Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: New non-corrosive battery hold downs


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Open Roads Forum > Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)

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sbishop

Eagle Rock, CA

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Joined: 08/09/2001

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Posted: 02/07/12 12:29pm

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The hold downs for the batteries were mild steel and through the years have become corroded and usless, they also covered the cell covers and removing the cell covers required removing the straps that went from side to side over the batteries. I removed all the mild steel and bought 1/4 - 20 SS all thread and SS nuts and washers and a piece of 2" wide by 1/2" cutting board scrap from a plastic fabricator. I made two "Ells" out of the plastic and one "T" and put them on the all thread and tighten them down. No more corroosion and I can access the cell caps without removing any straps. I had removed the corroded hold down rod, nut and washers on the hold down for the chassis battery earlier. Here are some pictures of the finished products,

I cut enough pieces to replace the two hold downs for the chassis battery but wanted to see if these would work before changing those. So far they seem to be secure, I was worried that the two outside rods might not be sturdy enough to hold the plastic brackets firmly on top of the batteries but they seem good. It was a pretty easy upgrade and cost about $16.00, $4 for the plastic and $12 for the all thread, nuts and washers. I had the screws on had and have more than enough to finish the project. Next is relocating all of the smaller guage wires from the terminals to a pair of buss bars I bought so that there are no more than two terminals on each stud. Most of the smaller wires have fuses and I plan on bringing all of them right next to the positive buss bar where they are easy to get to for replacement if necessary. As you can see in the forth picture there are two wires to the ground terminal, I am thinking about moving the small ground to the ground buss too. There are five conductors connected to the hot terminal and you can see that only about half the nut has stud in it. I installed the battery switch on the hot lead and will move it to the negative terminal after I move the small ground to the grouns buss.

* This post was edited 02/07/12 12:37pm by sbishop *

"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to go". R. L. Stevenson

David Bishop
1990 Bounder 27D
1995 Suzuki Sidekick 4X4
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tvman44

Southwest Louisiana

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Posted: 02/07/12 12:52pm

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Very neat.

Papa Bob
1* DW "Granny"
1* 2008 Brookside by Sunnybrook 32'
1* 2002 F250 Super Duty 7.3L PSD
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"A bad day camping is better than a good day at work!"