# Dual battery set up for 2006 F250 5.4L



## T&M SnowMan (Sep 29, 2008)

Hey guys, I was looking into a dual battery system for my 2006 5.4 gasser F250...Ford doesnt make a bigger alternator then what my truck came with, and Im sick of having the plow lights dim when I pick up the blade while plowing...I know there is hardly any room under the hood, but I have access to some good stainless steel and a tig welder, was thinking of making a battery box and mounting it in the bed of the truck, just for the winter months while plowing, take it out when its out of snow season...I will just have to run a good long lead to the 2nd battery and snake it under the cab and over the front bed rail into the battery case(I would only do it this way because it wouldnt be permenant)...If any of you guys have done a dual battery set up in your SuperDuty 5.4 (dont need any "yeah I got an idea...get a diesel" comments...haha) already and have a better way of doing it, or any ideas, throw them out there, It would be interesting to see what the rest of you guys can come up with...and if some of you have done it, please post some pics for the rest of us, I would like to see how you did yours! Thanks


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## MileHigh (Nov 6, 2007)

Get a diesel....just kidding.

I think Grandview has duals in his 5.4...

Maybe he will see this and post up.


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## Brucester1 (Aug 12, 2009)

summit makes a trunk mount battery kit. has everything you need to move your battery to the rear. comes with polyethylene marine battery case 20 ft of cable all for $80. that's from 2008 catalog. web address is summitracing.com


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## 02powerstroke (Nov 7, 2006)

Ford may not make a bigger alt but ALOT of other places do.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FORD...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories


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## 02powerstroke (Nov 7, 2006)

http://www.americantrucks.com/pa-performance-alternator-1989.html


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## augerandblade (Jan 17, 2009)

A battery in the bed of your truck will work. Have a 98 Chev, stock alternator and a heavy duty tractor battery in the box of the truck.


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## Grassman09 (Mar 18, 2009)

Its not a ford and its not Temporary.. These are group 74 batteries and my mechanic installed them onto the truck frame on the passenger side. So no battery whatsoever under the hood. Just the wires from the batteries to the plow solenoids and then another out front to a Anderson connector and I have a set of booster cables that plug into that.

Battery wire is 0 ought I believe.

I can snap some photo's of that if you want. Maybe change the bettries every 4 years or so and install some fresh ones and sell the old ones.


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## Brian Young (Aug 13, 2005)

I have the same truck and no luck with another battery under the hood unless you screw around for hours....no thanks. You might want to look at a different battery, one with a high "reserve capacity". Even with a bigger alt. I still think your lights are going to dim a bit. I have a Fisher Extreme V and when the truck was new (and the battery) the lights barley dimmed at all. Now the truck is 3 years old and last year the lights started dimming more and more. They replaced my battery 2 weeks ago under warranty so I should be good to go.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

I don't have duals in mine. Get the biggest battery possible for it. If your plow lights are dimming that much it maybe time anyway to get a new one. Also quite playing with the plow some much ,then you won't have to worry about it.


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## T&M SnowMan (Sep 29, 2008)

lol..I actually havent played with the plow, I am going off of what I remember from last year..its not like its dimming where I cant see anything, let me clarify that first of all just in case I wasnt to begin with...I had a diesel a few years ago and this was not an issue at all...have this 5.4 now (not by choice, I miss my diesel) and noticed the lights dim a little when lifting plow..its just where I didnt get that with the 03 diesel F350, I notice it now and it drives me CRAZY!!...probably not all that big a deal...but its there and I dont like it, thats reason enough for me to try to squash the problem...maybe I can get away with a better battery, I still have factory battery in my truck...anyone have any recomendations for batteries?..I looked at some Optima yellows and also the heaviest DieHard that sears has..I think it was a Platinum, real high cold cranking amps.


