wish i would have known this before i paid a dealer 270 to put a new one in!

 

I think my new Interstate was $105 installed... But that was at the Interstate battery place. If you are ever around downtown rutland VT and need a new battery, go nowhere else.

And ironically, I have found Allied Auto Parts (Napa) to be a huge help for working on my car, I once changed my Subaru's alternator right in the parking lot, they let me use a couple tools and all. Good guys around here I guess...

 

While we're talking about batteries, does anyone have any experience with either lightweight batteries or rigging up another one so you can run heaps more stuff in your car?

 

To run more you would need to upgrade the alternator, Braille puts out a 15lb battery though. It just so happens that my primary place that I do business has them:

http://www.speedlifemotorsport.com/brnoba15b2.html
standard trim

http://www.speedlifemotorsport.com/brcafiba14.html
carbon fiber trim

 

Thats exactly what i was looking for. Do they have any drawbacks, however?

 

you could leave your alt the same and just run a switch between two ( sort of like a timed relay) thatll throw the charging from one bat to the other lets say every five min, youll also need a 140-150 amp circuit breaker on that line , and if ure planning on putting the battery in the trunk or somewhere inside the car (not under the hood) you better use a gel battery unless you want to get poisoned by the toxic fumes that come out of led/acid batteries when theyre in use.

 

Just run a breather tube. I remember having to connect that to my interstate when I hooked that up. The Braille is completely sealed, so really all you need is the tube (its like 1/4 inch in diameter).

Then again, I don't want to be responsible for poisoning someone on the likely possibility I am wrong, so, consult with a battery professional.

As for leaving the alternator the same, if you have the car running, and the car is drawing x amount of amps, and the accessories you want to run, while the car is running, takes y amps, x+y can NOT be greater than your alternators rated output unless you a: drive at 5500 RPM *constantly*, or b: have a seperate generator in your trunk, probably worse than that second battery . Because if x+y is greater than alternator output, you will be creating a negative net charge on any battery connected, meaning the batteries will ALWAYS be in a state of discharge, no matter how many are connected or how you have them switched. If you are only running the accessories 5 minutes on, 5 minutes off, the whole drive, you might be safe, but it will still put an INCREDIBLE load on the car.