4X4 D-MAX: DUAL-BATTERY INSTALL
A FIRST LOOK AT OUR INVICTA LITHIUM BATTERY AND PIRANHA OFF-ROAD BATTERY TRAY MOUNTED BEHIND THE BACK SEAT.
BEING the main project vehicle for 4X4 Australia over the last few months, there was no way we’d settle for any old dualbattery system in our D-MAX. We need to power fridges, charge camera batteries and live out of this thing for extended periods of time. I think it’s safe to say, this set-up we’ve just had installed in the D-MAX is absolutely first class. Starting with our choice in battery.
Lithium isn’t the future, it’s the now in my opinion. If you are setting up a 12V system from scratch for your 4x4, I personally can’t see the point of not going lithium. In our case, we chose a 100amp/h slimline battery from Invicta. For a few reasons too.
Firstly, the battery is Bluetooth compatible, meaning we can monitor it via our smartphone. This battery will have enough grunt to power a 1000W inverter, which again is more than enough power for our needs. It’s light too, weighing in at just 12.4kg, meaning I could pick it up with one hand without issue. There’s an incredible number of different batteries in the Invicta range, however we felt the 100amp/h slimline would be the right size for our needs, and really wanted to fit it in a position that would take up otherwise wasted space. These slimline batteries are a brilliant solution.
One other point I was very impressed with of the Invicta lithium range, is the 7-year warranty on this battery. That’s surely a sign of confidence in its product. Being made up of Lithium Iron Phosphate, the advantages to four-wheel drivers stretch further than just a lighter set-up as well. Firstly, lithium batteries have the ability to charge faster than a lead acid battery. They also feature longer run times, as you have the ability to run the battery down further thanks to their flat discharge curve; you can
also run them down to lower voltages (10V specified in our instance) than an equivalent lead acid battery.
Lithium batteries can also sit unused for longer periods of time, which is handy when half the country is stuck at home currently. So lighter, more power available, we could fit it behind the back seat and it will recharge quicker. Sign us up!
PIRANHA OFF ROAD BATTERY TRAY AND CHARGER
PIRANHA Off Road caught on to our plan of installing a slimline battery behind the back seat of our D-MAX, and physically hand-crafted a battery tray to suit the vehicle. These are now in production to suit the current Isuzu D-MAX (so it should fit a Mazda BT-50), so if you want to put an Invicta slimline battery behind your back seat like we have, you’ll be able to. I’d recommend going this way, as it makes the most of previously unused space, keeping the tray area free for other gear.
The 30amp lithium-compatible DCDC charger mounts directly to the battery tray, making for an easier installation, and the battery is held in place with a strong adjustable metal clamp. The charger also has built-in MPPT and PWM solar regulator, so we can connect solar directly to the unit. Neat!
This certainly wasn’t a DIY installation, requiring nearly two hours just to install the tray; Piranha recommend you get a professional to handle it, unless you are well-skilled with a grinder and power tools. We opted to let the professionals handle it.
The tray itself is a work of art, and has been constructed from 2.9mm thick steel gold zinc plating and is pre-drilled to mount the Piranha DCDC we’ve used – it will also work with the Redarc BCDC1225D.
You will need to remove the rear plastic trim on the back wall, cut a few brackets and drill holes in the back wall to make it work, but the effort is definitely worth it. This tray mounts rock solid, and provides a super neat install when all wrapped up. Best of all, you can’t see anything once the back seat is folded up, and if you need to access the battery, it’s as simple as folding the seat down. This also protects the battery from external heat sources, so I’m confident we’ll get a solid run out of this set-up.