grandpa jeep

Does any one know of a dual battery tray/system for the 2012?

rays0852

Intersted...bump

greggnj

Benchmark makes a kit for the 2012. I think they stack 2 group 34 batteries on their side in the original location. FWIW, there seem to be a lot of complaints by people who have dealt with them...search and you'll see what I mean. It's not cheap either...

arjeeper

Anyone else with thoughts on 2012 dual battery?

dognights

I built a two battery setup that fits into my stock battery tray with room to spare. I use two EVO 2 16 cell HD Ballistic Batteries. I wired them up with a Marine grade selector switch that allows me to select 1,2, both, off and is located near the battery box. They are sealed low toxin dry cell batteries in a very heavy shock resistant housing. Each battery is rated at 500 CCA but cell batteries are different then a typical battery. They discharge and and recover more rapidly and also have lower internal resistance then a typical "sears" battery. They were orginally built for motorcycles, ATV, Jetskis and things like that. I started using them on my race bikes a few years back. I am running the smallest unit they make on my race bike which is about the size of a cellphone and it will run a high discharge ignition system on a race bike spinning crazy rpm for an entire day without issue, on a bike with no charging system. If you live in a place that gets super cold in the winter these batteries will actually internally warm themselves to increase output with a mild load in only a few seconds.

For daily use I only use one of the batteries and swap it to the other about every two weeks or so. Without use the discharge rate is only about ten percent after a full year of no use so even if you dont switch back and forth it will still hold a charge for a long time.

The only downfall to this system really is the cost. The battery themselves are about 300 each plus it cost me about another 150 or so for heavy wiring, a fancy ground plate with fuse blocks for accessory wiring, and the selector switch. You could actually fit three batteries in the stock tray if you wanted and ordered after measuring exact.

Not sure if this helps anyone or not, but there are quite a few places that make similar types of batteries that could work, that are small enough to jam two batteries in the stock battery tray.

cheers

arjeeper

Very interesting. May be an option. At this point, I'm really interested in using standard, full size automotive/marine batteries for price and replacement convenience.

I can't believe a company hasn't capitalized on the 2012 battery situation yet. Maybe they're waiting to see if 2013s are the same.

dognights

If im not mistaken northridge sells a kit that replaces the stock tray with a larger tray that fits two standard group 34 batteries. Check their site or call Dave.

arjeeper

I just checked. They don't have anything for a 2012+ at this time.

dognights

Here ya go.

M.O.R.E. Jeep JK Dual Battery Tray

arjeeper

It's listed as applicable for the 2012s, but I'm skeptical. I think it may be a listing error. It's unlikely the same part would work for the 3.8l and 3.6l given the space differences.

Edit: Dave is checking with M.O.R.E. since their site lists it as "'07 and up"