Outer Limits 4x4 Board

A few months ago I finally departed with my much love 200kw atw WRX (260kw at the flywheel) after 3 years of ownership for this....



I must say the 200kw was wasted as a daily driver and being a safety concious driver, it wasn't really missed with the lux. Though the first time I went around a wet corner fast in the lux I soon realise H4 maybe a good choice for me in the rain. And of course no more track days but the cost were mounting for the wrx as it needed my much desired 260kw atw engine rebuild at around $20K, compression was low. Spending that sort of money on a 5year old car wasn't sitting to well, to say the least

So I agreed with my wife to get a normal car which was a ute, as we needed to work around the house. Thinking a plain old hilux ute wasn't going to be much fun I slowly changed my anti 4wd mentality and started to see the other side. If I wanted to have fun in my ute and still use it as a ute,,,, I had to go 4wd and go bush. It took me back to the days when I first owned a 1985 corolla which everyone affectiontly called the 4wd corolla, as I basically took it anywhere.

So we had set out our list to go bush (as of course she was keen to see Australia,,lucky me), and most likely to kakadu and across to broome and back to sydney if time permits through the red center.

Dual battery to run the fridge
Bull bar
Winch
Long Range fuel tank
Rear conopy
and so on

And so it begins

After much research I went for the following

100ah under bonnet battery
Pirahna Battery Cradle
TJM IBS Dual battery system (though the gauges are not 100% they give an indication and I will be able to further check properly if needed with a multimeter)
250amp positive and negative cables

Cost under $900 DIY, the IBS is not cheap even though you can order it from QLD for $385 or push the price in NSW to $434, down from $484, heavy duty crimpers, Gel Cell AGM battery etc. Basically quality products!!

You are probably think 100ah, advertised as 90ah Gel Cell AGM battery is going to be over $300, but in Sydney only $210 pickup from super start batteries, the manufacturer of the battery.

So here is the start,, the battery is in and will be fully charged and then hooked up



I will update this DIY with pics soon

I wish I took more pics as I rust protected each hole with a primer (water based for metals) that is called "trubite" and is meant to stick. I think I did and ok job so far...

The battery being a Gell cell with AGM construction is not quite wide enough for the top brace, deep cycles non seal are generally wider at the top then the bottom. But belive me you can grab the battery and pull on it and it will not move and the car will rock from side to side, it is very secure.

Also if possuble fit the stainless upright retainers before putting in the battery as they are hard to get in after!!!

Also I would not go much bigger than the battery I installed in 06, the tray can handle bigger, slightly, but it is hard to fit especially considering it weighs over 30kg. Is is tight and has to be put in on and angle.

Here is the battery hooked up


The relay that separates the batteries



And the controller, It seems quite accurate really. I am getting it readiung 12.8 when the batteries have a 12.84 charge. The only small inaccuracies is the chargin current which reads 13.5 when the current is around 14.05, but there is probably some voltage loss and small inaccuracy maybe in my meter or IBS system. It would be interesting to see what voltage would have to be reach for the 14 volt charge light to illuminate. But considering it is just over 14 volts really I am happy with the result.



It keeps the batteries linked from my observation all time until the battery voltages drop past ~12.9. So it is not uncommon to jump in the car in the morning and find the batteres still linked. This is good as it gets any residual charge from the alternator when the car is switched off. And separates them if a draw is present.

Next step is the canopy support rails, this should be completed over the next 3 weeks I think

I am going to run a anderson plug at the back and then a removeable plug board in the tray for when I go away.

Also fitting fuses under the bonnet for other things, lights, UHF etc.

New cars suck.... as there is very little room to mount anything