brianjwilson
Senior Member
Has anyone else done this, or see a problem with it?
I'm trying to work out the electrical details for the fleet forward dinette that will go on my double cab Tacoma. I want to avoid adding 100lbs of batteries several feet behind the rear axle (the battery compartment is in the rear driver's side), as the forward dinette already has an aft center of gravity. Initially I planned to buy 3 new agm batteries, mounting two under the hood with an automatic charging relay from blue sea, and mounting the 3rd battery in the camper. The aux battery under the hood would be tied to the camper battery with 6 gauge or larger wiring, and charging primarily with solar. However the Tacoma has a thin fender and I don't feel great about mounting 100lbs to the front of the fender, also on the heavy driver's side.
As it turns out, there is a perfect spot behind/below the rear seats to mount two full sized batteries. The tacoma has 40-60 folding seats, and the passenger side is the 60% side. This is where my daughters rear facing seat sits, which makes the compartment nearly inaccessible for practical uses. So now I'm thinking, install the automatic charging relay under the hood, large gauge wiring running to 2 batteries (sealed agm) under the passenger side rear seat. Large gauge wiring to the camper. In the battery compartment I would install a + and - post, and treat them as the battery terminals. Of course each run of wire would be protected with circuit breakers right near the battery, and near the source of charge. Battery switches on each end for when I disconnect the plug in the bed.
Pros;
1) I'm moving 100lbs from several feet behind the tailgate on the heavy driver's side, to several feet in front of the axle, passenger side, lower center of gravity.
2) when the camper is off loaded during the off season, the alternator should maintain all batteries.
3) I gain precious storage inside the camper for lightweight items, and use a difficult to access area inside the truck.
4) I'm leaving more space under the hood, already a little full with a supercharger and that stupid smog pump, soon to have an air compressor too.
So I would love to hear opinions on this. Keep in mind I never intend to use the camper off the truck so I don't see why I need to have batteries on board when off loaded. I can plug the camper in while its garaged to prevent the smoke detectors and such from beeping.
Would this present any issue with the solar charge controller? If the charge controller connects to the posts I install in the camper, it should work the same as having everything direct to the battery, correct? With 4 gauge or larger wiring the voltage loss would be very minimal with a 10' run. I just want to make sure there isn't something I'm missing. The truck has HD OME leaf springs, icon shocks and coilovers and e rated tires so I certainly don't mind an extra 100lbs in the truck when the camper is off anyway.
Thanks for any insight.
I'm trying to work out the electrical details for the fleet forward dinette that will go on my double cab Tacoma. I want to avoid adding 100lbs of batteries several feet behind the rear axle (the battery compartment is in the rear driver's side), as the forward dinette already has an aft center of gravity. Initially I planned to buy 3 new agm batteries, mounting two under the hood with an automatic charging relay from blue sea, and mounting the 3rd battery in the camper. The aux battery under the hood would be tied to the camper battery with 6 gauge or larger wiring, and charging primarily with solar. However the Tacoma has a thin fender and I don't feel great about mounting 100lbs to the front of the fender, also on the heavy driver's side.
As it turns out, there is a perfect spot behind/below the rear seats to mount two full sized batteries. The tacoma has 40-60 folding seats, and the passenger side is the 60% side. This is where my daughters rear facing seat sits, which makes the compartment nearly inaccessible for practical uses. So now I'm thinking, install the automatic charging relay under the hood, large gauge wiring running to 2 batteries (sealed agm) under the passenger side rear seat. Large gauge wiring to the camper. In the battery compartment I would install a + and - post, and treat them as the battery terminals. Of course each run of wire would be protected with circuit breakers right near the battery, and near the source of charge. Battery switches on each end for when I disconnect the plug in the bed.
Pros;
1) I'm moving 100lbs from several feet behind the tailgate on the heavy driver's side, to several feet in front of the axle, passenger side, lower center of gravity.
2) when the camper is off loaded during the off season, the alternator should maintain all batteries.
3) I gain precious storage inside the camper for lightweight items, and use a difficult to access area inside the truck.
4) I'm leaving more space under the hood, already a little full with a supercharger and that stupid smog pump, soon to have an air compressor too.
So I would love to hear opinions on this. Keep in mind I never intend to use the camper off the truck so I don't see why I need to have batteries on board when off loaded. I can plug the camper in while its garaged to prevent the smoke detectors and such from beeping.
Would this present any issue with the solar charge controller? If the charge controller connects to the posts I install in the camper, it should work the same as having everything direct to the battery, correct? With 4 gauge or larger wiring the voltage loss would be very minimal with a 10' run. I just want to make sure there isn't something I'm missing. The truck has HD OME leaf springs, icon shocks and coilovers and e rated tires so I certainly don't mind an extra 100lbs in the truck when the camper is off anyway.
Thanks for any insight.