Relocating Battery to trunk
 

I have/will have lost about 60-70 lbs of weight from the rear of the car and I thought that maybe it would be appropriate to move the battery to the trunk, and placing it in the spare tire well. This will even out the balance in place of the rear missing weight since the front is already heavier than the rear.

I'm thinking 8-6 gauge wire for the job, including ground. If I get everything working right I will post a log/diy. Any thoughts, concerns or details I'm missing? Since I usually do.

sub'd

Might be easier to buy a lightweight replacement and leave it up front, depending on budget.

Subbed as well

I agree 100%, it would be easier

Unless you need space it's just not worth it versus just getting a lightweight battery. You will add weight with the cables which at a minimum would be 4 gauge. It's not like the battery is mounted way in front like the Imprezas, it's right next to the firewall...

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Cadence-4G150-BLUE-Gauge-25-Technology/dp/B005PIMEP6?t=slickdeals&tag=slickdeals&ascsubtag=A BreOsy8EeKJBu4ky_MqHA0_qsai2_0_0_0#productDetails"]Amazon.com: Cadence 4G150-BLUE 4 Gauge 25 Foot blue Amp Power Wire Spool w/ Cool Cable Technology (Cut from a 150 Foot Spool): Car Electronics[/ame]

just a quick search (probably not the most accurate source, but just for discussion) shows that 25 feet of 4 gauge copper only weighs 2.2 lbs, so I don't think the added weight of wire is really a concern to me.

My battery Only weighs 1.5 lbs.


Simmons

I get that it would be WAY easier to just plop a d-cell sized battery in there, but what is hard is convincing my wife.

I think the trouble of moving the battery all the way to the trunk is wasted when you can buy a 5lb battery for a few hundred bucks. I mean 2.2lbs of wire? That's almost half the weight of my battery br0! :lol: Take weight off the front of the car if you want to balance it. Or keep the gas tank full. Or fab up a proper rear diffuser. JMO.

edit: money/wife eh? Should prob still get a sealed battery since it'll be in the cabin now.

Mine was only $140


Simmons

Link?

You can't really put the stock lead acid battery in your trunk unless you want to put it in a battery box with a vent tube. Now there are conveniently a bunch of holes which run from inside the trunk to the frame so that might work out okay, but I wouldn't consider it ideal. Almost everyone I've ever seen relocate a battery inside (include myself) uses a sealed AGM battery.

This ^^^^^.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Shorai-LFX14L2-BS12-Extreme-Lithium-Powersports/dp/B005FIUJ0S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370362993&sr=8-1&keywords=lfx14l2-bs12"]Amazon.com: Shorai LFX14L2-BS12 Extreme Rate Lithium Iron Powersports Battery: Automotive[/ame]

i always ran 0 or 2 gauge when i do relocation's in VW's. anything smaller and i had slow cranking issues. granted i am also turning over 6 cylinder engines, and im sure the cable length is a bit longer than it would be on this car.

That little thing can crank this car? Lol

A lot of guys use these, they are super cheap (like $30).

http://www.apexbattery.com/deka-etx-...batteries.html

My battery relocate and why, planning on some wire re-routes and building a box for intake.http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TAY-48103/ . I'm not to concerned about trunk space, as I'm building a track car, but it does take up a lot of space if your concerned about that. Sorry about photo size.

Do those motorcycle and lipo batteries really work for our cars? Do they offer enough cca?

Im wondering the same thing. I'm waiting to remove my spare and tools until I can get a light weight battery. Shedding 55lbs for $40 seems too good to be true lol

Subbed as I want to run a WMI kit (reservoir where the stock battery is) but want to keep a full sized battery.

correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't our stock batteries (and most new/modern batteries) already sealed type?

The only reason to keep the full size battery is to save money. some of the small light weigth batterys have more cranking amps then the stock.

How are they in the winter though ...? I need my car to start perfectly everytime in -30C

The stock won't do that....

My wrx would slow crank and such at -15F

Every car I've had up until now is fine. Usually I plug it in at that temperature but sometimes you have no choice (outside at events or not near a plugin). Obviously they aren't happy about it and crank slowly, but it does start fine.

You should at a minimum if you live in cold climates and plan to DD the car compare the CCA of the target battery to the CCA of the OEM battery. If it is comparable you should have no worries. Another thing to pay attention to with some of the smaller batteries in cold weather is they lose charge more quickly if they sit for long periods of time (multiple days or weeks). I'm not saying you cannot run a smaller batter (I have on four previous cars without issue), just saying if you DD try to get close to matching the CC and be wary of letting your car sit for weeks (not good anyway in cold weather even wiht the OEM battery).

My battery has more capacity and CCA than the stock battery. Works better than stock so far. 5lbs and ~$300.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32544

This is my battery install:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35817

No.

Yep, no problems so far.


Simmons

I agree. I am curious as well. If the CCA is equal to or greater than stock, then I may go ahead and try it out.


Any extra wiring or modifications needed to install this or is it "plug and play?" Thanks for sharing BTW... lots of cool things to learn. :thumbsup:

Havent used it myself, but spotted this on FT86SF

XS Power Battery Trunk Relocation Kit - 2013+ FR-S / BRZ

http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/xs-p...l#.Vb8BA_mFmnk

http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/medi...ry_frs_brz.jpg

I think the weight of 6 feet of 1 or 0 gauge wire will change your mind about putting the battery in the trunk. It doesn't make sense. I would save up a month or two for a light weight battery. It would be less hassle too. Your stock battery isn't hurting anyone just cruising there on the front for now.

I bought the Shorai kit from Kinetic Custom Machine. I'm happy with it. 1 year, 4 months, about 25k miles. Still feels strong. I've had the OEM Audio Plus stereo on this battery for several months now as well, no noticeable difference.

http://store.kcmachine.com/products/...shorai-battery