Battery relocation. Any bad effects?

[Dark_5.0]

I am seriously considering moving my battery to the trunk. I need room under the hood to mount some stuff and it will help with traction.

All of that sounds great. For the people that have done it are there any bad effects I should know about before I go through with it.

Does the battery still charge the same?

Would I need to upgrade the alternator?

Is it harder to start in cold weather cause of the distance the current has to travel?

Is this a good mod for a daily driver/drag race car?

Thanks,

[jonnyk]

No it won't charge AS good, but it won't be a huge change. If you run a large (1/0 or larger) wire to the starter, there should be no starting problems. The downsides are you'll need a battery box and have to vent it, and install a cutoff switch, to run it at the track. It's a lot of money IMO for very MINIMAL gains.
If you still have a 2G alternator (stock), you should have upgraded to the 3G long ago. I would do that anyways.

[420nitro]

When I did the battery relocation I was also kind of like "what a waste of money". But afterwards it made a huge difference in traction and cleaned up my engine conpartment. I am all for it now! Do what JONNYK said, and run a good ground to the frame and a body componet in the trunk for the battery as well. Then run a ground strap from the engine block to the frame up front besides the one you have from the factory w/ a 1/0 guage wire as well too.
Good luck

[USMC302]

ditto, I have had no problems, but I used 0 guage wire all around including to the cutoff switch. I also had the 130amp alt before the swap too, so I didn't notice any charging probs. Good luck.

[red82gt]

No problem here either. Used 1/0 welding cable from the battery to the solenoid and a 2 guage cable from the alternator to the cutoff switch and a 1/0 ground cable to the frame. I also used a ground strap from the timing cover to the sway bar bracket.

IMO this is a great mod, cleans up the engine compartment and you are moving a 45 lb object from the least desirable place to have weight on the car to the most desireable place to add weight to the car. Even with my stiff suspension it still made a huge difference in the balance of the car. The cost of the parts to do it right does add up though.

[Ackbar00]

Make sure you have plenty of Ground. Orginaly, I had it just grounded in the rear. It had trouble holding it charge. So I also ran another cable up to the factory loaction and have not had a problem since. Had it for 4 years this way. Make sure you get a disconnect switch as well. My battery is a Optima Red.