For the last two plus years I have been utilizing the 4Runner’s stock battery for all of my power needs. I have added a number of minor electrical upgrades to the vehicle including a HAM radio, various LED lights for driving and camping, and an on-board air compressor. These items never caused enough of an energy drain to negatively impact my trips, so I left the battery in until that status changed. Shortly before my honeymoon road trip, I purchased a Dometic CFX 50 fridge to make our travels and my subsequent trips that much easier. My cooler held up well for a two maybe three day trip, but beyond that food would be warmer and likely wet if I used ice. The decision to upgrade was easy, but I knew my stock battery’s days were limited.
There is a ton of documentation on the difference in battery types, but for this I will sum it up briefly. In regards to these type of vehicle, there are really two main types of battery. Batteries designated as “starting batteries” and those labeled “deep cycle”. A starting battery is designed to release energy quickly to start the vehicle and then be replenished via the alternator once the vehicle is running. A deep cycle battery is designed to be run down in capacity over time, and then have the ability to be replenished without long term harm. This is ideal because of the demand that accessories like a fridge place on the vehicle’s electrical system. When you run a fridge on a starting battery, you immediately begin to compromise the battery’s ability to charge and hold that charge. For me, it was about a month before I began to see the effects on the battery and shortly after that where I found the 4Runner unable to start after sitting for 5 days with nothing on inside the vehicle. It was time to upgrade.
When deciding which battery I wanted to upgrade to, there were a few that immediately stood out. North Star High Performance AGM and Odyssey Extreme AGM. These American made batteries use AGM technology with virgin materials making their ability to hold a charge far superior compared to a similarly sized “wet battery”. After some extensive research, I discovered that the X2Power battery line from Batteries Plus is manufactured by Northstar. And with the extensive nationwide Batteries Plus network and 5 year replacement warranty, the choice became simple. Honestly, with either Northstar or Odyssey you can’t go wrong. It’s just a personal choice.
Once you decide where you are buying your battery from, you need to figure out which size will work best for the application. For the X2Power line, there were three main options to replace the stock battery. The stock replacement is the Group 24F, and two options for a larger capacity are the Group 27F and the 31. Both of the larger batteries provide a higher cranking amp rating, and a higher capacity,. But they also both require modification to the 4Runner to make it fit. The Group 27F will fit with a swap of the stock battery tray to one from a 4th generation V8 4Runner which came with a 27F. Available from a dealer, the tray is an easy swap and the battery installation from there is plug and play. For the Group 31, a larger “battery cage” is required to strap it down, and cable extenders will need to be installed to allow for the factory cables to reach the 31’s terminals. The other major drawback to the Group 31 is the well documented issue with the inner fender cracking from weight/vibration stress because of the Group 31’s seventy-five plus pound weight. The tray supports simply weren’t designed to handle that much weight.
With all of that in mind, I decided on the smaller of the three options, the stock size 24F. I came to this decision because I don’t want to deal with any weight related issues with the Group 31, and I didn’t want to spend more for the larger tray needed to run the 27F. After discovering that the 24F is the same battery used in my wife’s 2004 Highlander, I made the decision that I would start there. If I find that I need more capacity, I will be able to donate the current 24F to her car, and upgrade to a 27F. However, with the fridge being the main draw while the car is off, I think that the 24F will be more than enough to support it when the car isn’t on at camp (typically is about a 24-36 hour window). In a worst case scenario, the fridge has an automatic low voltage cutoff to keep the battery from being drained completely, and in an absolute worst case scenario I have my NOCO jump starting battery in the back seat to get me going again. Either way, I will get home but it'll be a tougher day with warm beers...
My approach may be a bit trial and error, but if I can get away with less I will certainly take advantage of it! Many go over the top with their power sources but jumping to the largest battery available or a dual battery system without really testing what their needs are. So here is me starting at the bottom working my way up if needed! I will update this blog after I have had some time with the new X2 and report on it’s performance.
NOW... it’s time to camp!
