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I wanted to fit a big battery to power my winch but saw several disadvantages to mounting it on the passengers side of engine bay.Eg: height & weight.
I decided to mount it on the left hand side of the car to counter the 'Sierra lean' and a lot lower to offset the change in C.O.G.
Tray is 25mm angle frame. 310 X 180mm. Box on the floor was once the rear seat fold filler panel out of an XB falcon wagon, the lid is Tarago ($2 from wreckers). I made the box big enough to be able to fit fuse blocks etc in there. The only mod to the chassis is to cut 20mm of the exhaust hanger and drill two holes in it for tray.
I looked in the bible and searched but I couldn't find anything like this.
WOOHOO... 100Ah (1000CCA) batt arrived by courier 7pm last night...
Last edited by want33s on Fri May 11, 2007 10:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
Don't have any photos, but "a friend of Greg's car I saw once" has an Optima under the passenger's seat.
The battery is in a custom made 1.6mm steel box set through the floor. It sits just above the chassis and the top of the box just clears the seat. The slide mechanism had to be modified to remove the wire that runs across under the seat.
This would only work with a 2" BL, but there is no loss of cabin space and the battery is as low as possible.
Insulation was used to protect the battery from exhaust heat.
Engineer was fine with it once the box was vented to outside the car.
I too don't like batteries in the stock position, although an optima does fit in the stock location in a sierra.
Steve.
[quote="greg"] some say he is a man without happy dreams, or that he sees silver linings on clouds and wonders why they are not platinum... all we know, is he's called the stevie.[/quote]
Gwagensteve wrote:Don't have any photos, but "a friend of Greg's car I saw once" has an Optima under the passenger's seat.
The battery is in a custom made 1.6mm steel box set through the floor. It sits just above the chassis and the top of the box just clears the seat. The slide mechanism had to be modified to remove the wire that runs across under the seat.
This would only work with a 2" BL, but there is no loss of cabin space and the battery is as low as possible.
Insulation was used to protect the battery from exhaust heat.
Engineer was fine with it once the box was vented to outside the car.
I too don't like batteries in the stock position, although an optima does fit in the stock location in a sierra.
Steve.
My first preference was for sideways behind the passenger seat set in floor but mine is a 37kg battery & I would rather have that weight on the chassis than the body(especially with 3" lift). The big bosch battery in photos is only until my 100AH AGM cell(1000CCA) arrives by courier this afternoon(Ebay is great). When the starter battery dies I'll replace it with another AGM or Optima.
Why did "a friend of Greg's car I saw once" need the battery vented externally? Aren't optima's sealed?
That's what the engineer wanted, that's what he got. We tried to explain, but he was very specific about the vent (It's actually just a hole just under floor level - no biggy.
Yeah - 37kg - I understand the chassis mount. That's a big battery though - planning on a lot of winching? a sinlge Optima tends to be just fine in a car as light a Zuk for recovery winching.
Steve.
[quote="greg"] some say he is a man without happy dreams, or that he sees silver linings on clouds and wonders why they are not platinum... all we know, is he's called the stevie.[/quote]
Gwagensteve wrote:That's what the engineer wanted, that's what he got. We tried to explain, but he was very specific about the vent (It's actually just a hole just under floor level - no biggy.
Yeah - 37kg - I understand the chassis mount. That's a big battery though - planning on a lot of winching? a sinlge Optima tends to be just fine in a car as light a Zuk for recovery winching.
Steve.
Ok, the engineer probably wanted to be sure it would still be safe even if a normal battery was fitted.
Yep 37kg is the rear passenger! I plan on using this winch A LOT.
I needed a big battery for winch so I went oversize so I can power spotties,freezer,1500w inverter, stereo, air compressor etc when camping. I have yet to fit the 150A dual battery isolator and 100A EF falcon alternator (i have changed the pulley though), next weekend maybe!.
