Do i need my 2nd battery?

[XcumminsX]

what exactly does the 2nd battery do? i dont plow or tow can i take it out?

 

[David Muench]

Probably, but it may not start when it gets cold. Between the grid heaters and the large starter motor trying to turn over a heavy 18:1 compression engine, our trucks use a lot of juice on startup.

 

[XcumminsX]

hmm. i do alot of short trips and dont even know if they batterys get fully charged or not. Maybe in the spring/summer/fall i will take it out

 

[JHardwick]

Make sure you carry jumper cables

 

[David Muench]

Yeah. . And maybe you'd want to swap the remaining battery out for something better, like an Optima red or yellow top.



Why do you want to remove it? Space or weight? Maybe you should consider relocating it (or both of them) instead. You could put them in the bed or hang them under the bed to get some more weight on the rear wheels for racing.

 

[XcumminsX]

im trying to get weight out of my truck. I honestly thought i wasnt even using the 2nd battery i thought its purpose was for towing or plowing... i know i could make something here at work, but do you know anyone who has done the batterys in the rear? id like to see a pic and get a clue on how it would look. That would be cool to get both out of my engine bay. Ill feel like im driving a bently with batteries in the back

 

[David Muench]

The guys in the Competition forum may be able to help. They frequently do it to help with weight placement when racing or pulling. All you really need is a new battery box, a place to mount it, and good long (probably custom) battery cables.



This might give you a general idea, although in this case he was mounting 2 more batteries for his slide in camper. It's the only page I can think of off the top of my head though.



http://dodgeram.info/tech/mods/Optima/index.html



If you were mounting them inside the bed it'd be even easier, just would need to mount a battery box in there and cut a hole in the bed to feed the cables through (with the appropriate rubber grommit). . Just remember, if your battery cables rub through and short out to the frame or body, they'll probably weld themselves to the truck and then burn it to the ground. Lots of insulation is key, and inspecting them once and awhile until they've been on awhile and you feel comfortable.

 

[dieselpilot1969]

check out rob thomas's truck pics his batteries are relocated to the rear, got to be better for traction

 

[rbattelle]

I like having 2 batteries. Why get rid of one? Remember: there is no such thing as "too much power"!

 

[Prairie Dog]

The first gens had only one batt and it worked ok until it got a little tired and the temps dropped. I'm glad they went to a dual setup.

 

[Casey Balvert]

The two batteries are designed to equalize the weight on the right and left front tires so one corner isn't lower than the other. If you get rid of one, you must get rid of the other or else the truck tips over.

 

[Dean Upson]

Has anyone tried "D" cells?



Dean

 

[dieselpilot1969]

cool have a stupid pink bunny rabbit next to the l6 whammin on a drum

 

[bmoeller]

For winter you WILL need both with a cold engine. In the summer you could probably get away with only one big battery.

 

[KCJackson]

Originally posted by XcumminsX

hmm. i do alot of short trips and dont even know if they batterys get fully charged or not. Maybe in the spring/summer/fall i will take it out

If your batts aren't fully charged, you have an alternator/wiring problem or a dying battery... Even a trip of 1 mile should keep the batts at full jolt.

 

[jzaremski]

I honestly thought i wasnt even using the 2nd battery i thought its purpose was for towing or plowing...

nope. the batteries in our diesel trucks are wired in parallel, which means that the voltage is the same (12-14 volts) but the current capacity is additive.

 

[Tony T.]

Batteries

Could any of you recommend the Optima batteries. I know we have a Ingersol-Rand steel wheel roller ( with a cummins turbo diesel) at work that came from the factory with the red top Optima batteries on it. We had that piece of equipment I know a couple of years. Just kind of wondering about the longevity of Optima. What would be the best for the CTD red, yellow. I believe they are a gel filled battery. :--)

 

[Dean Upson]

Re: Batteries

Originally posted by Tony T.

Could any of you recommend the Optima batteries. I know we have a Ingersol-Rand steel wheel roller ( with a cummins turbo diesel) at work that came from the factory with the red top Optima batteries on it. We had that piece of equipment I know a couple of years. Just kind of wondering about the longevity of Optima. What would be the best for the CTD red, yellow. I believe they are a gel filled battery. :--)

I have never used them, but if you do a search, I believe there have been favorable posted in the past. If memory serves me right, they are a bit pricey. The posts may have been on the towing/rv forum. Here's the link

http://www.optimabatteries.com/index.asp



Dean

 

[dieselpilot1969]

I have'nt used them on the dodge but I have one on my frontier 4x4 that has been on there since 99 and no matter how cold of temps I have been in like canada or michigan it has always started. there is i think 2 red topped versions, i have the less expensive of the two.

 

[Tony T.]

Thanks for the link Dean, I've got it bookmarked now. And Mark thanks for the come back. I may buy a deep cycle one first for my RV, the RV battery is close to 4years old now, and showing some signs of getting weaker.