The latest mods to my Jimny

Yep. booked in for a few weeks time.

Finally got round to taking some pictures of my dual battery system which is now all set up.

Here's my starting battery (just the standard battery).


Here's my Auxillary Battery. Its an Optima D34. It's an amazing battery. It can be used both as a starting battery and a deep cycle battery. It's this that I'll have my winch and fridge running off.


Here's the isolator:


Basically, when I start the car, the starting battery does the work. When the starting battery is fully charged, the isolator kicks in and the Aux battery is then charged. I can run the Aux battery completely flat and it's still able to be recharged, no worries. If the starting battery goes flat (lets say I leave my lights on over night), then I can flick the switch on the isolator, the Aux battery will give some charge to the starting battery, equalizing it, and then I can start.

Also, you know those weird plastic things around the interior? these?


Well I found a use for one of them!


Wooo!

Looking good buddy!

I installed a battery gauge today. Its got heaps of funky LEDs and shows how charged my batteries are. I was originally going to have it on the dashboard, but decided it'd become too much of a distraction so I put it on the carpet between the handbrake and gear knob.

Recieved rear shock sliders today too!

Look what arrived in the mail for me



Awesome timing JimnyBits! Very quick delivery to AUS!

This is the Battery monitoring Gauge I've installed. Battery 1 = my starting battery, battery 2 = my AUX battery.



Basically, when the car is not on, both batteries should be top of the yellow. This means all is well. When the engine is turned on, the alternator starts charging both batteries. So they'll go into the green. If the batteries are under a lot of strain they'll drop into the red zone. I've posted a short video below. As you can see, when I start the car, battery 1 drops into the red zone because all of its power if starting the car, then when the alternator kicks in, it quickly recharges. The gauge also has an alarm that beeps at you if your batteries are getting dangerously low (ie, after a winching session) or too high (overcharging).



As discussed in another thread, I was able to pick up a new and unused Kicker Hideaway. RRP $399. I got it for $99. Installed it today. Only issue I encountered was that the Jimny floor drops by a cm or there abouts underneath the chair so I had to put in a supporting spacer. No biggie though. Heres some pics:

From the outside, you wouldn't have a clue it was there.


Very snug fit. ~1-2cm room from top of box to the chair


It also comes with a bass adjuster which I screwed to the underside of the dash.


Sounds amazing.

This weeks jobs:

Install my WARN 9500lb winch
Install my Rear Shock sliders (currently being powder coated)
Collect and install the front recovery points I'm having fabricated.
Install my new HD springs suitable for winch/bull bar set up
Install new extended brake lines.

That'll keep me out of trouble I'm sure!