Batteries.

[bloodzero]

I figure I'm going to need a higher quality battery than AutoZone offers.
I've been looking around and noticing Optima and Kinetik are the batteries to go for?

I'm driving a 1999 Ford Expedition 5.4L V8 (4x4).

Gonna have a 2000 watt sub amp and 200 watt speaker amp.

Amp:
MTX TA92001
Alpine MRP-F250




Am I going to be safe with just a new battery? Or am I going to have to upgrade my alternator too?

 

[green03]

You will probably need an upgraded alternator with the lights and AC blaring on top of that system. Obviously you will need heavy enough power cable and a capacitor or Batcap in the rear near the amp.

The optima is a good choice and I would go with the yellow top as it can take discharge cycles that would kill a normal battery. I had one in my off road toy and would run it dead all the time from sitting for months without starting and it survived for 7 years.

Matt R

 

[BassQuake9000]

I have a similar setup and I'm using a second battery to power it. I have an Optima Redtop battery under the hood, and a Yellowtop in the back powering just the system. It works well, but my lights still dim just a tiny bit when a beat hits. You can look at my sig to see what my system is.

 

[green03]

BassQuake, you should change your signature to include Custom Sniper Tune.....LOL

 

[BassQuake9000]

How did I forget that? Thanks Matt.

 

[bloodzero]

Ok, now my next question is this.


Eventually (next 6 months or so) I'm going to be adding some interior neon and some LED underglow. And I figure I can wire that all up to the 2nd battery I add in right?

And how do you have the 2nd battery wired and where did you put it at?

Does the battery do the same voltage wise as the engine component battery (12v off/ 14v on)? Because I've seen the advertised volts of like 16 or whatever and I don't know if it's bogus or not.

And is the alternator going to charge both batteries or am I going to have to keep swapping out the 2nd one powering my "extras" when it finally dies?

I believe the stock alternator is a 130 amp. And I was looking at this alternator. Overkill? Or would a 160 amp alt be fine?

Oh, and does Ford have any "improved" alternators that I can buy from them? Or do only the aftermarket companies selling them?

Also, what size redtop battery should I be looking for under the hood? And what size yellowtop for the audio/lighting stuff?

Thank ya all!

 

[Remo]

As far as the lighting, I'd stick with all LED's if I were you. Neons use a lot more battery, get hot, and seem to be more fragile/prone to breaking. I've always had good experiences with LED's, though. They are usually brighter, cheaper, more efficient, more durable, etc. You can wire up lots of LED tubes to your underhood battery and shouldn't have any problems. Most of the time, you can leave the LED's on with your car off for hours without it really affecting the battery. I recommend checking out ledunderbody.com. My friend has some of their products and I plan on getting some soon, too. Prices and quality are both competitive, too.

As far as the 2nd battery and alternator upgrade goes, I'd do some searching/posting on some car audio forums. I use caraudioforum.com, caraudio.com/forum, diymobileaudio.com/forum. People there should be able to help you out. Good luck.

 

[bloodzero]

Well, I planned on LED for the underglow, but I can't remember if the tubes I was buying for the interior styling were neon or LED type tubes.

 

[Remo]

Just buy one of those interior kits from that site I showed you. You won't regret it.

 

[bloodzero]

Damn, didn't look at it at 1st, and WOW. Those prices are crazy good.