Posted by: Rusty_ on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 (23:46:24) Article Rating: 4
Battery Cradle Drivers Side
Battery cradle/tray to hold a standard N70 style battery onto a hilux trayback
It was unintentional that the battery tray is able to fit on the left or right side but I'm thankful that it did. I originally had the tray mounted on the passenger side but after some thought about weight distribution I decided to shift it to the drivers side.
As we are on the road regular, our vehicle is set up so that we can pull up and rest without having to unpack the vehicle. Our bed is made and ready to use when we want. We have the Engel and food box as well as some cooking gear set up on the passenger side, for ease of use and the safety aspect on not being on the traffic side of the road when making quick stops to access the fridge. We have a long range fuel tank (128 litres ) on the drivers side.
( I will write more on our vehicle setup in another article at a later time )
Ok, getting back to the explanation, with the amount of weight already on the passenger side, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to put a bit of weight on the drivers side. I like to have a vehicles weight distributed evenly as possible.
Other factors that came into play were,
The battery in the engine compartment is also on the drivers side, so when setting up the dual battery system ( another article
) it would be easier to run the battery lead down the same side without having to cross over, more chances of things catching on the lead, exhaust, more cable required etc.
I went and bought some 25mm by 3mm angle, 2 meters is more than enough.
The thing to consider before you cut is the length of the back piece, closet to the chassis posts that hold the tray on.
(To be continued)
Tips and Tricks
This is where I stuffed up but not serious, I wished I had have made it a little bit longer and wider to fit a larger capacity battery.
Make the battery tray to suit the largest battery you think you will need. You may not have that battery yet, but down the track you might decide to put a bigger battery in.
Thankfully now days battery manufacturers are starting to standardise their sizes, so it'll make it easier for everyone concerned.
It was unintentional that the battery tray is able to fit on the left or right side but I'm thankful that it did. I originally had the tray mounted on the passenger side but after some thought about weight distribution I decided to shift it to the drivers side.
As we are on the road regular, our vehicle is set up so that we can pull up and rest without having to unpack the vehicle. Our bed is made and ready to use when we want. We have the Engel and food box as well as some cooking gear set up on the passenger side, for ease of use and the safety aspect on not being on the traffic side of the road when making quick stops to access the fridge. We have a long range fuel tank (128 litres ) on the drivers side.
( I will write more on our vehicle setup in another article at a later time )
Ok, getting back to the explanation, with the amount of weight already on the passenger side, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to put a bit of weight on the drivers side. I like to have a vehicles weight distributed evenly as possible.
Other factors that came into play were,
The battery in the engine compartment is also on the drivers side, so when setting up the dual battery system ( another article
) it would be easier to run the battery lead down the same side without having to cross over, more chances of things catching on the lead, exhaust, more cable required etc.I went and bought some 25mm by 3mm angle, 2 meters is more than enough.
The thing to consider before you cut is the length of the back piece, closet to the chassis posts that hold the tray on.
(To be continued)
Tips and Tricks
This is where I stuffed up but not serious, I wished I had have made it a little bit longer and wider to fit a larger capacity battery.
Make the battery tray to suit the largest battery you think you will need. You may not have that battery yet, but down the track you might decide to put a bigger battery in.
Thankfully now days battery manufacturers are starting to standardise their sizes, so it'll make it easier for everyone concerned.
Battery cradle with battery and thick poly in front to protect it from rocks
View from underneath
Bracket that mounts to chassis . Note the second hole allows the cradle to be mounted on the other side
Clearance between guard and cradle
Another view from below, different perspective