Dual Battery Setup

[bradSRT88]

In trying to modify my 5th Gen for off road, overland work, I was looking at the dual battery setup.

I would love to interact with anyone on this platform that runs dual batteries and has some pictures and details of their setup.

The C4 2nd battery tray and the Rago battery tray are on my radar as I like the location of the battery being on the passenger side. The C4 tray is clean but really doesn't have the options to mount a Blue Sea ML-ACR or a RedArc Dual battery charger where the Rago does.

As far as wiring I am looking at using 4 gauge wire for inside the engine bay as well as run back to the drawer system for the inverter and extra power sources in the back.

In the future I am thinking of adding a RTT and mounting solar to it to charge the batteries while parked longer term or while camping.

I am looking at running AGM batteries in the 6th gen as well. The starting will be a 34R from Interstate and the 34M deep cycle AGM from Interstate as well. These are the same batteries I run in my Land Cruiser and they work great.

Below is a rough drawing that someone came up with. One thing I will be adding is the Blue Sea fuse block pictured below. There will be 2, one on the starting battery and the second on the house battery:

Below is the schematic I plan to make use of for reference when wiring things in. Yes there are other wires from the Blue Sea ML-ACR and the Red Arc DCDC charger that need to be wired in but this give me a general idea.

Lastly does anyone know if the alternator on the 5th gen is a smart alternator? Does it fluctuate voltage output based on needs of the electrical system?

 

[sscarter]

I use the Genesis dual battery setup on my 2019 ORP; I love it. I use it to power a fridge in the back of the truck. Absolutely amazing performance. You can see an article about the setup here: https://trail4runner.com/2019/07/02/genesis-offroad-dual-battery-install/. Highly recommended.

 

[bradSRT88]

Thank you. I really appreciate this feedback and I'd look into it.

 

[sscarter]

Just be aware that the battery mount on the 4Runner fender cannot support the two heavy batteries without reinforcement. Genesis claims that it can, but my bracket ripped out of the sheet metal mount after some extended trips on rough roads. I hired a fabricator to make a reinforced mount, and even that ripped out within a year. He reinforced it even further, and hopefully this will last as long as I have the truck. If I had it to do over with the initial install, I'd fabricate a heavy metal plate, with nuts welded on, to slide under the factory mount on the fender. The dual batteries are WAY heavier than the single, OEM battery and rough driving places an incredible amount of stress on the mount, so very serious reinforcement is required. I still love my setup, and have no hesitation about recommending it, but the Genesis installation process is not sufficient for off-road driving. If you do get the Genesis setup, I'd recommend adding the "G Screen" so you can tell - with the press of a button - when your batteries are charged. I'm always amazed at how quickly the batteries reach full charge even after 24 hours of running the fridge.

 

[ryno]

why do you the blue sea pulling power off both batteries?

 

[KTRAN]

Why is 5th gen content here?