle there is minimal sparking potential to ignite any fuel.

Try an Odyssey battery, true hybrid, and enough "guts" to start most vehicles (even normally twin battery Toyo's). Very low internal resistance = very high short cct current and no limits (apart from max voltage) about charging them.

Bit more space efficient than Orbitals (not as much void in their construction) and come in all the usual standard sizes. Also rated for use in aircraft (ie high vibration envionments) and in the Military.

I have had a bit to do with these batteries over the years and although a bit exxy initially, the fact they will endure more abuse than you could reasonably throw at them, and then still come back for more, they still last about twice as long as most other batteries.

8-10 yrs life.

[drivesafe]

Hi Turbz, just following on from DAMKIA’s post, AGMs can be a bit touchy when used in vehicles but putting them in the cab actually protects them and the same goes with gel cell ( sealed maintenance free ) batteries and both types release very little gas while charging so either type will be good for in cab use.

There is one point that many people miss when fitting a battery inside the vehicle and that’s the fixing of the battery so that it will not be a flying mass in an accident.

So if you do fit a battery inside the cab make sure it is well and truly secured.

Cheers

[Turbz]

Well thanks all. Most helpful indeed. I will go check out some batteries

[dirtyGQ]

what a bout mounting under your tray in the lux?

[Turbz]

Not sure about under the tray. It is a styleside so to be honest I haven't really looked at it. It doesn't excite me very much. it'd be nice to have it very ac cessible, and clean. I will have a look but. Thanks for the heads up.