Lightweight battery relocation?
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 301
Likes: 0
From: Daytona Beach, FL
Lightweight battery relocation? The short of it is, I want to use a lightweight battery but didn't want to relocate it to the rear because of losing juice with the long cables. Because of my stand alone sitting in the stock battery location it must be moved anyhow so I was going to build a box where the stock radiator overflow is, under the stock battery location.
According to NHRA rules if the battery is moved from the factory location there must be a cut off switch (they would probably want one even if it wasn't moved). Most of these go on the rear of the car. Well if I do that then I'm back to the long cables. I really don't want the cut off switch located anywhere else for aesthetic reasons and the fact that in case of trouble 9 out of 10 people will go to the back to shut off power because that's where everyone puts their switches.
So, guys that have relocated lightweight batteries what are you doing with them? Would a lightweight battery be fine in the back? The car is 90% race but it will be driven on the street some. I don't have a stereo or and hvac but still have power windows and lights. Plus nitrous, electric fan and whatnot.
According to NHRA rules if the battery is moved from the factory location there must be a cut off switch (they would probably want one even if it wasn't moved). Most of these go on the rear of the car. Well if I do that then I'm back to the long cables. I really don't want the cut off switch located anywhere else for aesthetic reasons and the fact that in case of trouble 9 out of 10 people will go to the back to shut off power because that's where everyone puts their switches.
So, guys that have relocated lightweight batteries what are you doing with them? Would a lightweight battery be fine in the back? The car is 90% race but it will be driven on the street some. I don't have a stereo or and hvac but still have power windows and lights. Plus nitrous, electric fan and whatnot.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 530
Likes: 2
From: South Lyon, Michigan
It's required to be in the back. They will check to make sure that the switch kills all electrical power to the vehicle when actuated.
Run #4 cable up to the front and ground the battery to the cage.
Also, don't forget.. it needs partitioning/bulkhead or firewall for legality.
Run #4 cable up to the front and ground the battery to the cage.
Also, don't forget.. it needs partitioning/bulkhead or firewall for legality.
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 301
Likes: 0
From: Daytona Beach, FL
It's required to be in the back. They will check to make sure that the switch kills all electrical power to the vehicle when actuated.
Run #4 cable up to the front and ground the battery to the cage.
Also, don't forget.. it needs partitioning/bulkhead or firewall for legality.
Run #4 cable up to the front and ground the battery to the cage.
Also, don't forget.. it needs partitioning/bulkhead or firewall for legality.
I don't have the NHRA book in fron t of me, but it makes complete sense to me that the switch needs to be in the back. The whole purpose of it, is so if your car flips, the person running up to the car, knows the switch is in the back, it must be labeled properly, and then can kill power to the car very quickly. With that being said, since the switch has to be in the back, if you had the battery in the front, then you would have to run your power cable all the way to the back, and then all the way back up front. So it's better for the battery to be in the back in the first place.
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I don't have the NHRA book in fron t of me, but it makes complete sense to me that the switch needs to be in the back. The whole purpose of it, is so if your car flips, the person running up to the car, knows the switch is in the back, it must be labeled properly, and then can kill power to the car very quickly. With that being said, since the switch has to be in the back, if you had the battery in the front, then you would have to run your power cable all the way to the back, and then all the way back up front. So it's better for the battery to be in the back in the first place.
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TECH Regular
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 431
Likes: 1
From: Washington
I was in the same situation. Wanted front battery but nhra rules say faster than 9.99 and you have to have a switch. I didn't want to run cables front to back for the starter, so I simply just ran the normal wire to the starter and normal ground wire to the block, but then ran a 4ga front to back that actually powers the car as if the battery was back there
I'll go one step farther soon and install a 250amp fuse on the starter cable in case it gets pinched in an accident
Zero starting issues and car dies when the switch it turned off
To do it correctly, you need to run a positive and negative cable from the rear mounted battery, so there isn't any extra wiring running two positive 4ga wires
Maybe call the local nhra office and ask. If it's still up front and within the frame rails it might be fine until you reach 9.99
I'll go one step farther soon and install a 250amp fuse on the starter cable in case it gets pinched in an accident
Zero starting issues and car dies when the switch it turned off
To do it correctly, you need to run a positive and negative cable from the rear mounted battery, so there isn't any extra wiring running two positive 4ga wires
Maybe call the local nhra office and ask. If it's still up front and within the frame rails it might be fine until you reach 9.99
I will let others comment on this. I still have a normal car lead acid battery (heavy). My buddy bought and ran one of those lightweight batteries, and admittedly sometimes it was hard to start the car, if he left his trans fan on between rounds, or whatnot.
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 301
Likes: 0
From: Daytona Beach, FL
I was in the same situation. Wanted front battery but nhra rules say faster than 9.99 and you have to have a switch. I didn't want to run cables front to back for the starter, so I simply just ran the normal wire to the starter and normal ground wire to the block, but then ran a 4ga front to back that actually powers the car as if the battery was back there
I'll go one step farther soon and install a 250amp fuse on the starter cable in case it gets pinched in an accident
Zero starting issues and car dies when the switch it turned off
To do it correctly, you need to run a positive and negative cable from the rear mounted battery, so there isn't any extra wiring running two positive 4ga wires
Maybe call the local nhra office and ask. If it's still up front and within the frame rails it might be fine until you reach 9.99
I'll go one step farther soon and install a 250amp fuse on the starter cable in case it gets pinched in an accident
Zero starting issues and car dies when the switch it turned off
To do it correctly, you need to run a positive and negative cable from the rear mounted battery, so there isn't any extra wiring running two positive 4ga wires
Maybe call the local nhra office and ask. If it's still up front and within the frame rails it might be fine until you reach 9.99
Ya I don't want any issues like that-
TECH Regular
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 431
Likes: 1
From: Washington
That's why I left my small battery up front. And if your like me, we'll south or 9.99, the added weight up front can help keep the front tires on the ground Light weight cars can benefit from well placed weight