Battery Relocation

[Alpine TSi]

In an effort to clean up my engine bay I have decided to put my battery in the trunk. I already have some nice 2 gauge wire running back there that will be sufficent for what I need. I do know what needs to be done, and I have the circuit breakers required for it. My only question for those who have done this is, do I need to put it in any type of protective enclosure or have is secured down in a certain way(besides preventing it from moving)? Also is there a specific kind of battery that needs to be used? I have an Optima Red Top, it is a gel cell battery so I can mount it anywhich way. And if it only needs to be held down by some type of strap or bar, where would I find the correct mounting hardware?

I think those are the only questions I have. Thanks in advance.

PS I want to maintain any NHRA legality if that changes anything.

[Raptor]

You have to have a switch to cut power to both altenator and battery as well as an NHRA approved battery box vented to the outside. The bolts have certain requirements as well, mounting to the frame and closed loop etc. I have all the specs at the shop when you need them. Also, if you want to check out how mine is done, it is fully legal and looks pretty decent IMHO ;) The switch in the back is one of those things where design is somewhat important. If you have a switch clearly visable from the back that is always there, you might find your clever friends shutting off you electrical system in parking lots etc also, people who don't want your alarm to have power. I used a T-handle style that goes through the license plate area. The handle is removed when you are not at the track and the hole then covered by the license plate. The nice thing about it is that you can make another false license plate with a hole in it and the required signage saying "push off" for track use only. It works pretty well and doesn't give any clues when you are away from the track.

Hope that helps.

[LightningGSX]

BTW you should run a ground wire from the battery to the factory grounding locations as well.

[Jakey]

Originally posted by LightningGSX@Sep 8 2004, 08:18 PM
BTW you should run a ground wire from the battery to the factory grounding locations as well.
In no way am I arguing with you, but why? I've always thought that when grounding something it is best to have the length of the ground cable as short as possible, at least that is the way with aftermarket stereos.

[Enes]

Grounding as much as posible is good ;).. stable ground = less noise everywhere.. at least my experience..

the way unibody cars are designed has a lot to do with that Eric said, but i'm sure he will answer here shortly with fulld and detailed reason...

-E

[LightningGSX]

Originally posted by Jakey@Sep 8 2004, 07:22 PM
In no way am I arguing with you, but why?  I've always thought that when grounding something it is best to have the length of the ground cable as short as possible, at least that is the way with aftermarket stereos.
10 feet of chassis or 10 feet of 2awg copper wire, If you think about it, the ground path is close to the same length in both cases.But what would you rather have?

[Alpine TSi]

Der, now I have to find more 2 gauge and another hole to shove it all through...

Mike, I will be up there Friday if I could take look at those specs and your shell that would be great.

[Goat Blower]

Follow Lightning's advice. I had some starting problems when I had a rear mount setup. I solved my problem much better with a tiny battery up front, but I'm convinced that using the entire chassis as a ground was my problem.

[LightningGSX]

Originally posted by Alpine TSi@Sep 8 2004, 10:39 PM
Der, now I have to find more 2 gauge and another hole to shove it all through...

Mike, I will be up there Friday if I could take* look at those specs and your shell that would be great.
I like to run large gauge wires through conduit underneath the vehicle, alot easier than running those huge wires through the interior.Conduit is cheap, easy to work with and fits nicely along the unibody pinchwelds and/or floor pan supports.You also don't have a large wire(more like antenna) radiating noise throughout the interior.

[Super Bleeder!!]

i have mine grounded to one of the rear strut bolts, been working for a few months now no probs, but what they are saying makes sense. i DID forget to put a breaker in, i knew i was suppossed to but it totally slipped my mind!