Where to route battery tender wires to grill?

[KEMeyer]

I tried without success to find details on routing a battery tender cable to the grill. I have a 2024 Lariat 2.0 EB and a Noco Genius 5, and I want to keep the charger on the outside. I don't mind some minor disassembly if needed to route the pigtail to the grill, but I'd feel better following directions from one of you trail blazers. A few pictures would be great. Thanks much.

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[Vomamansr]

I tried without success to find details on routing a battery tender cable to the grill. I have a 2024 Lariat 2.0 EB and a Noco Genius 5, and I want to keep the charger on the outside. I don't mind some minor disassembly if needed to route the pigtail to the grill, but I'd feel better following directions from one of you trail blazers. A few pictures would be great. Thanks much.

I had the same thought cause my 24 lariat goes into sleep mode occasionally I was thinking on the same charger and routing wire and mounting a permanent plug on the side to one of the side badges

 

[Cactus Mav]

Used the Noco on both a Ram and a Ranger and it worked great. On both of those I was able mount in the airdam, but don't think the Maverick dam is tall enough.

 

[KEMeyer]

I decided to keep the charger and cables under the hood and open it to plug in the charger. The main advantage for me is to know I won't forget to unplug before driving away... my 76 year old mind occasionally has a brain fart, and I'll get a big red warning if I try driving with the hood ajar.

 

[Bruce W]

I had the same thought cause my 24 lariat goes into sleep mode occasionally I was thinking on the same charger and routing wire and mounting a permanent plug on the side to one of the side badges

I was going to do this and bought the Mabett side markers. I saw an AC plug mounted in the front bumper. It was for a block heat in the north country! If you come up with a good idea please share.

 

[Bruce W]

I tried without success to find details on routing a battery tender cable to the grill. I have a 2024 Lariat 2.0 EB and a Noco Genius 5, and I want to keep the charger on the outside. I don't mind some minor disassembly if needed to route the pigtail to the grill, but I'd feel better following directions from one of you trail blazers. A few pictures would be great. Thanks much.

It would make sense to have a dc plug and not run AC power under the hood. These look interesting. It would also provide a port to provide DC power to an external source. Maybe we need to mount solar panels on the cab roof and sent it to the battery!

 

[Bigfoot7262]

I have one of the older Battery Tenders in the metal case and I use a 20ft extension with the dual trailer pole connectors. Been wanting to do the same, run a permanent connection from the battery to the grill so I don't have to open the hood but I don't see an easy path.
Would love to mount one of those flush mount trailer connectors to the black plastic side panel and tell everyone I have the only 2.0l Ecoboost 'plug in hybrid'...

 

[PlantMan]

My battery tender DC cable just goes out over top of the grill in the crease between the grill and quarter panel. Lays right in there and no contact when closing the hood.

 

[KEMeyer]

It would make sense to have a dc plug and not run AC power under the hood. These look interesting. It would also provide a port to provide DC power to an external source. Maybe we need to mount solar panels on the cab roof and sent it to the battery!

You make a great point... not running AC in the engine compartment does sound like sage advice. I will move my charger to the wall and run DC to the battery. Thanks for your comment.

 

[B2000]

My battery tender DC cable just goes out over top of the grill in the crease between the grill and quarter panel. Lays right in there and no contact when closing the hood.

I did something similar. I hardwired the BT cable to the battery and then bought a short 12" extender from Amazon since the BT extension is way too long. I just leave the plug flush with the hood so I don't have to open the hood to charge.

That said the only problem I have had is the auto stop/start not working and I don't really like that feature anyway. Have had no other problems with low battery including starting in cold weather. It still sort of bothers me that Ford does not have the battery get charged to a higher state but like I said no other issues.

 

[Bruce W]

I did something similar. I hardwired the BT cable to the battery and then bought a short 12" extender from Amazon since the BT extension is way too long. I just leave the plug flush with the hood so I don't have to open the hood to charge.

That said the only problem I have had is the auto stop/start not working and I don't really like that feature anyway. Have had no other problems with low battery including starting in cold weather. It still sort of bothers me that Ford does not have the battery get charged to a higher state but like I said no other issues.

Agreed. I had the dealer check the settings in the software last time I had oil change. They said everything set correctly. But I can take 100 mile trip down the interstate and three days later my batteries low. Obviously it needs to be charging differently that it is, but there’s not much you can do about it.

 

[jmatchco]

I tried without success to find details on routing a battery tender cable to the grill. I have a 2024 Lariat 2.0 EB and a Noco Genius 5, and I want to keep the charger on the outside. I don't mind some minor disassembly if needed to route the pigtail to the grill, but I'd feel better following directions from one of you trail blazers. A few pictures would be great. Thanks much.

Well, I took a different approach. Wired to battery and chassis (added 8mm bolt as stud) and used long SAE cable to route down behind headlight and out the grill where the tow hook is. In pictures, it's the red/black cable. I needed a NOCO/SAE adapter at the NOCO charge cable side, not mounted in the truck. I velcro the cable up under the grill by the tow hook when not in use. Sorry the pictures aren't great, but the setup works well. I just dropped the wire down and fished it out the hole, clear of the radiator, and zip-tied to convenient places.

 

[Tom 71 Maverick 24]

I think, but I don't know for certain, that you can change the level of charge for the 12 volt battery in FORScan. Many have posted that they've changed it from 80% to 95%, which is quite helpful.

Also, some others have noted that they prefer to have the hood ajar when they've got a charger connected to the battery as a reminder to remove it before they start up the car and leave.

 

[KEMeyer]

I think, but I don't know for certain, that you can change the level of charge for the 12 volt battery in FORScan. Many have posted that they've changed it from 80% to 95%, which is quite helpful.

Also, some others have noted that they prefer to have the hood ajar when they've got a charger connected to the battery as a reminder to remove it before they start up the car and leave.

I'm still debating about changing the SOC from 80 % to 95%. Some say it's not necessary, and I am watching for any reports confirming that it helps.

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