Bigger Battery Upgrade

I have a 2018 5Th Gen Pro. My battery is the original and is barely holding on. I ordered a new NorthStar Group 31 (ODY-ODX-AGM31).

The battery is larger than factory and also larger than the battery tray and open area for the battery.

Best I can tell I need to move/change the a/c line that runs in by the battery.
What else has everyone else done for their upgrades?

 

Guess first question is why do you need a bigger battery?

People have add a second.

 

I’ve added a light bar, multiple rock lights, the alpharex headlights, and raptor lights. There are additional electronic things that will be added in time.

I also live at 9,000ft and the temps here are generally colder. The CCA for the new battery is amazing and beneficial in colder temps.

 

I’ve got a 18’ with original battery and it’s fine.

 

I'm still voting for the second battery.

 

I replaced mine with a stock size Diehard AGM. I believe it has significantly higher CCA than OEM.

I have ditch lights, a light bar, and winch. The original in my '19 was starting to get a little wimpy with around 70K miles.

I have not seen or read about what it takes to fit a physically larger battery, so I can't help there.

 

Yeah I understand what your saying but someone like me doesn’t have room for a second battery. I have seen people use bigger batteries to accommodate. I have a switch pro for my accessories to prevent killing my starter battery. Would rather still have a dual battery setup and may do that in the future. There are some options out there for 2 smaller batteries that fit inside the same space of the starter battery but I don’t recommend that option.
I can’t give a review of the OP battery as I still have my stock battery. I run a winch, a bunch of accessories (rock lights, ditch lights, ARB dual compressor, and few more lights). Still running well.

 

What else did you run that makes your engine bay have no room?

Heres someone elses
https://www.4runners.com/threads/cowboys-dual-battery-install.21998/#post-276950

 

The OEM is 10.25” 6.5”. The new one is 13.5”x6.5”. There’s an HVAC line in the same area preventing the wider battery. I’m hoping someone else has done the same and has some pointers on their changes.

My OEM battery, definitely dying. My drone app tells me battery charge and on average it’s 12.7v-12.9v. I’m waiting anyway for it to just stop turning over. I imagine the temps up at outer altitude aren’t helping (which I modified to the correct 9,000ft).

 

Here's a whole write up

http://kc8swy.com/x2-power-northstar-group-31-battery-install

 

This is the set up I have. I went with the Taco size battery and Taco factory tray.

 

I'd do 2nd over larger because the inner fenders are weak. Also nothing you have added is a significant draw...even the craptor lights.

 

Finding a battery with higher CCA is not that hard, just depends on your budget you dont have to go physically bigger. If youre actually worried about supplying power to your accessories you might consider an alternator upgrade along with the big 3 power connections. Food for thought

 

Some really weird justifications in this thread.

For the record, I left my truck outdoors all the time and I’ve never had difficulty cranking the engine at cold temperatures or high elevations with the stock battery.

Some Christmas tree lights in the hood aren’t going to make a big draw either.

 

THANKS!! You didn’t have to relocate that HVAC line? It just looked too snug when I visually was sighting it.

 

He's using a group 27F, the same route I went only I used the 27M. With the group 27 there's no need to mod anything, other than buying a larger battery tray. Specs are slightly lower than the group 31, might be worth looking to getting a 27 over the 30 you are looking at. I was able to run my ARB fridge off of the 27 for 4 days with out starting the runner.

 

I wanted to thank the original posts! I did exactly the same, bought the Tundra tray, and the 27F X2. Now $445 a battery. I upgraded both 4Runners and charged them up with a new NOCO 2AMP. They definitely spin the starter faster. I’m not modifying the alternator charge voltage however, I’ll keep an eye out and throw the charger on as I go. I have two 4R’s to test with.

 

Bringing up an old one…again it feels like
But my apologies none the less

So as always, terrified to…
A. Pull the trigger after the mass amounts of research n time put into considering too many “what ifs?”
B. Start a new thread…even though I’ve seen 194728 of them for other repetitive subjects….

