Dual Battery Setup for Challenger

[pavloh]

Hi,

Trying to work out all my options in terms on dual battery setup for the PB 2010 Challenger. Only feasible option I can see at this point would be to have a gel cel battery in a box in the boot somewhere, as the engine bay is quite tight without moving stuff around which I would prefer not to do due to warranty etc. Hopefully some of you guys have already undertaken this exercise and could share you advise. Thanks

[vander]

Hi Pavloh,
I spoke to Piranha a few weeks ago and they already had a dual battery tray available for the Challenger, your second battery ends up being pretty small, but I've had a small Optima copper coil type battery in my current car for the past few years and that's run the fridge no worries and charges up quickly with only an hour or two of driving. I was going to set the Challenger up this way once it arrives.

[pavloh]

Thats great news, i will wait for a proper system to come out wasnt keen on wasting any boot space with a battery.

[BMN]

I ended up making my own. Two steel battery trays (supercheap) that required making up a bracket for the rear tray. The factory battery is 300mm long which i replaced with a 250mm long to save moving anything around. Only the asc box bracket required a small bend towards the firewall. If you hard wire a cargo socket there's a handy fire wall grommet near the clutch peddle to feed the wires through.

[mccrlc]

I am in the process of building a drawer system in the back of my 2010 Challenger and I've put a compartment in it, directly behind the back seat, to store my second battery. Wires have been run along the left side of the interior (through a grommet in the left fire-wall and under the door trims). Would be happy to provide photos now or after I have finished the job.

Cheers
MCCRLC

[pavloh]

Definitely keen to see some pics

[wasarangie]

Definitely keen to see some pics

I will second that.

[mccrlc]

As promised photos of the new drawers.
We're happy with the nearly finished product, for a pair of backyard carpenters.
GO PIES!

[pavloh]

Would love to know the dimensions of both your trays in the engine bay. This is definetly the path I want to go down. Would appreciate the dimensions of trays and battery you found that fits in easy enough.

Cheers

[BMN]

The trays are 280x180 steel. The front tray bolts on the existing tray with little overhang. The rear will also bolt to existing tray but overhangs (towards the firewall) hence you will need to make a bracket to support it.
Both batteries measure 250x170. If you decide to replace the main battery, try to get one with the terminals 40mm setback from edge of battery. Mine are about 47mm and it means a bit a messing around with the positive terminal mounting. The positive wiring bundle runs between the batteries and apart from a bit of push and shove ( ASC etc) its fits no worries. I also trimmed a bit of the fuel filter bracket, but you probably don't have to.

Hope that helps

Cheers

[silveroado]

Piranah did my dual battery system late in August, and it is very tight in the engine bay. My only issue with the job was that the hose from the intercooler actually touches the corner of the cranking battery but i managed to squeeze a bit of thin carpet between & lock it down with a cable tie, have hopefully attached some pix but unsure if they made it.

[pavloh]

Thanks for the pics, so there is an actual battery tray etc to suit the car that can be bought off the shelf of they made it up custom for you?

[silveroado]

I don't really know, they replaced the OE traybox (plastic) with a new one piece metal tray (looks like zincalume treated)-mine was the 2nd or 3rd Challenger they had done plus a couple of late model Tritons, so assume the have the right size trays to suit.

[pavloh]

Just spoken to Pirahna Offroad and they confirmed they have a tray instock which is great news. It fits the factory battery and a 12inch battery on a single tray apparently. Just wanted some opinions in terms of pricing $214+1$16.50 delivery. Seem a bit steep for a metal tray, is there any other options or is this sort of damage normal for this item?

[DaveXT]

Yep, you are missing something. The second battery is black and sits behind the primary battery. If you look carefully you can see the terminals and the black nylon rope handles.