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Location: Colac, Victoria
Registered: May 2002
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how to: ST185 Gt4 Rear battery relocation
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Fri, 25 February 2005 10:12
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heys - as porimised - this is a quick no bullshit way of mounting the battery in the boot of a gt4 :
The basics of what youll need :
* Small sealed battery - Oddessy or similar ( i used a 12v800 unit)
* 1 battery box - Ill Leave this one to you to size up
* About 7 ish meters of welding cable - or very VERy heavy guage battery cable ( i used cigweld double insulated welding cable - its pretty blue , flexible , fine stranded , and cabable of holding 400 amps - tonnes for this job
* Lugs to suit your cable - so you can bolt it onto stuff - Asuto shops have these - solder or crimp on
* A roll of electrical tape
* battery terminal thingies - get one with an isolator - its handy!
* a length of pipe insulation , the stuiff they use on water pipe
* wire covers - that wrinknly stuff , thats split down the middle to cover wires in mass.
* Some sort of bolt down brace to mount battery into the battery box - i used 2 x 3/8 bolts , about 5 inches ling , with wingnuts , clamping down a piece of plate metal over the top of the battery
Ok - youll probably need other crud - but that should get you started !
Now the fun ..
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Location: Colac, Victoria
Registered: May 2002
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Re: how to: ST185 Gt4 Rear battery relocation
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Fri, 25 February 2005 10:46
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Now the fun!
Im not gunna tell you how to do the next step in detail - but it revolves around removing ALL the paneling along the passenger side of the GT4 , from back to kickpanel ..Take out the rear seat and the passenger seat too - it will make your life alot easier - trust me!
Its pretty easy - just time consuming ..
You should be able to remove most of it in an hour or so - panels , seats , the lot
Also - remove the passenger front wheel - and take off the splashguard thats under the arch - this is a bit of a prick to do - but be patient with it and dont yank it ! they are expensive to replace ! This will expose the easiest past of the new cables path !
Now - in the engine bay - remove your battery - as it no longer has a home in the bay , AFM , airbox - and that annoying duct that runs up behind the light - this ones also a prick to remove - be gentle - take your time - and lever it out - you dont want to bust your aircon lines!
this will free up the space you need to start cleaning up the wiring that went from the battery !
First - the positive side
there is 2 cables that run off the battery positive ( 3 if you have an amplifier - but thats another story ) One goes direct from the battery to the starter motor - the other goes from the battery to one of the fuseboxes !
What we need to do - is take the coverings off these wires so we can split them up - be careful - remove any elec. tape or crinkly loom wire covery things so you have access to both wires!
once split youll clearly see which is which . We need to retain the one going toward the firewall ( thats the fusebox one ) Instead of going to the battery - reroute it so it connects up to the starter motor - ( see upcoming pics! )
the other one that goes to the old battery terminal - chuck it - no longer needed - its job will be replaced by our new fancy cable! .. ( pic to come )
The negative side !
this ones pretty easy - negative runs from the battery to the top of your gearbox - once again - follow the cable down - and unhook it - its a direct path . We'll do this cable first as its straight forward - Find a decent earthing point on the body ( i chose a bolt that holds a small bracket ( holds loom in place )on the strut tower , cleaned the paint off surrounding it , Did the same with the bracket - + prepared it to earth ..
I cut about 30 CM of welding cable - Crimped on 2 lugs - and bolted it back up - Simple! Done ! Tis is the first earth strap - the other will go in the hatch near the battery !
having prepared the path - i moved onto laying the cable down!
This takes up the majority of the cable you purchased - youll need to run it along a path similar to this ( this is my suggestion - if you find a better way - by all means - use it !)
This is how my cable runs - from back to kick panel!
from the boot
backseat
passenger seat
Under the kickpanel ( see small grommet above fusebox )
Thru under the arch ( use the really handy factory clips to run it to a small grommet where the other loom you follow comes thru!! VERY HANDY TOYOTA! )
thru into the engine!
Cover this section with the insulating foam too - for some protection from engine bay heat + things rubbing it )
Connecting to the starter motor! Path complete!
Your setup should look something like this! its the most logical way ive found - after trying a few different paths!
At this stage your only measuring it up - Cut it off where you feel you have plenty of cable to hook up to the starter motor , and have plenty of play in the boot ..
When your happy that your positive is long enough - Crimp or solder 2 more lugs up - hook one to that bolt off your starter motor ( along with the other positive that runs to the fusebox ) , bolt up - And that ends done - Finito!!
The other end - Lug , solder/crimp in preperation to hook up your battery terminals
This should finish off all the wirey related work in the engine bay - If your happy with it all being safe , protected + secure -put back in your airbox + afm etc - brace your fusebox ( i used a temporoary bracket off the airbox - to hold fusebox ) , And your done for the front!!
[Updated on: Sat, 02 July 2005 04:18]
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Location: Colac, Victoria
Registered: May 2002
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Re: how to: ST185 Gt4 Rear battery relocation
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Fri, 25 February 2005 11:26
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Now from here on in - we start tidying things up
If your happy with the path taken ( i was ) and happy with the engine bay being compete and up to scratch ( yup - happy with that too ), start working on getting it all sorted in the back ..
I started by setting up a secondary earth strap off the battery - grounding it to the other strut tower via one of the bolts on top .. Once again - clean back to metal for good contact , prep - and cut another suitable piece of cable - say 60 Cm this time .. Lug , solder and crimp the ends - and your second earth is complete! This one will run to the negative termninal on the battery !
After all the wriring in the back was ready , mine looked a lottle something like this ( minus terminal to hook to battery )
That red lead is my amp lead - ignore if you dont have an amp - take note , if you do!