However, long story short…ish

‘16 stock battery is finally getting changed…has died n come back to life many times but I’m finally putting on my bumper/winch/lights/radio etc. to my already existing dual compressor etc…(this has been brought up on all forums before but I assured myself it’s happening NOW)

no fridge yet

no dual battery yet

was talking with my guys at mainline overland over here on the east coast n they calmed my overthinking down to the point of just getting a new starter battery
(I didn’t want to install something I didn’t need n I didn’t wanna install something that needed to be changed immediately or for a few more $ been THAT much better or convenient)

I have my aux fuse block stuff, breaker, etc., all ready n set basically
Supposedly need an ACR…?

its just the battery I’m STILL stuck on n I know I just need to pick one

I’ve been reading for years it seems n the last couple days(Black Friday stuff) all bout batteries

I can’t decide between basically a regular old starter lead acid(which I can’t really find less I’m blind)

or AGM
With the AGM…voltage booster, ctek setup, no new alternator

it comes down to the whole stock size VS 27f(least seems to be safer n better in some regards)

scared of group31 damage n weight
N unnecessary at this point

I’ve seen on Napa they have a 24f odyssey

n then the x2 power 27f

how hard is it to monitor the AGMs? Do they all need the extra this n that?

n then all the regular name brands out there which I think are the good old lead acids…

So again my apologies
N I’m bout a solid B kinda dude…pretty good at most things but not perfect
N I hate terminology as it scares me to death

I REALLY need some help
My goals are to be able to have a safe reliable truck
My winch n compressor solely when engine is actually on

everything else I want to be able to use without being scared of battery dying out

have a noco boost dude that has saved my ass for the past couple years but I’m tired of it all

I know I’ll need or should get new terminals for my accessories
Maybe even a terminal fuse
Different tray/cage for different battery

if it wasn’t for being the battery
N just something I could throw together n mcgeiver that suits my needs(I know you can personalize the electrical system but my made outta junk truck bed/storage system won’t explode for example)

again
Sorry
Help
Happy holidays
Stay warm

edit…
I’m just lost n overwhelmed
Apologies

 

I've been running an Engel fridge with a lithium portable battery for a couple years. The problem is the slow recharge rate, especially when they are being used to passthrough power to the fridge. Larger capacity portables just delay the recharge issue a few days later into the trip.

This led to endless research into expensive BCDC setups. Complete overkill.

I'm now preparing to replace the stock 24F with an AGM 27F in a Tundra tray. Add a voltage booster, and fuse wires through the firewall back to the fridge.

The 92 aH should give me 40+ without dropping below 50%, providing 500WH of available power - plenty for 24 hours in camp, with a quick recharge as soon as I get back on the trail.

My GMRS radio and my SwitchPro app both give me a voltage reading, but I'll likely add a gauge along the way.

 

When running added accessories (that are not in use when the truck is off), isn’t it more logical to upgrading the alternator for Amps? I think our stock one is 130A, and I’ve only come across one high output alternator at 270A. For accessories running while vehicle is off, 2nd battery makes sense, or a power station if only running for adventures vs daily. I guess if running security dashcams in parking mode, makes sense for 2nd battery that are focussed on storage vs CCA.

 

A good 12 volt fridge will use about 2 amps. A day in camp is too much for a stock starter battery. Replace that with a 93aH AGM and you can spend a day or more before needing to recharge the battery. A second battery makes sense but is not required for the use case. A power station is fine for a weekend trip, but they recharge so slow off an accessory plug that a full day of driving won't get them back to 100%.

 

I had bad luck with the AGM, Battery years ago, and with a regular charging truck/4Runner . I killed them in a few yrs. And the cheaper battery lasted longer. Back then I was running a 1800 watt AC inverter , with my computer printer and kinda my office in my truck. I used a Battery charger every nite on my regular up sized lead acid battery and it was great. I now have an installed float charger on both my 4Runner and my Tacoma. My only issue is my wife will do things like leave the door open all nite or leave the ignition on both have happened over night when she forgot to plug the 4Runner in... The Utube add I saw for a diode thing to plug into the fuse socket of the alternator , is $85 but all it will do is increase the voltage output to 14 plus and I think if you have the money to experiment it may be a good idea . I can't afford to keep replacing Batteries and not sure if that will keep the Battery at the higher voltage , With the lead acid? I think I would like to find a way for the car to alarm me when it goes down to 11 volts. So I can catch it and quit buying Batteries .