HELP! How do you relocate battery to trunk?

[wc_one]

Where can I buy a relocation kit and how do I install it (where do I route the cable?)?

[Turbo2]

Summit Racing has them. It would come with instructions, just make sure you have a long vent tube for the battery. Wouldn't be good to have your tailpipe or a rear suspension piece fall off :(

[Rodman]

I beleive 'Taboo' did this at half the price with great results, shoot him an email.

[klipzracer]

i just did this last week on my GSX. i bought the relocation kit from summit racing that's 40 bucks. mount the battery on the opposite side of the fuel pump that way its opposite of the engine and the wieght is more equally balanced.

[wc_one]

Originally posted by klipzracer
i just did this last week on my GSX. i bought the relocation kit from summit racing that's 40 bucks. mount the battery on the opposite side of the fuel pump that way its opposite of the engine and the wieght is more equally balanced.

Where did you route the cable through?

[GST97ORL]

I've done this as well. I routed the cable down past the motor mount (be careful to secure it away from the mount so it doesn't rub the cable) and then attached it under the car and ran it back to the trunk. Once it's at the rear, route it up thru one of the grommet/seals on the trunk bottom and resecure the grommet (after cutting it appropriately) and then connect your battery's positive terminal. For the negative, just ground the original negative cable to a place in the engine bay. Ground your battery's negative terminal in the trunk. This way you're not running two cables to the trunk.

I got my box and relocation kit from Summit for a total of something like $40.

If you need pics, let me know.

[wc_one]

Originally posted by GST97ORL
I've done this as well. I routed the cable down past the motor mount (be careful to secure it away from the mount so it doesn't rub the cable) and then attached it under the car and ran it back to the trunk. Once it's at the rear, route it up thru one of the grommet/seals on the trunk bottom and resecure the grommet (after cutting it appropriately) and then connect your battery's positive terminal. For the negative, just ground the original negative cable to a place in the engine bay. Ground your battery's negative terminal in the trunk. This way you're not running two cables to the trunk.

I got my box and relocation kit from Summit for a total of something like $40.

If you need pics, let me know.

Cool, thanks for the info. I noticed from Summit's site that the battery box is kinda big, much larger than the battery itself. Where in the trunk did you strap it down to?

[GST97ORL]

Yeah, you're right, it is much bigger than the battery. I just stuffed an old towel in there with it to hold it steady in the box. As far as where it is, it's secured to the trunk floor with screws. Here's a pic, it's actually two halves made into one, it's not the best but here goes...

http://www.granthills.com/jeffdsm/images/Trunkpuzzle.jpg

[Birdman90]

are there any boxes that are closer to the size of our battery?

[GST97ORL]

You can probably check the auto stores for battery boxes. I know I've seen them at PepBoys, but from what I've seen, the quality of them is not very good. The plastic is much thinner, not as resistant to melting or bending, and the overall build quality is lower than the box I got from Summit. If you HAVE to have something closer to the battery's size, that's where to go...just dont expect the same quality.

[psyjoniz]

what was the reason for you guys relocating your battery?... just curious

[GST97ORL]

The battery, being as heavy as it is, can offer a little better weight distribution if it is moved to the trunk, especially if you have no spare tire like me (I removed it for weight reduction, and replaced it with a can of fix-a-flat, and there's more room to store stuff there now). The car tends to handle a little bit better now.

[slipspeed]

This has me curious as well. As far as weight distro goes, wouldn't a FF want to keep the weight over the front tires? I suspect moving the battery to the trunk would contribute to more weight transfer to the rear and less grip in the front on a launch.

I can see the benifit, however, if you want to alter the weight for handling reasons rather than drag setup, no?

I also think it's the AWD guys that like this mod more.

Has anyone had the car corner weighted after this? Does it fight understeer all that much? I wonder because the battery sits so far on the passenger side. I want to know the weight of the car at all for wheels to see if this would provide more neutral steering.

[GST97ORL]

Like I said, since I removed the spare tire, I wanted to keep some weight in the back...so along with my bandpass box, the battery keeps the car a little more balanced.

Yes, you're right I don't do it for a drag setup, I do not race. I however enjoy the additional handling benefits this has afforded me. Before the battery went into the trunk, the rear of the car was very light. But upon the addition of the relocated battery and the new bandpass box, the rear sits a bit more stable now and doesn't bounce around like it used to. The results have been tangible, so I know it must be working.

