i am moving my battery to my trunk, so i i figure i might as well get a lighter battery while im at it. i have looked at braille and other racing batteries, but they are out of my price range. im thinking of just getting a smaller Pb. do i need to adapt anything as long as its 12 volts? or do you have any other ideas for batteries?

 

I know of a few fellows who have switched over to Odyssey(brand) batteries in their DDs. Huge weight savings(14lbs vs 54lbs) and they seem to last 4-8years.
BUT these batteries need specific attention. You cannot just dump it in place of your 60lb lead weight and expect it to perform the same. If the car is going to be left for a day or two, you may want to use a trickle charger. There are some issues, charging voltages, and short trips to the store can drain the bugger. If you have any kind of power sapping devices, you may want to rethink the lighter battery. Don't forget about temperature, a cold snap may require a tender or charger to keep it happy.

Removing 60lbs off the nose heavy Accord, and saving 40lbs overall with a simple battery mod is pretty damn impressive.

 

I always use the shuriken bt20 batt and its a great batt i get it for around 80 shipped i beleive and its a **** ton better than the big 50 lbs stock battery and lasts forever. lol and there sealed agm batteries. You dont want to run anything other than a sealed battery as they emmit toxic fumes into the cabin when being charged. So I think the shuriken will do great for your application

 

54lb battery? what is this thing a diesel battery, im pretty sure at most the thing will weight 30lbs or something

 

does anybody know exactly how much the stock battery weighs? if i dont get an answer ill weigh it tomorrow. that would be great for me to know. i can tell it wont be over 50lb, i built an electric car full of pb batteries, theres no way its 50

 

also how many amp hours do you think i should have? my car starts pretty reliably.

 

8 AAA's. You'll be all set.

 

HAH!

 

the battery in my car now has 700 cold crank amps and a reserve of 130. a battery i can get for about 15$ only has 165 cold CA with a reserve of 25. that doesnt sound like enough to me but it also only weighs 14.6 lb. input?

 

Input? ... More like output. A working starter can draw 150 to 200 amps for a 4 cylinder engine. Keep in mind you're going to be dropping some voltage on the longer battery cable which, by the way, isn't weightless. As a result the current demand from the starter will be even higher. It's only $15 to try it. When you find out it doesn't work you can always put it on the lawn mower.

 

perfectionist- thats what i was afraid of. i have been looking more at the shuriken bt20, its not as expensive as i assumed, so that will probably happen. im not sure what kind of battery it is tho. Pb and acid? lithium? i live in iowa so it will need to work at possibly -30 degrees.

 

The replacement battery in the '95 fills up the battery tray, and it is one heavy bastard. Different battery brands sizes will have different weights, this is a Vatozone wet cell with the yellow top. It's a big ****.

 

If you are in Iowa and expecting this battery to work at -30 F AND you are moving it to the trunk, I think you will be very disappointed with a 14 lb battery. The move to the trunk, if not done with some big cables, will result in increased voltage drop. The move to the smaller battery (esp. that big of a step) will result in higher battery resistance (translated: slower cranking).

The biggest factor here is the minimum temperature you want the car to start at. If you are serious about this thing starting at -30F, I would recommend a good AGM like an Odyssey PC925 or the XS Power S925.

BTW, the Shuriken BT20 is a lead acid AGM. I have never tested that brand but I seriously doubt it would hit the 850CA ratings I see on the Internet.

For -30F a lithium battery would not even be an option. Too cold.

 

wikipedia says agm batteries are supposed to have pretty deep cycles for a car battery, and also dont respond well at all to over charging that i assume happens in cars. i'll probably just stick with my current battery until its craps out