Time for new batteries.

I had two 6v Lifelines for my Bigfoot for quite a while that were in the bed of the truck. Lots of capacity but due to the excessive cabling, I had lots of parasitic draw. I traded to a BattleBorn 100AH LiFePo4 battery last year and so far have been pretty happy with it. Yes, it is an investment but their warranty is fantastic, I reduced my weight by ~150lbs and the integrated battery monitoring system ensures that the battery doesn't get drained dangerously low. Something that has already saved me due to the truck being in an indoor storage facility most of the year with no way to check on it.

In regards to your application, I would suggest that before you start looking at modifying your battery compartment to do some shopping around for a LiFePo4 battery that might work. You are going to get more capacity, no hassle with modifying and peace of mind that your battery will keep itself safe.

Thanks for the replies. I don't have solar or a amp meter, but are seasoned campers and in 6 years only used the Honda A-2000 1 time to charge TC batteries. I keep a volt meter in truck all the time to keep an eye on batteries. We go out for 2-4 wks. and usually move around a lot 3-4 days, and the truck does a good job of keeping batteries charged. I needed to rotate my tires and change oil and not wanting to remove the TC went to my guy (easier), while there I had him load test the batteries and said their testing like new to almost new. I couldn't believe for 6 year old batteries that he said that. Guess he doesn't need the $$. This is why he's our guy , he doesn't rip people off. I will be looking at all options a little harder now that we got good news. The Lithium's sound absolutely fantastic, but really put a dent in the ol' wallet. Hopefully as tech. goes Lithium will get cheaper and make them a better choice. Thanks again.

I purchased two 27 series AGM fishing boat batteries from Cabelas. (now they call them X-900). they are made by Universal Battery model UB12900. the pair give me 180ah reserve. We have been using Universal Battery in UPS's in data centers for years. mine are still going strong. sure they are over priced but I had a bunch of "cabelas points" laying around from credit card usage so it made them pretty cheep :)
since Bass PRo took over, they are proud of those batteries as they now are asking $379 each. If I had to pay for them today, I would probably go with two 6v batteries and have 230 ah reserve (30% more) for less than price of 1 cabelas battery) and be willing to add distilled water every 6 months. and my Bogart Engineering solar system (300W) is made to charge Lead Acid batteries perfectly.

K Mac wrote:
Starting the web search/comparisons. I am in need of two new batteries. My T.C. is a '13 N.L.with 2 batt. Boxes. Boxes are L 13.5" x W 8" H x 12". These are rounded at top and bottom and are 14" H but have a lot of studs/connectors which might limit me to 12"H. Curious if any other N.L. owners have taken out the wall between the boxes for more room ? If you did what's entailed in opening the space up. Very handy so not afraid to tackle. This might open up the 6 volt route. What batteries are keeping you happy ? I dry camp 25-30 nights a year, usually for 3-4 days at a time. TIA, K Mac

check this article out from..Truck Camper Adventure about battery install in their North Star, it may help you.

For the price per AH I don't think you can beat the Sams Club 6v GC batteries. I paid $ 74 a piece in 2007 and I dry camp 95 % of the time. They are still going strong with some loss of capacity. I think most batteries will last long if they are well maintained. My first set of Trojans only lasted 4 years due to sulfation. I dry camped for 3 mos so the stayed under charged.

We were able to get two GC2 batteries in our '19 NL 8-11 with approx. 1" of vertical space remaining. The inside of our battery compartment measures 25.5" L x 8.75" W x 12" H (this is after subtracting the space used by the resettable fuses mounted in the top of the battery compartment). BTW, we used 2/0 and 4/0 cable in our battery compartment---very tight fit, but doable. Used a Flow-Rite battery watering system which only added approx. 1/4" of vertical height vs. the standard battery caps. Installing/removing these 65 lb. batteries in a NL is an absolute pain-in-the-butt, so IMO a battery watering system is almost mandatory.

I'm switching from 2 group 27 flooded to 1 battle born lithium, It works out to similar usable AH at 1/4 the weight. I have minimal usage while dry camping and my 140w panel has always kept them charged. If not I guess I'll add a panel or battery, I'm panning 3 day trip next week so I'll know soon!

Years ago Spott did just that. Made 1 large battery compartment out of the 2. Haven't seen any post from him lately. If I remember he had pics of the finished product.

RoyB wrote:
Be sure to check out BATTERIES PLUS. They also have good deals on GC2 Golf Cart 6V Batteries

I picked up 4EA DURACELL 6V GC2 part number SLIGC110 215AH capacity for $84.99 each last year... 12 Month free replacement...

They took my old 12V Interstate batteries for CORE fee...

My four batteries gives me 430AHs capacity...


Google image

Roy Ken

I've been running the same batteries for the past 6 seasons. I've never had to add water and can go for a week here in Alaska without recharging.

430 AH? That’s a bunch!