dual batteries

[colman]

i have an extra red top sitting around and have a tendency to drain the battery in the red cj. i was thinking about adding it as a second one. the question is should i use an isolator, just use a starter relay to engage the second one if i ever need it or just wire them together (obviously not 24 volt). is anyone running dual batteries. currently i have a good stock alternator but am planning on swaying in a cs144 when i get the incling and decide to figure out what i need to do to swap from gm 2 wire to 3 wire( i already have the pigtail).

as far as electrical draw i have winches front and rear, tbi efi, stereo, 4 kc lights and am about to swap in a taurus fan

[DRAGOONRANCH]

if both batteries are in good condition, just wire them parallel. If you wanted to get creative with it, you could wire one through a starter relay like you stated and put a charging wire with diode to keep it charged up. I would rather be pulling off of both batteries all the time though and be able to 'unhook' one with an isolator (which can also be done easily enough by pulling just one bolt if you have military terminals) when you get into a situation where you don't want to drain both batteries.

[colman]

what are military terminals?

[StevenAg03]

what are military terminals?

google is your friend...

the advantage is you can use cables with regular eye terminals on them...

[colman]

i don't remember seeing those at oreilly, who in town caries them?

[Reckless]

no one that i remember dell city does and they are the ****. ya defantly get what ya pay for with them

[DRAGOONRANCH]

you have to shop around to find the best price on them, but rowdy is correct in that they are worth whatever you pay for them. They make for a very clean install. I don't have any pictures of my dual batteries wired up, but it is great. The only 'downside' is it requires you to put a terminal on the wire, but delcity has those also. They have solder slugs available also and while it may take a few minutes more on the install, your chances of corosion inside the terminal will be next to none.