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## Brian Young (Aug 13, 2005)

T&M SnowMan;828330 said:


> lol..I actually havent played with the plow, I am going off of what I remember from last year..its not like its dimming where I cant see anything, let me clarify that first of all just in case I wasnt to begin with...I had a diesel a few years ago and this was not an issue at all...have this 5.4 now (not by choice, I miss my diesel) and noticed the lights dim a little when lifting plow..its just where I didnt get that with the 03 diesel F350, I notice it now and it drives me CRAZY!!...probably not all that big a deal...but its there and I dont like it, thats reason enough for me to try to squash the problem...maybe I can get away with a better battery, I still have factory battery in my truck...anyone have any recomendations for batteries?..I looked at some Optima yellows and also the heaviest DieHard that sears has..I think it was a Platinum, real high cold cranking amps.


Why does no one listen to me? lol. Its not the cranking amps you need to worry about, its the amount of reserve capacity! Decka makes a battery with a reserved capacity of 150 minutes which is more than an Optima. Plus Optima batteries are a bit pricey at almost 200 bucks. This Decka is just under 100.00. My stock Motorcraft battery has a high reserve capacity as well if you wanted to replace with stock type battery. My new one was free so I didnt complain, if it wasnt I was going to go with the Decka. Good luck.


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## grec-o-face (Jul 7, 2009)

Brian Young;828351 said:


> Why does no one listen to me? lol. Its not the cranking amps you need to worry about, its the amount of reserve capacity! Decka makes a battery with a reserved capacity of 150 minutes which is more than an Optima.


+1
I've dealt with similar problems with other trucks... I agree with Brian.


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## MickiRig1 (Dec 5, 2003)

A lot of Ford ambulances have the frame mounted battery boxes. We run 4 big batteries in them. You can have your alternator rebuilt at an automotive component rebuild shop. They can do it for about $1.25 an amp. Some even have rebuilt plow pump motors. Like an E-60 motor for $90. The Internet has bolt on replacement alternators too. You can save the OEM for the 3 AM emergency replacement. Try this site:

http://www.alternatorparts.com/


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## T&M SnowMan (Sep 29, 2008)

Brian Young;828351 said:


> Why does no one listen to me? lol. Its not the cranking amps you need to worry about, its the amount of reserve capacity! Decka makes a battery with a reserved capacity of 150 minutes which is more than an Optima. Plus Optima batteries are a bit pricey at almost 200 bucks. This Decka is just under 100.00. My stock Motorcraft battery has a high reserve capacity as well if you wanted to replace with stock type battery. My new one was free so I didnt complain, if it wasnt I was going to go with the Decka. Good luck.


its not that I wasnt listening to you, I read what you said, all I said is that all I knew about the two batteries I mentioned was the CCA...Thats why I posted another reply asking what people recommended for batteries, I didnt know what the reserves were for these batteries...Im not an expert, thats why Im asking questions on here...someday maybe...today..not so much..next time I will put in parenthesis (Brian I listened to you and like your advise but I dont know what battery to look at so Im gonna ask what you all think) so ya dont think Im ignoring you or cant read, or that I spend more time licking the back window of my truck then I do washing it...haha..so ya didnt waste your time telling me...I heard ya...

So I will be looking at the Motorcraft and Decka batteries (never heard of Decka though..they sell them in New England?..never seen em around before) Thanks for the good info Brian...and relax...heard ya!


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## Grassman09 (Mar 18, 2009)

Get two big Interstate truck batteries hook them up together and then you have two huge batteries. You could put them in the cab so they stay nice and warm or put them in the box if you don't have a salter in it. I still get a bit of dim of the lights even with my two big batteries. 

They saved me this summer when my Alternator went.


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## Dissociative (Feb 28, 2007)

any alt. rebuild shop can make a 250 amp alt for the trucks with parts from a windstar...

250.00 for one by me with LIFETIME warranty.


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## rb8484 (Aug 8, 2009)

Just put a new Decka in my truck yesterday. Got it from NAPA


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## DJC (Jun 29, 2003)

you can get a 200 amp high performance from Advance auto for that eng. It's going to run you about $380 though.


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## revtoyota (Oct 17, 2009)

if anything I would go with http://www.mean-green.com/ I have been using them for years in plow trucks, boats, and all sorts of other things. There price is 369..


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