it's been talked about, dont remember if done.
did you try searching?

 

yes it would be nice to lose some weight in the front but the battery its not the way to go. First u need the battery in the engine bay for easy access of power. You install something electric it would be easier to just hook it up when battery is in the front. Second u risking electrical fire. by having the battery open like that in trunk a small spark and BOOM your precious passat in flames. Even worse its near the fule tank.

 

You don't NEED the battery under the hood, it's just more convenient because it's near the alternator, and since there are a lot of electronics in this car, most of which are under the dash, again it's just located there because it's closer.

The only thing other than the two main wires for the car, the only thing I've hooked directly to the battery is my 0awg power wire for my stereo, and having the battery in the back means 6ft of power wire instead of 25, and 25 ft of 0awg isn't cheap by any means, 6 is less than half the price.

I'm not sure what you carry in your trunk that can spark, but seeing as sulfuric acid isn't flammable, I don't see where that matters anyway.

As long as the battery is properly tied down, and properly vented (they do leak from time to time) putting the battery in the trunk has no ill effects IMO. It's done ALL the time in car audio, actually not relocating, but adding a 2nd.

I'm not tryin to argue with you, but I've seen it done countless times, if you do it right and take all the precautions there really is no harm in doing it.

 

oh yea. big negative points.
nice idea, but as stated above, there are things that can bump in yoiur trunk, or an unsuspecting bit of luggage can jump yor battery causing it to explode with sulfuric acid then circulating throughout your trunk.

trust me. i'm pretty sure you don't want to breathe in sulfuric acid within your car.
NASTY stuff.
it'l eat your heart out.

 

The wire would have to bigger than 4 awg. Then you need to calculate in the weight of the wire.

 

It would make being rear ended fun.
Also, as bill points out you won't save much weight (any), and quite frankly, 14lbs of weight in the back isn't going to do jack. You'd be better off emptying your glove box and taking a dump before driving.

 

did you even read, its taking 50lbs off the front! not taking 14 off the back. which from previous threads, Rusty among others have noticed a 35lb decrease in the front in driving. So 50lbs should be noticeable, its 1.6% of the weight of the car. not much but not insignificant.

 

you will feel cool but you wont notice anything. it was a waste of time and money in my gti. all it gives you is space but space aint needed where the battery is in the passat

 

you can always make a cover for the battery out of carpet material for sub boxes that is similar to the trunk carpet. Thus not leaving any risk of the metal objects you carry in your trunk shorting the battery.

Can anyone enlgihten (intended) me on why you need to have bigger than 4 gauge wire for this?

looks like you guys are going to talk me out of this, but I guess i wasnt a firm believer in it making a big difference from the beginning. Anyone's odyssey lightweight crap out yet?

 

For there to be a noticeable current drop across 4awg wire, we're talking quite a large distance, much longer than the length of a car for it to actually have a noticeable effect to the end user, w/o the use of a multimeter, you wont notice much if anything. I like 0awg though, if I'm doing something, I like to do it right

Remember that either way, under the hood or in the trunk the battery is surrounded by sheet metal, like I said, properly installed with all the necessary precautions, there is no downside, it just takes a bit of work and a small dollar amount.

 

this is what i use, it even has a lighter, real easy install and removal too.

couldnt resist, sorry!!!

 

Why not PM the original poster and ask him how he did it?

 

I did a custom turbo project on my 1989 Toyota Celica a few years ago, and had to relocate the battery to the trunk to make room for the turbo/piping/intercooler. I used probably about 20 ft of 4 guage wire to get to the trunk. First let me tell you it weighed a lot, probably 20 pounds just for the wire. Second, the car cranked a bit more slowly (but not too bad). Third, at least when I used to live in PA, they wouldn't inspect my car unless the battery was in a sealed vented securely fastened box. If I were to do it again, I would probably go with 2 gauge to be safe. Really though, the weight savings doesn't seem worth it after you account for the weight of the wire.

 

I'd suggest these to at least reduce the chance of a short/spark/fire:

 

I think it would make aftermarket stereo installs a lot easier--so if that's in your plans, that might make it worthwhile in addition to weight savings and redistribution. There are loads of kits out there for sealed boxes to protect against shorts and acid leakage.

 

It's not so much that the battery is up front - it really isn't very "up front" - it's behind the engine.

It's that the battery sits up high. Anything you can do to remove weight that high is going to help the car handle better. Simply replacing the 50 lb with a 15 lb will be a dramatic difference. I don't think it's worth the hassle to put it all the way in the back. A set of Shine springs will 'balance' the car a lot better than moving the battery.

The jury is hung on my Odyssey. It does everything just fine as long as I drive the car a lot. If I let it sit locked for a week, the battery drains to where it won't start. If I let it sit unlocked, I only get two or three days before it drains.

 

Rusty, do you have a full-size lithium battery, or a tiny one?

 

WOW! My car sits for a week at a time with my 11lb Braille and no issues. I only drive my car on the weekends becuase of my company vehicle.

 

Does your car sit locked or unlocked? I would imagine locked. Don't know if you ever saw the threads that an unlocked car drains the battery faster than a locked car. Some kind of 'sleep' mode when you lock it.

 

Yea, my replacement battery that I got at autozone, I can't remember the brand name, but if I let it sit for a week it doesn't fire up right away like if I drove it every day, but it still fires.

I'm thinkin a lightweight battery will replace the one that I currently have, whenever it dies that is.

 

i left my OEM 5 year old battery with the car locked for 3 weeks once and it started up fine For my next battery I may look into this lightweight Braille

 

A battery in the trunk, as long as its properly secured, isn't an issue really. The battery for my Miata is in the trunk (stock location) and while its a different type of battery (AGM), there are tons of folks who have replaced them with standard battery types without issue.

Having said that, I don't know that relocating the battery is going to give you significant difference from just replacing with the lighter battery in the factory location. The only upside I could see would be shorter runs of wires for subs, but you'll have to run wire for the battery anyway so its really a wash.

I'd opt for the lighter battery in the stock location.

 

Why wouldn't you lock your car when it's parked? Do you really want to give other people the opportunity to get into it without any effort at all, regardless of where you live?

 

It could be locked in a garage/storage unit.

 

i don't lock it when it's in my garage...never heard of draining more unlocked vs locked. but i drive daily though, so not an issue.

 

Hope nobody ever breaks into your garage to steal your car.

 

I ask again Rusty, do you have a full-size lithium battery or an undersized one?

 

I have the smallest Odyssey battery, equivalent to Bill's Braille, and it's not lithium.

 

Battery Relocation Thread Resurrection

Old thread, that after some hijacking, was never answered in the first place.

For a B5 sedan, does anyone have a relocated battery (under hood to trunk area), or aware of a site/thread/DIY for the same?

 

Heh, an old thread, but I like it. For perspective, old MGB's not only had their batteries in the back, to take weight off the nose, they had TWO - one on each side, to preserve balance. It was a colossal PITA, and people used to replace the two 6V's with one 12V - and often move it back up front.

I haven't seen a write-up, but I'd want to see verified skid-pad improvements before going to the trouble. The Passat isn't a fiberglass-bodied Lotus, it's a frickin' 3300lb family sedan.

 

i know v4vangelder relocated it to the rear on his B5 he put it in the cubbyhole where the CD changer was, i moved it to the rear on my cabrio just make sure u use at least a 4 gauge wire, i used 0 gauge cause basically i got it for free from a buddy :lol: