Ghozt

Hey just curious if anyone else has relocated their battery to the trunk, or installed an additional battery in their trunk. I am looking into doing this and was curious how you mounted it, and where you drilled for the bolts or how you strapped it down. Also, did you use the OEM battery or a sealed one like Optima?

Thanks for any help in advance!

GM_Traitor3.5VQ

IFuXwiTuZ did this himself when he built his own custom true CAI. As far as battery type, personally I'd use a sealed one like Optima so I didn't have to worry about any corrosive materials leaking out into the trunk in case something happens.

Ghozt

Yeah I've been talking to him about it, just wanted to see how other people had mounted it to the trunk in case one idea might work better for my setup.

IFuXwiTuZ

he is right i had a issue with my OEM battery leaking (which pisses me off cause OEM suppose to be good)

but the kit comes with a case the battery goes inside of so you really dont gotta worry about it leaking in trunk....now i have the duralast platinum battery and i think its sealed because b4 i strapped it down it was upside down for a few days (without me realizing) and it worked fine and didn't leak and its over $50 cheaper then optima with a higher cell count (which lets you leave lights on longer then optima without car being on) and comes with a 3 year NO QUESTIONS asked warranty

Ghozt

When you have a chance if you could take a picture of the battery in your trunk and how you strapped it in that'd be mad helpful

GM_Traitor3.5VQ

Funny you mention your OEM battery leaking (well, not really funny...) because mine started leaking after 6 months. Dealer refuses to replace it

Good to know that the Duralast batteries are high quality and warranted for 3 years. Very tempted to do this same battery relocation to the right rear corner for better weight distribution. Do you have a link for the relo kit by chance? This is the one I've been eyeballing: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-G1231-K/

Ghozt

I ordered the one step down from that, it arrived today so was wondering the best way to install it. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-G1200A/

Obviously don't want to start drilling and find out where the gas tank is the hard way

IFuXwiTuZ

LOL i actually have the exact same kit...the box is about 3-4inches longer then the battery but it comes with this little placement bracket that holds the battery incase its smaller then the box is....and u really dont have to worry about drillin into the gas tank cause its not under the trunk area where the spare tire is...its more in the middle of the car, like under the back seat area (which is where the fuel pump is)

my car @ nissan right now prob wont get it back till tomorrow


yeah and the same thing happen with my OEM battery **** started leaking after a few months i was like WTF IS THIS i thought it was because i had a 2000watt amp and 2 12' subs (i actually took it out because it took up to much space in trunk and made the car slower)

the battery is pretty heavy so you really gotta do some crazy turns for it to flip over.... and i had a little issue with the ends that connect to the battery the wire actually came off my positive cable =x had to reterminate tips with these http://www.mfgsupply.com /m/c/31-8596.html?id=8B5CeQFH

pepboys has these in a box with 2 one is red one is black....much more secure and easy to take apart

thats ONLY if the ends come off which happened on mine, maybe i was just unlucky to get a bad termination


and he is also right about the weight cause a battery is very heavy and you do feel the difference ESP if you have coilovers like i do.

I LOVE THIS 7th gens uniting! LOL

Ghozt

Thanks for the info Wally - that helps a lot to know roughly where the gas tank is. I actually ordered some positive and negative terminal blocks for the battery when I move it so hopefully those will be enough.

I'm gonna pull everything out of my trunk tonight including the carpet and see where this thing might be able to fit. I'd love it if they had a side mount/side bolt option for this case I'd feel much less nervous about drilling the sides than the floor

IFuXwiTuZ

iight cool just be careful with the drilling bro make sure you think twice before u get hole happy lol

Ghozt

oh trust me ima be careful lol...id prefer the sides cuz i can usually stick my finger back there and feel if theres anything. ima go check out the service manual and see if theres any diagrams of the parts underneath the left cubby in the trunk

GM_Traitor3.5VQ

Awesome info guys. This might be a fun little weekend project in the near future for me. More weight we can remove off the front axle, the better

Ghozt

I checked the service manual and looked at the car from underneath a bit and the left "cubby" or whatever you want to call it in the trunk is a decent candidate to mount the battery. You can pull up the floor and see how the metal is angled/dimpled and then look underneath right above the muffler you'll see the same pattern. It will be very easy to plan out some drill holes and stay away from the suspension and other things. I got a couple pics I'll post up tonight

IFuXwiTuZ

NICE ! yo i didnt screw mine down (I JUST STRAPPED IT) so if you did some funky stuff and i like it ill just copy you -=D LLOLOL

Ghozt

No doubt man, I'll post up pics when I get it installed too should have the battery relocated this weekend.

