I’m looking to install a budget dual battery setup. I do not have room currently in the engine bay and have no interest in a dual battery tray since I have a brand new battery just installed. I’m looking to add a second since I’ll be camping a lot and amateur overlanding this summer. Questions I have, can I put the battery where the air compressor normally goes for the air suspension? I would put it in the cubby in the rear but I figured the other spot would be Easy I do don’t do any crazy off-roading or water adventures so it wouldn’t be too open to the environment. Does it also matter if I get a different size battery than the main engine one. And which budget setup would you advise

 

Mostly using it for maybe a small fridge and power to charge stuff or jump the car if needed

 

I would get the same size/type battery, so you can switch batteries in case the starter battery or the alternator dies. Latter happened to me when I was on a camping trip. The two batteries brought me 300 miles back home.
The second battery is in a box and I keep it in the trunk, plugged into the primary battery via a battery isolator for charging. I can take it out when I need power in the tent. Also, we had several 48h power outages here last fall. It was very useful, since I could charge phones, laptops and power my internet modem/router at home.

 

Is there a good kit I could buy? I also want to be able to use the 2nd battery to jump the main if it dies , not sure if that changes the setup

 

I don't follow this logic. What does it matter that you have a brand new battery just installed? If I were to do this I'd want to go with a dual-battery tray setup instead of running cable to the rear of the truck.

A company called Columbia Overland made a dual battery tray for the DII that looked pretty nice. Unfortunately it looks like Columbia Overland is no longer in business.

You should be able to find writeups on this and other forums with a little searching that show the Columbia Overland setup and others, and using that info you may be able to fabricate your own version or have one fabricated for you. Good luck.

 

Take a look at the Yeti Goal Zero 400. It’s a replaceable AGM battery. Better than a mounted dual battery as it’s portable.

 

Those are a very cool bit of kit but man that price tag hurts.

I to have been kicking around doing a dual battery setup in the LR3. Just not sure if it's worth it to me yet.

 

You can sometimes find them on eBay/Craigslist/Facebook for under $300. Figure in the cost for a true dual battery setup and it’s not that much more.

 

I have a similar demands of my dual battery setup so let me try and explain what I've got going on (might have to go outside to grab a few pictures). I bought a Keyline dual battery charging kit and wired it up so that I've got the isolator in the front by my starter battery. I originally wanted my second (house) battery to also be up front but my attempts at creating a dual battery tray were unsuccessful (might try again later though) so I have the house battery in the back cubby, it's smaller than the starter battery because that's what fits my budget right now. The important thing is that they are both 12V batteries. I would also suggest the same battery chemistry (lead acid, in my case) but there is a little wiggle room on this too with the right battery. The kit comes with more than enough wire to go from the front to the back. From the back battery I have it wired up to a fuse block which then distributes power out to a outlet panel which currently has 1 power switch to turn on a volt meter and USB charger, 2 always hot 12V plugs, and a second switch for a future air compressor. I did a thread a while back about my wiring I'll put the link to. Let me know your questions, happy to answer!
https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...install-97968/



I have two fuses because the wire between them goes the length of the truck so I wanted to be a able to isolate it from the front and the back, might be a little overkill.

 

Get an isolator. safest way to not drain your starting battery.

But I would look into jackery. The easiest and good solution but isn't the best and cheapest.

My second battery, it's a duracell deep cycle. About $200, $115 for isolator, $20 bucks for fuses. This will run my fridge.