Adding a second battery

[2008Yukon]

has anyone done this before. I have an 08 Yukon and it "appears" there is a second battery tray driverside front. The wiring would be simple and just need an isolater. Anyone done this?

 

[kpanza]

You looking for just a "backup" type setup, or running in parallel type for more electrical power? I have friends who have done this on older trucks (K5s, etc), they have used isolators successfully. Our F-250 diesel has duals, as do most heavy duty trucks now...it can definitely be done! Just different setups depending on what you want it for...and seeing how your truck already has the extra tray, probably can source the parts from the dealer if you wanted? (Although expect to pay WAY more)

The name of the company is escaping me right now (damn this getting old stuff!), but there are a few well known companies who specialize in this subject...google "dual battery setups" and "isolators" etc, and I'm sure they will come up...they sell complete kits if you want them, or you can put parts together yourself. Also might want to check out some Marine stores, they do this all the time and have really heavy duty isolators and such...

 

[noble]

ive done it. really easy. i spent about 220 in wires and all new connectors... BUt i also bought all the top of the line stuff it could easily be done for under 100( not including the battery)

 

[2008Yukon]

Noble, did you use an isolater or a HD relay? I too am going to use optima batterys.

 

[noble]

no, just ran them parrallel (sp?)

 

[Hardin Thicke]

So it looks like you have a Yellow Top paralleled with a Red Top. Concerned at all about the different parameters of the 2 batteries?

 

[Xclusive]

has anyone done this before. I have an 08 Yukon and it "appears" there is a second battery tray driverside front. The wiring would be simple and just need an isolater. Anyone done this?

I have done this upgrade as well and it is fairly simple. I used a 200amp isolator and an optimum red top battery. I spend a lot of time just running the wires so they were all in order and neat other than that if you know what you are doing it will be a piece of cake. If you have any questions feel free to reply or send a pm.

 

[Black Dog]

So it looks like you have a Yellow Top paralleled with a Red Top. Concerned at all about the different parameters of the 2 batteries?

That's a good question...

 

[woldd90]

It is not recommended to run the red and yellow together in parallel. I did it years ago, not knowing any better, and it worked fine for a couple years, but both batteries went dead at the same time. I know people that get 7 years out of an Optima.

I use the wrangler NW (Wranglernw.com) system in my Yukon and in my Defender. Great system. I have the Red top as my starting battery and the yellow top for my fridge and accessories.

 

[pervitizm]

I'm about to do this for my 07 suburban so any information you guys could give me on doing this would be greatly appreciated. I'm going with a yellow top for my aux battery for now and a isolator. Something else I want to do is run two runs of 1/0 ga wire to the back of the truck from the yellowtop, is there a factory opening on that driver side that I can run my wires throught? I really don't want to have to drill holes in my truck if I don't have to.

Just in case anyone needs to know I have a LT with the 5.3L Flex engine that is a 4x4. It's also a 1500.
Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Hardin Thicke]

I'm about to do this for my 07 suburban so any information you guys could give me on doing this would be greatly appreciated. I'm going with a yellow top for my aux battery for now and a isolator. Something else I want to do is run two runs of 1/0 ga wire to the back of the truck from the yellowtop, is there a factory opening on that driver side that I can run my wires throught? I really don't want to have to drill holes in my truck if I don't have to.

Just in case anyone needs to know I have a LT with the 5.3L Flex engine that is a 4x4. It's also a 1500.
Thanks for the help guys.

1/0 AWG is big. Do you really need all that? Somewhere on here is a parts list if you want to do it with OEM parts. You can find it by doing a search.

Assuming you need to get it to the interior, I'd go outside down the frame rail. Meantime, remove the plastic trim along the sill where the latch is for the tailgate. Pull up on the trim, and it will pop off. You will see a flat piece of sheet metal. If you drill thru the sheet metal, you'll be able to fish the wire up first thru an existing hole in the chassis, then thru the hole you made in the sheet metal. Make the hole near the existing one so you won't have to bend the wire to fish it. When you snap the plastic trim back down, you won't even know the hole is there. I have several ham antennas on mine, and that's how I routed the coax inside.

 

[pervitizm]

1/0 AWG is big. Do you really need all that? Somewhere on here is a parts list if you want to do it with OEM parts. You can find it by doing a search.

Assuming you need to get it to the interior, I'd go outside down the frame rail. Meantime, remove the plastic trim along the sill where the latch is for the tailgate. Pull up on the trim, and it will pop off. You will see a flat piece of sheet metal. If you drill thru the sheet metal, you'll be able to fish the wire up first thru an existing hole in the chassis, then thru the hole you made in the sheet metal. Make the hole near the existing one so you won't have to bend the wire to fish it. When you snap the plastic trim back down, you won't even know the hole is there. I have several ham antennas on mine, and that's how I routed the coax inside.

If I didn't need 1/0 ga I wouldn't have mentioned it:smilielol: I'm not gonna go with OEM parts for this. 4 ga wire from the alt to the isolator to the yellowtop and then 1/0ga from the yellowtop to the back. I really would like to not have to drill any holes in my truck if at all possible, that is why I asked about any factory opening I could use instead of drill. Besides 1/0 ga isn't as big when you've used 4/0 before

 

[ibobby]

I was thinking about doing this on my Denali.

Any updates on how things are working out? I'm surprised dual batteries don't come standard with all the electronics running automaticly after the truck is shut off.

 

[pervitizm]

I was thinking about doing this on mY Denali. Any updates on how things are working out?

Been done for a while now. I finished up in August. I had to drill a hole in my floor in order to run the two runs of 1/0 wire inside the cabin of the truck.

 

[woldd90]

I have had mine on for quite a while, and it has worked out great. The Wranger NW parts system has been excellent.

 

[ibobby]

I simple want it as extra power.
ex:
I was putting up X-mas lights and had the radio on for a while(low volume). I finished up and went to crank the truck and whoaaa!!! It almost didnt crank. I had it on for about an hour or so. (silly me) I'm sure it wouldn't have lasted if I a DVD was playing. I don't do that much but I'd like to have the option.

 

[neloms]

Extra battery power

I simple want it as extra power.
ex:
I was putting up X-mas lights and had the radio on for a while(low volume). I finished up and went to crank the truck and whoaaa!!! It almost didnt crank. I had it on for about an hour or so. (silly me) I'm sure it wouldn't have lasted if I a DVD was playing. I don't do that much but I'd like to have the option.

Me too. I want to take my Tahoe camping and watch a DVD in the back without running my engine for 2 hours. I don't need to run a bunch of wires through the cabin or drill holes. Just add power. How simple is that?

 

[Hardin Thicke]

There is something peculiar the Tahoe's electrical system that results in a quickly discharged battery. At first I thought it was connected with the Body Control Module, something that resulted in drained batteries, and for which there was a reflash issued to address it. But I have a heavy gauge supply wire coming from the battery to power my amateur radio gear, and consequently don't have to have the ignition on to run it. I have almost drained the battery on several occasions while doing some transmitting while parked in a lot waiting for my wife. Perhaps it's a bad batch of batteries, I don't know exacly what it might be. But I do know that I'm getting a small portable Honda generator this year so I don't have to worry about it again.