[FaRd0wN]

i want to relocate my battery just because the damn thing gets in the way all the time when i am under the hood. as much as i love taking it out everytime i think having it in the rear would be convenient.

[GST97ORL]

That was also a reason for doing mine. Afforded me more time and space without having to deal with it every time I did something near there. It really was a fairly easy job. Took no more than an hour to get everything the way I wanted it. If ya need help, PM or email me. I'd be glad to give ya some pointers where needed.

[AWDScreamenEagle]

Originally posted by GST97ORL
I've done this as well. I routed the cable down past the motor mount (be careful to secure it away from the mount so it doesn't rub the cable) and then attached it under the car and ran it back to the trunk. Once it's at the rear, route it up thru one of the grommet/seals on the trunk bottom and resecure the grommet (after cutting it appropriately) and then connect your battery's positive terminal. For the negative, just ground the original negative cable to a place in the engine bay. Ground your battery's negative terminal in the trunk. This way you're not running two cables to the trunk.


How does your car start in the morning? A buddy of mine did his this way and the car sounds like it has a hard time turning over.

Can you show me where you grounded your cables?

[GST97ORL]

For as long as I've had this done, I've had no problems with starting in the morning. I live in Florida though, I don't know if morning temps have anything to do with it. But even when it was cold here (remember, cold for Florida is 30 degrees) it never hesitated.

I can show you where the wire is grounded but I'd have to take a pic of it later on when I get home from work. However, right now I can explain where it's grounded.

The front one is attached to the firewall where it was originally. I did not extend this wire back to the trunk. Any aftermarket wires that were connected to it still are and are grounded at the firewall.

The rear negative terminal is now grounded to a large bolt in the trunk. It's about 8 inches to the right of the fender wall of the trunk, and about 4 inches forward of the rear wall of the trunk...did that make sense? I just unscrewed the bolt a bit and separated the thick negative terminal wire into two sections (like a Y) and then bolted them down on either side of the bolt. I made the wire as short as possible, while still allowing some slack to move the battery around the trunk if I need to. My setup is different now than in that picture above. I'll try and get a pic of it tonite.

[AWDScreamenEagle]

That makes perfect sense. Thank you. :D

Would ott gauge wire be too much overkill you think? I've got about 17 ft of it and was thinking of using that.

[sab4you]

Originally posted by AWDScreamenEagle


How does your car start in the morning? A buddy of mine did his this way and the car sounds like it has a hard time turning over.

Can you show me where you grounded your cables?

Possible he used crappy wires or too small wires?

When you run power cables a longer distance they "loose power" to put it simply.

So, you need a good sized wire as well as not a cheap ass auto parts store one :D

Electricity flows on the outside of the actual wires...So if you buy the cheap auto parts store one, you will notice a few, thick wires inside the plastic coating. Goto a car stereo store, and notice there is many thin wires - which allows electricity to travel better.

[FastGSXauto]

How did you guys secure the box to the bottom of the hatch?

[Dyesin]

I've done this mod, but now I have a ground loop I can't get rid of.

When I turn on the tape deck, I can hear the feedback buzzing

simultaneously w/ the speed of the motor. I've tried running my amp's

ground everwhere on the car. The battery is about a foot away, if that,

from the amplifier. I've got the optima held down w/ bungee cords.:D

It looks shabby, but I don't care. This car is a zzzz .

[GST97ORL]

I built a custom floorboard for the trunk with a big piece of lightweight pressboard and shaped it to the trunk. As a result, I was able to secure everything in the trunk with L's and screws. Everything stays down nice and secure.

As far as the buzzing, you can get an inline filter, they make them in different strengths. Radio shack carries inexpensive, effective ones.

[Taboo]

According to NHRA regulations, the battery box needs to be bolted to the floor and external cut-off switch needs to be installed any time the battery is relocated to the trunk. I used a marine battery box, a steel battery tray I had to trim a bit, a battery bracket with 2 J-rods, 2 gauge wire and Moroso heavy duty cut-off switch I mounted above the right back up light. I can also fit the spare tire in there with no problems (my battery is in the right outer corner of the trunk). :)

[tracemyers]

One other thing to consider is the vent tube. This problem should be taken care of if you use a sealed battery like the Optima. An additional benefit is they are kick ass batteries.