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Battery Relocation

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Old 04-12-09, 03:25 AM
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Battery Relocation

hey fellas,

i was thinking about relocating my battery to the rear bins, and had a question. Would running a power wire to the engine bay and a ground near the batter to the chassis work?

Some people have really fancy breakers and things like that in between, and I was just wondering if I could do a straight forward + wire and ground.

Also, what do I do with the negative in the engine bay?

thanks in advance.
Old 04-12-09, 03:57 AM
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Yes that will work. You should throw in a battery cut-off switch. Also use the forum search function to see and read up on what others have done in the past.
Old 04-12-09, 04:03 AM
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Thanks!, and yes I've already searched but everyone's write ups have really fancy stuff like I already stated.

I just wanted to do it a more simple way.
Old 04-12-09, 09:49 AM
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Originally Posted by RLaoFD
Thanks!, and yes I've already searched but everyone's write ups have really fancy stuff like I already stated.

I just wanted to do it a more simple way.
I have been wanting to relocate my battery. I also have read all the write ups on this but like you i see all the fancy fuses and stuff that other have done so that has kept me from relocating it. I was also afraid that doing it this way "your way" will back fire on me so if you relocate your battery please post the results.thanks
Old 04-12-09, 12:24 PM
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Originally Posted by RLaoFD
Would running a power wire to the engine bay and a ground near the batter to the chassis work?
That's pretty much how all FD relocations are done.

Some people have really fancy breakers and things like that in between, and I was just wondering if I could do a straight forward + wire and ground.
There is a single $30 breaker in the positive line from the battery, which must be as close as possible to the battery. It is there to stop your car from burning down.

Also, what do I do with the negative in the engine bay?
Nothing - just zip tie the line out of the way.
Old 04-12-09, 12:33 PM
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You could do this if you don't care how the finished product looks. I clipped mine off right at the ring terminal where it mounts to the chassis. Left the lead going from the chassis to the engine block.

Most people recommend 4 gauge wire, but I used 1/0. It's big and harder to run but it results in less voltage drop.

Originally Posted by moconnor
Nothing - just zip tie the line out of the way.
Old 04-12-09, 12:45 PM
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circuit breaker is a life saver.. when you work on your car its a pita to get behind that tight area to disconnect ur battery, circuit breaking just press the button..

ground i grounded it to the back chassis under the bin

other ground wire in the engine bay i just grounded to the enginebay chassis.... idk if that does anything..

the way you want to do it is typically what everyone does except we added a circuit breaker, for 30 its def worth it
Old 04-12-09, 12:58 PM
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Here's a 140A for $20: http://www.mcmelectronics.com/. Cheap insurance against a fire. An OEM starter draws 90A max, so you'll need a breaker and wire that can handle more than that, and that's it
Old 04-12-09, 01:07 PM
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Originally Posted by dblboinger
You could do this if you don't care how the finished product looks.
If you look at my writeup you will see that I went to ridiculous lengths to make sure the finished produce looked good. There is no need to cut factory wiring, particularly if you want the option of making relocation reversible. When zip tied the 30cm length of wire is not even visible behind the fuse box.

My writeup has lots extra wiring because of the fuse block that I installed. This is not required for most relocations.

The hard part of a relocation is pulling all the interior panels, wheelwell covers, mounting the battery securely, etc. and then routing the cable. Not running a breaker is going to save you perhaps 1% of the effort.
Old 04-12-09, 02:00 PM
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Thanks guys. I will be doing this sometime in the near future!
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