Electrical upgrade question

[06RangerXLT]

Hey guys, quick question for the experts.

Currently my electrical system is stock. im in need of more power. im thinking a large deep cycle marine battery, and a high amp alternator. how high should i go amp wise on the factory wires, and what battery should i use? id want around 1000 CCA, figure better safe then sorry. and ill get one with a high amp hours.

as for alternator, i know the factory is i believe a 90 or 95 amp. i was thinking 150+. im running a E fan. 800 watt stereo, 2X 100 watt lights and a few other add ons. ill be adding lights soon, and may upgrade the stereo for more power.

what do ya think?

Thanks!

 

[06RangerXLT]

bump for an answer. let go guys, seems everyones getting lazy!

 

[4lowRanger]

run dual optima batteries and an isolator. you can wire lights and winch to 2nd batt. and keep your system on main batt. there are great isolators and cheap ones. police vehicle issue alt. are 145 amp, i believe.

 

[jrpdash9]

some times putting a small pully on the alt helps

 

[holyford86]

not sure if the trucks that new still use the 3g style alt, but those can be built to 200A reliably. It sucks that you can't stick a group 65 size battery in the newer trucks, a good one will have 850-875 CCA

 

[06RangerXLT]

not sure if the trucks that new still use the 3g style alt, but those can be built to 200A reliably. It sucks that you can't stick a group 65 size battery in the newer trucks, a good one will have 850-875 CCA

Id most likely run the battery in the bed and get a comercial deep cycle with 1000 CCA.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Upgrade all the stock battery cables to larger wire size and all components using high amp draw run directly off the battery not thru the stock wiring use relays to switch them thru the ignition. marine grade batt terminals make it easier to add components. It is also a good idea to upgrade all the grounds engine to chassis, eng to batt, batt to chassis and add a alt housing to batt/chassis for giggles. You dont need a deep cycle battery just one that matches the alternator. Good low resistence wires and connectors are a must especially if you see extreme cold temps.

 

[Primer88]

Your stock wiring will handle both the battery and alternator you want. Upgrading the wires and grounds as kimcrwbr1 said is always a good idea though, even with stock battery and alternator if you are running an efan and stereo.

 

[holyford86]

Another thing to think about as well, I'm running 2 batteries and a 200 amp alternator. I also have a winch, nearly 800 watts of aux lighting, and a moderately sized system using 2 amplifiers. The stock battery runs all the stock equipment, the aux one runs all of the other stuff.

I had a good group 24 deep cycle battery for my aux battery and I removed it because they don't last. Deep cycle batteries are made to excel at powering low to moderate draw devices and be completely discharged several hundred times. They don't particularly "like" being charged quickly either. I would kill this battery repeatedly while winching because it couldn't bounce back quickly enough. I swapped to a good group 24 starting battery and results have been much better.

If you plan on running say, a fridge or small isolator for long periods of time, a deep cycle would probably be a better choice.

 

[06RangerXLT]

maybe ill run both! lol, fridge in the truck... now that sounds awesome. cold beer anywhere, AND a winch.