JerseyboyXJ

Guy Mark I know from work and wheel with has his xj set up with a solar pannel on his tire rack, inverter in the trunk and aftermarket lights. I wanted to take what he has done and put it into mine but haven't gotten the chance to ask him much about it.

Questions:
1) can I run more then one inverter (if needed or even possible)
2) what's a good brand, size inverter to go with
3) should I go with a deep cycle battery or yellow top optima as an emergency reserve (jump stars, possible future winch power source...) being charged by the solar pannel
4) what's the best way to wire all this stuff up

Any good reliable info is needed. If anyone has links to detailed write ups that would be great. I'm new to all this but want to learn and be ready for whatever may happen out in the woods.

Thanks ahead of time for the help!!!

alpine.adrenaline

Awesome! Can't argue with free power. I can tell you though, that solar-charging a battery may take a couple of days for just a few hours of use. I've been thinking of doing this after I get all the axle repairs sorted out, so I'll follow this thread & tell ya what I know.
Rather than use more than one inverter I would combine your money and get a good, high-wattage inverter. That way you'll be able to split the wattage between multiple devices or run larger appliances. I used to have a 2000 watt in my '87 with a dual battery setup and I could run a rotary saw for a couple of hours. I had that inverter for three years before I sold the heep and it never blew a fuse or gave me any issues. I bought it at Harbor Freight. Be careful not to charge rechargeable batteries on the inverter though.
I used to run a couple of yellow tops, one that I was willing to drain (the inverter wouldn't let it completely drain- bringing an Optima back to life is tough) and the other that I could use for a jump start. Now, there's two issues with using different batteries so you'll want to make sure you get the same one if you plan to have it inline with your other battery for winching or jump-starting.
As far as wiring it goes, think of the solar panel's leads as the leads from the alternator charging your main batt. Our alternators have voltage regulators though, so you'll want to make sure the panels you buy come with one or buy one separately. Check out Harbor Freight's 45w kit, I think it's on sale now as well. To connect the batteries, you'll need a heavy duty solenoid and relay to include or exclude the second battery from your system. For a safety measure make sure you put a decent circuit breaker or fuse next to the batteries. Use 0 gauge wire or close, depending on the size of inverter you get.

JerseyboyXJ

First off thanks for all the great info. Its alot to figure out but once i get a better understanding of what exactly i can do it will make more sence to me.

What I was looking to do with the spare battery was to use it for jump starts and power some accessories that wont be used all the time I just need a source on board that will charge it back up after use (solar pannel). Maybe this is the totally wrong way to go about doing this but I thought the set up would almost look like... solar to battery, battery to inverter. Any input on that idea?

Also I was thinking about mounting two lights under the rear bumper. The reverse lights aren't the greatest in the woods and if I had some extra lights hooked up to a toggle switch I could flash them on whenever. Would I be able to hook these up to the solar charging battery?

JerseyboyXJ

Been awhile since I've checked back on this thread but just as an update. I went ahead and bought me a whistler pro-2000w power inverter, not sure about a good company for the solar panel so that's being researched now. And I'm pretty sure I'll just end up with 2 deep cycle marine batteries and link them together as my power source