You were right about it though it wedges in there nicely, front back and the top as well - that's sweet. I don't see any way to use the J bolts so I'm going to grab 2 extra strap-down kits and just have 3 holding it in there, with it wedged in there + all that it won't be moving anywhere. This isn't like a flat pickup truck bed it's going in.

This also adds a small element of security too. If anyone is looking to drill/mess around with your battery to disable your alarm they sure won't think to try the trunk. My mechanic's boy had his Z06 stolen - they went under the car drilled the battery let it leak out, jacked it up and towed the car away. Crazy..

IFuXwiTuZ

are you serious? thatssssssssssss crazyyyyyyyy bro

yeah it does fit pretty good in that corner....i actually thought about going to pepboys and getting a box that holds the battery a little better so i could REALLY shove it into that corner

IFuXwiTuZ

big kahunas my friend i hate cutting ****, gives me the chills =D

MiDiablo

iTrader: (1)

I've relocated the battery to the trunk in both my SVT Focus, and my Fox Mustang Racecar.

The SVT-F, I made the mistake of putting it in an "off-the-shelf" marine battery box (was using an Odyssey dry cell), and it was just basically strapped in with the little seatbelt material that they give you in the kit. I got rear ended, and the battery jumped out of the box, both terminals hit the inner liner of the trunk (metal was exposed, because I had fiberglassed a sub enclosure into the spare tire well & hadn't finished fitting the panels back in yet) - and needless to say, it shorted the entire car out. Thank GOD I had a fusable link still up under the hood for the power (0 gauge from under hood to hatch area), and the fusable link wound up popping. Replaced it and was good to go, save for the burn marks on the metal in the hatch! Needless to say, I replaced that marine box with an Optima Billet Battery tiedown and secured it properly after that ordeal!

The Mustang was a little different because the placement had to be EXACT - due to the way the car launches on take off; you want the weight distributed correctly, so that you don't cause any imbalance, thus spinning off the line. This was done with a Summit Kit, IIRC, then I upgraded later to a Billet one again. Love some billet!

Here was the first go-round in the Mustang (just the box I used) :



This was the later upgrade to the billet piece:





(Sorry, couldn't find one of the battery actually IN the billet one, or a pic of the Moroso kit in the car.)

wranglerwheelmaxima

newb questions , if you were to move the battery to the trunk what do you hook to just the old positive battery cable and then just leave the ground from the motor to the frame and pick the ground up off the body of the car in the trunk. Also if you were to move the battery to the trunk could you still install a grounding kit ?

Ghozt

oh woops never updated this. my battery is in the trunk now with a custom tray

and yea just ran a positive wire and grounded to the frame, also used a grounding kit up front

wranglerwheelmaxima

nice i got like 14ft of o gauge and i want a cleaner engine bay im going to get on that next weekend. another NEWB question, is it better to run the wire through the cab and under the carpet or is it ok to run it under the car and go to lowes and get some clamps for a nice clean look. One more thing, is it really necessary to put a new fuse by the battery in the trunk? i mean isnt there already a fuse on the oem line?

Ghozt

you know i've read a lot of things saying its good on the outside, others saying its good on the inside. outside its prone to physical damage inside its prone to being pinched in a wreck and starting a fire.

yes there is a fuse in the engine bay, but the whole length of wire inbetween that is live. im going to be adding a second fuse next to the battery to make it more safe, my wire is run on the inside

wranglerwheelmaxima

what size fuse would be the best with out deep frying my car lol

Ghozt

this is what i got. some people say you don't need it, but i completely disagree and here is why. http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-Volt-Car-...ht_4340wt_1313

stock, your battery wire runs a couple of feet, not through the firewall, and connects to what it needs to so there is little chance of damage from abrasion. if however the positive cable were slowly damaged over time due to subtle movements (you can help prevent this by lining the entire length with wire loom) and touches ground you will have a fire on your hands. not to mention if you get in an accident and the wire gets pinched in metal you will also have a fire.

so for me, ill put a circuit breaker fuse right next to my battery in the trunk. why? because its $13 to protect my car from catching on fire. no contest. this is why some racing regulations require a "kill switch" installed outside the car if your battery is in the trunk in case of car wrecks.

plus what i linked is a circuit breaker so you can just reset it and not worry about stocking fuses.