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You can see clearluy in this pic the floor of the hatch - Under that is your fuel tank - BIG BIG take notice!
When your readying to mount your battery box - use the shortest screws possible - you only have a maxumum of 15MM under this befoire you hit the fuel tank
My battery box came with a strap - and 2 saddles to hold the strap down - this is only to hold the BOX down - youll need to be crafty in mounting the battery itself in the box -
( for this i used the above 5 inch or so bolts , plate brace - with insulating over it and secured down with wingnuts - make sure you have good clearance for your terminals - remember - that metal brace wilkl conduct !!)
Back to the strap - I mounted one saddle right up against the white plastic thing you can see - using metal self tappers - and about 4 washers per screw - not to hit the fuel tank
the secondary - i mounted between the two grommets you see in the lower left corner - theres good metal there - pop them out and feel under - youll see what I mean
I havent got a pic of this - but can get it if asked nicely !
cut two small slits in your boot carpet to feed your strap thru - then start putting all your panels , seats , carpet etc etc back in bar for the rear most plastic panel - and back seat - leave them until your happy with how the cable feeds to the back.
Havent got a pic of this either - im working on it !
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In this pic you can see my temporary solution to how to get the cables thru the last panel - i removed the small light in there ( its broken - needs repairs - fed the cable thru to the batterybox .. )
This is with the battery box in place - all hooked up - See my bracing ? See the isolator green thing - very handy!
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And this - is the final product - all hooked up - and secure!
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I have some fine tuning and neatening to do - but this setup works - ive tested it - and nothing caught fire!
So there you go - this is only a example of what can be done - I WONT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR SOMEONE REPLCATING THIS AND BURING THEIR CAR DOWN.. ( standard disclaimer - use at own risk! )
[Updated on: Sat, 02 July 2005 04:22]
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
Location: Colac, Victoria
Registered: May 2002
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Re: how to: ST185 Gt4 Rear battery relocation
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Sat, 26 February 2005 10:25
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bump .. just for the hell of it
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I Supported Toymods
Location: Sydney
Registered: December 2002
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Re: how to: ST185 Gt4 Rear battery relocation
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Sat, 26 February 2005 17:46
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Gotta love the GT4... everythings a pain in the arse 
You won't know what to do with yourself now that there will be "room" in the engine bay!
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Location: Colac, Victoria
Registered: May 2002
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Re: how to: ST185 Gt4 Rear battery relocation
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Sun, 27 February 2005 01:59
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there will be more room again when i can relocate the air temp sensor that lives in the afm - im tossing the stock airbox + afm setup as well + possibly moving the vavvum canister further back ..
it might actuaslly resemble an engine bay then , onstead of a pile of hoses + leads
frontmounts gotta go in soon - needed the initail battery room for a straight intake mod + intercooler piping
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Location: brisbane
Registered: December 2004
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Re: how to: ST185 Gt4 Rear battery relocation
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Sun, 27 February 2005 05:19
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when i put my battery in the boot and when i bought the wire from the welding shop they told me not to solder it. i dont know why but they said only to crimp it and not to just hammer a fitting on to it use a proper crimping tool or your not using all the wire as electricity travels through the outside of the strands of wire, thats what they told me...
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
Location: Colac, Victoria
Registered: May 2002
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Re: how to: ST185 Gt4 Rear battery relocation
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Sun, 27 February 2005 07:38
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nods - my lugs for the cable ends were put on with the proper crimping tool - borrowed it from my auto elec friend - you put the lug in - with the wire inside the end - crimp down
* btw forgot to say thanks to shane ( cool1 ) for my last minute in need of advice bits ) *
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Registered: May 2002
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Re: how to: ST185 Gt4 Rear battery relocation
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Thu, 09 June 2005 02:46
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Look good.
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Location: Brisbane
Registered: February 2003
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Re: how to: ST185 Gt4 Rear battery relocation
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Thu, 09 June 2005 03:34
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berad wrote on Sun, 27 February 2005 15:19 | when i put my battery in the boot and when i bought the wire from the welding shop they told me not to solder it. i dont know why but they said only to crimp it and not to just hammer a fitting on to it use a proper crimping tool or your not using all the wire as electricity travels through the outside of the strands of wire, thats what they told me...
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then they told you total bollocks.
electrons travel thru the metal (well actually from atom to atom but ask a physicist for a better explanation) - i hear enough of this same 'traveling on the outside of the wire' crap from our resident audiophile-wanker at work.
I would suggest that you solder the crimps so it wont suffer from any vibration or movement.
go look at the wiring in a rally car - it'll usually be crimps that are then soldered so even excessive vibration or shaking wont lead to connection failure and intermittent contact.
Classique71: how strong is the loop fixed to the floor of the boot? i would have expected you to have to firmly fix the bottom of the case to the floor somehow.
cheers,
charles.
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I supported Toymods Banned User
Location: Brisbane
Registered: May 2002
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Re: how to: ST185 Gt4 Rear battery relocation
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Thu, 09 June 2005 04:05
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Its only in high frequency applications where the electrons travel on the out most skin of the conductor.
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I supported Toymods
Location: Perth
Registered: May 2002
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Re: how to: ST185 Gt4 Rear battery relocation
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Thu, 09 June 2005 05:07
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The other likely reason is this, try easily soldering 4 gauge copper wire with your average soldering iron
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Location: Colac, Victoria
Registered: May 2002
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Re: how to: ST185 Gt4 Rear battery relocation
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Thu, 09 June 2005 10:19
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its not moving without physically grabbing it and ripping it out - secured by 4 screws at the base ..
i will eventually bale something a little more secure but its got all the ticks it needs to be legal
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Location: Brisbane
Registered: February 2003
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