P700 New location under the hood for 2nd battery

[bardar25]

Has anyone looked into making the radiator fan and shroud a pusher fan and relocating it in front of the radiator and moving the radiator forward to make room for a second battery? My 700-4 deluxe has power steering and the motor takes a lot of room. There appears to be room to move the radiator forward several inches.

 

[Glock21user]

There is more than enough room for a garden tractor sized battery under the hood.
I made a bracket out if aluminum and off I went.
If this helps you at all.

 

[bardar25]

I saw your bracket and install but was trying to leave room for some storage under the hood also. I picked up a used rear door on ebay to use to work on before cutting up my 2021 rear doors.

 

[NewHere2]

Most likely push mud and debris as well. Good chance of plugging up the air flow. Just something to consider.

 

[MTrockSlinger]

Batteries under the seat don’t make sense to me. I’m deleting the factory battery and installing a new larger AGM up front.

Built a custom bracket specifically to fit the new battery. Just got done installing a power steering kit and the bracket clears it since the battery height is low. I searched high and low for a couple days before finally discovering this particular AGM battery thru Auto Zone. Over twice the size of the factory 700 battery, good reserve capacity, 330 CCA at 0 degrees (not 32 deg CCA rating like others), and the dimensions are just right to mount it up from where I wanted. Also the weight of this battery is only about 28 lbs so it’s not a ridiculous amount of extra weight in the front. This battery leaves enough room for the fuse/relay block I’ll be installing as well as some room on the side to maybe mount a tray for storage. No need to move the radiator at all.

Still waiting on my battery wiring kit to arrive, but the plan is to run 4 awg back to the original battery location under the seat, remove the OEM battery and place terminals there. This way I have a spot to wire equipment under the seat as well as the battery in the front for other things like winches (which I also have on the way).

 

[Glock21user]

I definitely see what you got going just watch the weight on the front end if you plan to do any other mods like a winch or bumper.
That weight adds up quick.

 

[MTrockSlinger]

I definitely see what you got going just watch the weight on the front end if you plan to do any other mods like a winch or bumper.
That weight adds up quick.

Yeah the other option was a larger battery yet but it weighed in around 38 lbs. This one is 10 lbs less and still over twice the reserve of the stock battery plus being AGM will operate much better in the cold Montana winters. I have a lightweight Smittybilt XRC4 (4K lb) winch I’m mounting. Just waiting for the mounting bracket to show up.

Isolators with two batteries work well but I personally prefer one big battery with a lot of reserve capacity, then keep a jumper power pack on hand for emergency starts. Having the battery up front for big connections like my winch will be nice. Also nice not having to pull the seat up if I need to give someone a jump or receive one myself. There will still be battery terminal connections under the seat at the original battery location since I have to tie in the ECM, starter solenoid, and other electronics. So that will be nice for closer runs when installing stuff mounted on the rear of the vehicle

I have some more brackets I built and fitted for mounting the winch relay and 6 button light controller and rocker switch panel. All brackets are disassembled and drying with black paint on them now. Can post pics when the project is done. Should turn out pretty good.

 

[Glock21user]

Sounds great.
Have you considered a shock swap for the front at the least?
That would help you quite a bit.

 

[MTrockSlinger]

Sounds great.
Have you considered a shock swap for the front at the least?
That would help you quite a bit.

I’m gonna see how it goes before I consider that. I just added the EZ Steer electronic steering kit yesterday then put the new battery in the bracket and set the winch on top of the radiator to see how it handled the weight. The front end didn’t squat at all so I think I’m good. My front shocks seem a little stiff on the bumps anyhow so this extra weight might actually help soften them up a bit.

I drive a new Ram 2500 and it’s pretty rough until you get about 700-1000 lbs on the rear hitch so I’m hoping for the same result with a little weight in the front of the Honda. The engines are center mounted but there’s no doubt the rear of the 700-4 is much heavier. Rear shocks are smooth but front is a little stiff. Only parts with any weight to them sitting directly over the front shocks is the fan/radiator and power steering unit which isn’t much.

 

[MTrockSlinger]

Here’s where I’m at so far. Brackets are all done and painted. Light controller fuse panel and winch relay installed. Still waiting on my 12ft battery cable kit to connect back at the original battery location. Will also cut and mount a 1/4” aluminum plate over the top of the power steering motor to mount an ACC terminal block and whatever else I need up in the front. I’ve carefully planned every detail and position of components. Mounted my lighting controller panel up beside the speedometer to leave room on the dash for my rocker switch panel. So far everything is going as planned.

I am a heavy industrial electrician by trade so I try to keep my installs as clean as possible.