old dog

hi guys new guy greetings here just wondering ,i have a 2001 2500hd chevy with a single battery ,are there any kits gm or other wise to add an extra battery i plow snow for myself and just thinking about it for insurance !!!

Outcastz89

I've actually been wondering the same thing only I got a 1992 silverado.I think I got a good Idea for making my own kit though.But a aftermarket kit would be very helpful to some.

cams 98 silverado

honestly ive never heard of a kit for auxilary battery... ive only heard that you get the wire... get the battery and get an isolator. thats all there is... and if your truck didnt already have a dual batt. setup get a tray. i just installed a second battery for my auxilary things. i got the isolator from jcwhitney. its crucial to get one thats workable with your alternator. find out what your alternator pushes out in amperes. then get an isolator thats rated for that current. and get an isolator that has the type of diode you want. mines a 13.5 volt diode so teh charge on the batteries wont go over that. but when it senses the charge in the battery under that it charges it with the alternator. good luck drop a line if you need help.

old dog

thanks for the reply ,i have about gave up on a quote on quote kit .they used to have one for the older trucks 1987 and older but they do not even offer a spare battery tray from the factory to start from .i have a older chassis chevy dual battery tray ,but no go.if i want one bad enough will have to peice one together .

cams 98 silverado

yeah... i was confused as well that my silverado came with the dual trays and its only 2wd... guess they figured its worth something to someone lol. im happy it has the trays though. but i do recall now people having batteries in the trunk.

old dog

well i did some futher research and call the chevy dealer and tell him what you have if they have a dual option they can get the part's break down ,my truck is a 2001 2500hd and the bat is on the driver's side look's like the pass side goes under the hood hinge aera looks like #15246518 01-07 year's for the tray#356658 retainer 2001-2007 years#11509853 retainer bolt #52464988 tray bolt .look's like you remove the fender brace on top of the fenderwell replace it with the tray.i belive you remove the curved brace between the fender and firewall (might be able to replace it after the battery is in )if you have a/c might have to be careful of the line's. it does not look like they use a isolator ,wire right to starter and the ground neg. #15321207 pos #15372006

cams 98 silverado

well that is really weird... so wait... your saying the extra battery wires to teh starter and then you have the ground? that means that battery will not know when to stop starting your truck. that doesnt seem right. it really doesnt. and even then... how is the extra battery getting charged by the alternator? yea that would mean that they are saying the extra battery is getting charged through the starter but even thats untrue because you only use the starter before the alternator has power flowing. look into what they told you more because you might brake something if you wire it like that it seems really wrong

tedco21

You can connect the second battery to the starter. But its not really the starter itself, its the starter solenoid that is mounted on the starter, on the same bolt that the wire from the other battery connects. So theoreticly all you are doing is connecting the two batteries together.

cams 98 silverado

okay so if you connect the auxilary battery to the starter solenoid, then that just means the batteries are wired together teh moment the solenoid fires. i mean if you want to have the batteries wired together then just have a wire going to the first battery and wire it like that. i dont understand why involve more then you need. but you see if you wire the 2 batteries together then that will mean you have around 24 volts of power... so your truck voltmeter will get pissed off at that. it will say that is way too high of voltage. and anyways, an isolator is better for what old dog wants. he wants to make sure his plow motor doesnt drain all of his battery. so by getting the second battery you isolate the two. so his truck will have its own 14 volt (running) source and his plow will have a dedicated 14 volts as well and if that plow wont drain the battery because the isolator will have it charging the whole time because your using it. and if he just has the batteries wired together then he will still be fluctuating the power with the whole truck. i mean you can do it either way... my buddy has 8 offroad lights in his 94 i think explorer and when he turns all of them on his truck dims. mine dimmed from my fog lites and my sound system. then i realized the drawback... my spark plugs had fluctuating power so it wasnt an even burn and made the whole truck less efficient. im just telling old dog that for his need its much more likely to use the isolator... and its weird how that kit said to wire it to the solenoid. if im wrong pease tell me... i mean im only 18 and my friend taught me all of this.

old dog

this what you call hooking up the batterys in paralel you still have 12 volts just more reserve capicity the positive cables are connected at the solenoid mechinaly the solenoid is not energized till you turn the key!it's internal on the solenoid .the first battery is wired up to charge by the alt .theirfore the two batterys hooked up in paralel will charge at the same time .positive to positive negitive to negitive .