Dual Battery Setup on 2010 Starcraft 176RB

It would be best if you could swap the PROPANE tank to the front of the tongue and mount a good diamondplate lockable tool box between the propane tank and the trailer front wall. The propane tank would make your battery install more out of sight possibly.



I have seen several battery installs using these type of lockable truck tool boxes...

Sample photo from google images

This is a 48-inch truck side mount tool box which probably needs around 14-inches of clearance between the propane tank and the front trailer wall. Be sure to size up the area pretty good as the slope on some trailer fronts might prevent you from mounting here and be able to open the toolbox lid to gain access to the batteries. You may have your spare tire mounted on the bottom of the tongue also to deal with. Some spares are mounted on the rear of your trailer.

You can install up to 4EA GC2 6V Golf Cart Batteries in this lockable metal box. Some folks just mount two batteries and use the remaining room for storage of other outside items. Go to local hardware stores-Northern Tools-autoparts places and look at the available diamondplate type lockable boxes available. There are several photos for this install on google images. Search google for GILLDAWG79 and when it loads up select IMAGES from the left hand screen.

You can't totally make everything safe from thief but you can slow them down and maybe they will pass yours up.

My trailers are parked here at my house and i have motion detector lights on them at night.

Roy Ken

I will have to look and see if a relocation of the propane tank would be possible. And whether or not my spare would interfere. I like the way the install looks.

So 2-6v batteries would be the way to go then? Are they typically smaller than their 12 v counterparts?

08trdoffroad wrote:
So 2-6v batteries would be the way to go then? Are they typically smaller than their 12 v counterparts?

if you dry camp a lot, then the 6v are the way to go. but, although they have the same footprint as the Group 24 12v ones, they are taller.
so, clearance issues with the tongue jack, bunk door or tailgate, may be an issue.
it was for me so i went with the shorter 12v ones. with my set of two, i can go 4-5 days without having to re-charge them.

if you don't dry camp a lot, having two batteries is a waste of money.

This is the spec sheet for the TROJAN T105 6VDC Golf Cart Battery. You will need two of these wired in series to make a 12VDC battery but you gain a bigger capacity. These batteries (Look-alikes) are also offered by COSTCO and SAMS CLUB GC2 batteries at around $70 each. You will end up with alot of battery capacity for a very good price and a two year warranty I think they have.

TROJAN T105 6VDC Battery Specs

Get the battery that suits your RV lifestyle but you also need to get a lock-up box or some secure method to keep your new batteries as safe from thief as you can.

The GC2 batteries are very popular among the RV guys...

Roy Ken

RoyB wrote:
This is the spec sheet for the TROJAN T105 6VDC Golf Cart Battery. You will need two of these wired in series to make a 12VDC battery but you gain a bigger capacity. These batteries (Look-alikes) are also offered by COSTCO and SAMS CLUB GC2 batteries at around $70 each. You will end up with alot of battery capacity for a very good price and a two year warranty I think they have.

TROJAN T105 6VDC Battery Specs

Get the battery that suits your RV lifestyle but you also need to get a lock-up box or some secure method to keep your new batteries as safe from thief as you can.

The GC2 batteries are very popular among the RV guys...

Roy Ken

My wife and I typical go for a weekend (3-4 days), but once a year for the bow hunt we go for about ten days. With the stock 12 v battery that came with the trailer, it lasted about 2-3 days and then I was running the generator every day for a couple hours to keep the lights on for the night. I would like to be able to go quite a bit longer than than. So I would really like to go to the dual 6v set up, and at $70 a piece that isn't much more than one 12v deep cycle would run me.

I plan on doing something to secure the batteries. When the battery was stolen it was just in a standard battery box with a fabric strap holding it closed. I knew better than to leave it in the trailer where I had it parked (battery and propane tank thefts have been on the news in my area lately). I was just lazy the last time after we got back and didn't feel like lugging the monster up to our second story apartment. I was thinking of just getting a section of heavy duty chain and locking it around the battery box to prevent the lid from being removed easily.

I am currently building a house, which should be done the first part of January. Once we are in there. The battery(s) will be in the garage or basement when not in use. And eventually the trailer will be secured behind a fence/gate in the back yard.

Does anyone know where I can find the specs on the original battery?

should have been a standard Group 24 battery, if it came from the dealer. it would be unusual to put a different Group size on there.
you can look up the Group 24 specs anywhere.

offroad - just enter the model number and make into google search and add the word specs should come right up.

Roy Ken

Our 21SSO came with one battery and 2-30# propane tanks. I mounted 2 G29 batteries in place of the propane tanks, and mounted one 30# tank in place of the battery. I found a guy on Ebay who makes single 30# tank covers out of Sunbrella, I'm happy with the one I ordered from him.
Sorry, the HTT's in storage so I can't get a pic.

I turned the battery boxes 90° and two Trojan T125 6v batteries fit nicely side by side.

They weigh 66 pounds each compared to about 40 for a full LP tank so swapping the tank and battery locations will take 40 pounds off the ball. Didn't look viable on my Roo 23SS.

Don't worry about the height of these batteries, your LP cylinders are MUCH taller. Note the crank clears on mine as does the power jack.

-- Chuck

Chuck, where did you get the cut off switch for your batts? I am finally getting ready to replace the battery on my HTT! Thanks!