Has anyone ever done a dual battrey setup in a tracker?  Im thinking of doing it  to run all my accecessories off one and leave the main battery to just powering the starter.  Was wondering if anyone had a good wiring diagram that i could do this without killing either of my batteries.  would like both of them to charge as i go.  Thanks

IMHO, it's not needed. 

If you need more battery power, just get a red top Optima or something similar with a lot of cold cranking amps.  You can also upgrade the alt to the more powerful 70amp alt.

Johnny rash may be right, it might not be necessary but I feel better prepped with a duel setup and a bigger alternator ( GM 100 amp.) I use a Optima Yellow top for main and starting power and a second sealed gel cell deep cycle run in parallel just for insurance and to run things like my stereo and cb when the trucks not running. I just ran the leads from the gel cell stored in the cabin behind the drivers seat directly to the terminals on the main battery in the engine compartment. Both charge equally.

Johnny rash may be right, it might not be necessary but I feel better prepped with a duel setup and a bigger alternator ( GM 100 amp.) I use a Optima Yellow top for main and starting power and a second sealed gel cell deep cycle run in parallel just for insurance and to run things like my stereo and cb when the trucks not running. I just ran the leads from the gel cell stored in the cabin behind the drivers seat directly to the terminals on the main battery in the engine compartment. Both charge equally.

With no isolator between the batteries, the stereo & CB are draining BOTH batteries when the trucks not running, and for reasons that I won't go into here, running dissimilar batteries in parallel will shorten the life span of the batteries.

Thanks guys for the response.  I think ill try the heavier battery and a biggeer alternator for now. But i am confused  abit, what does IMHO refer to?  Can ya help me out.

In My Honest Opinion


I would also opt for the GM alternator upgrade and a AGM battery, you can go up to a group 75 size. I went with a group 75 and just a 78 amp GM/Delco alternator and couldnt be happier, I run a bunch of LED lights, a high power head unit and a 10" powered bass tube and a CB. If you are going to do a bunch of winching or are into a scorched earth policy with your lighting then a second battery with a isolator wouldnt be a bad idea.

i use two of those little stock batteries.
one of the has radios and inverter direct, but both supply a power post thru a battery select switch(off, 1, both, 2).
i usually run in "both" mode.
no isolator(other than the switch).
i did it mostly for the winch, but i like the flexibility when camping, etc.