Hey guys...

Does anyone know if they make a "3 pod pillar" for the frontier? I noticed that they only have a 2 pod pillar on the AC site. I want to have a voltmeter, oil pressure (mechanical), and water temp.

I am wanting to go to a dual battery setup sometime soon. One for starting the truck, and the other for all my off road lights, stereo amp, cb and cb amp.

For the batteries, I was thinking about running them in parallel, and inbetween the primary and secondary battery, use a soleniod or latching relay to isolate.

The reasoning behind this: I can start the truck off the one battery, and when the current drops to regular readings, I can "pulse" the solenoid or relay to allow charging on the secondary battery. This way, the alternator will only see the load of 1 battery at a time. What is your input on this subject? I was looking at the BIC-95300A from www.hellroaring.com, but I don't really want to pay $170 for it. It does do everything I want to though...

The other question I had was cabling... How big of a gauge of cable should I get when mounting BOTH batteries in the bed?

Have fun!

pods I just ordered a full pillar double pod. I odn't think they have one yet for our trucks, tho they do make 3 pillar pods.
It replaces the whole pillar- not just a pod mounted on existing pillar.

Personally , I don't quite understand what you want to do w/ the batt's in parrallel, and your solonoid/latching relay setup... For ease of installation, I would just go w/ the bic-95300, or one of it's little brother.

You should have ALL the loads on your main battery, otherwise , there's no point of having a backup battery, if it's worn down just as much as the main.

CAble size will be determined by future loads that you want to run upfront... 2/0 is overkill.
1/0 would suffice.

There are no 3 pod A-piller mounts for the Fronty/X or any Nissan truck for that matter. I'd love one for my Pathy, but I think I'm just going to go and mount 2 of the 2pod universals. I know that if you can get enough people together, Autometer will do a custom order. So you could get 3 pod Apillar mounts made, but I think you need like 25 units preordered.

As for the electrical, get the Hellroaring, you'll be thankful. I plan on ordering one this summer, I've searched and searched for something comparable but can't find anything.

I've already found 2 SunPro voltmeters that will go in my pods. That way I'll be able to monitor the V ........Ten bucks a piece at Pepboys

Had i been running w/ my batt's "isolated" on my last trip out to the desert, I wouldn't have found myself dead in the water( sand).

This is what I was thinking about...

Basically, I would only run the truck off the primary battery. All of my accessories; stereo amp, cb and cb amps, off road lights, compressor, and so on, would be off the secondary battery.

The purpose of this circuit is to completely isolate the secondary from the primary, until I want to charge it. What it will do is allow the alternator to charge the primary battery first, then when my amps return to "normal" readings, I press the momentary switch inside the truck to activate the relay, when in turn enables the solenoid. This now allows the alternator to charge the secondary battery while the primary is being used.

But I have not built it yet, so don't try it till I break my stuff first. My head is clouded with malted hopps and bong resin, so I may not be thinking clearly.

EDIT TO ADD... The only problem with my design is that when the primary is completely toast, I will not be able to start the truck till I swap batteries...

I can probably do this for half the cost of that hellroaring device....

I would also add a 150A fuseable link between the batteries just for S&G's... Also, I found a 200A continuous cycle relay that I think I will use instead of a solenoid...

This thread died... nobody cares anymore

I care, sheesh...but I only post half a dozen times a day...come on.

The problem is, if you are running all your accessories off your secondary battery...and its not being charged most of the time, you won't have any extra juice when you need it. I would think run most of your accessories off the primary, using the secondary as back up when your running low. Its not like your accessories are going to be running all the time and taxing your primary system. But if you run your accessories, and forget to charge your second battery... The nice thing about the Hellroaring is it will do sort of what you want, but will automaticly keep both batteries charged, no need to remember to switch. Just seems like your reinventing the wheel.

quote:

---

Just seems like your reinventing the wheel.

---

...for a fraction of the cost. I already priced it out, and I am in about 60 bucks... to do the same thing as the hellroaring

All I need is a regular 12V DPST relay, a 200A continuous cycle relay, and a switch and LED. Also an ammeter.

I don't think that I would forget about it. Especially when you have an ammeter staring you in the face...

Oh well. I guess I am just applying what I went to school for,

Ammmeter? No voltmeter? COntemplated running huge wire under your dash for that?

SOmewhere I saw a good article on the advantages of a voltmeter over an ammeter. Supposedly gives you a better read on the state of your batt's better than just an ammeter.

You can't win for loosing here , can ya?

in my original post, I said I was getting a voltmeter already... Problem with a voltmeter, you really can't see if your alternator is charging or not... Ammeter will show you what direction the current is being pulled in. Using these two meters with sufficently monitor my charging system. Also, if you look at the wire going from your alternator to your battery, it is only like 10 gauge or so. Really isn't that bad.

Mine's 4 gauge. Ok, just as long as you're not skipping the Vmeter.

If your voltmeter is dropping in V doesn't that signal whether you're gaining or loosing ground?

actually, voltage IS how they test alternators... if i remember my numbers right, a battery by itself (engine off) should put out 11.5-12V; with the engine running (and good alternator) it should put out 14-14.5V... If the alternator is bad, the voltage will drop to below 11.2V

And if you read the voltage when connecting (+)Battery to (+)Alternator and/or (-)Battery to (-)Alternator, and the reading is considerably more or less than 0.2-0.4V, then your wires are going to ish...