CUCV Battery question

[silveradoreb]

I have an 84 CUCV. The previous owner had a 350 put in it, so I am guessing they converted it to 12v (has a normal starter) but dunno how to tell. They left the dual batteries and each battery has separate cables leading to the block on the firewall. Question is I want to move them to the bed so I can narrow the front but I dont want to run 4 10 foot battery cables that are 0 gauge, so can I wire them together easily or should I just ditch both for a single optima? Thanks

 

[resurrected_jimmy]

you can wire them together pretty easily. If your not running a winch you probably don't need the dual batt set up and could drop downto a single batt. Search Ryoken's posts on wiring batteries. He is god of all things electrical

 

[ryoken]

I don't know the particulars on the CUCV's, but keeping 2, even in the simplest of parallel systems will far outweigh (no pun intended) the performance of a single battery, whether AGM (Optima), gel or lead acid.. But there are many, many ways you can wire dual batteries, for different features...

As far as location goes, there are plenty of options to mounting them in the rear.. I believe it was Rene who mounted his below the floor behind each seat, nice because it's easily vented... Consensus is if your batteries are going to be in the living compartment, with a cap on, they should be boxed and vented...

My .02 is that overkill on gauge is best... I've seen cables melt from too much draw, not a good thing...

That being said, another avenue, is an approach I took and mounted duals on the firewall...

You can read about it in here.... http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194154&highlight=ryoken

 

[silveradoreb]

I will be running a winch eventually but not for a while so I like the idea of keeping the duals. The plan is to keep them in a cheapo walmart bat box and put that inside a truck type diamond plate toolbox, but Do optimas have to be vented?