Rear mounted batterys(safari)

[Shane]

Well I decided to upgrade my batteries,both were in average condition and have needed charging from time to time,I find it like some on here hard to just replace something with a new item when we can modifier it for the better(that's always the plan any way not that it always works )I pretty sure its a bad character trait of some sort

I had some batteries and heavy gauge power cable left over from my car audio days so it was just a matter of finding a place to put them.I could have put them all up the front with some slite mods to one side of the battery boxes but the safari's are pretty heavy up front as it is so having 60+ kg of batteries didn't make sense(that's what I keep telling myself)

Found a spot behind the rear seats were they would fit,brought some angle and made up a simple battery tray which I welded with the little stick welder I got at Xmas(few birds flying round that day )
Had a friend weld it to vehicle with a mig,spray with some black paint and stuck some protective tape(yellow)approx 1.5mm thick down so batteries not rubbing/sitting on the steel.welded two bits of angle together to make the hold down clamp,has the tape under that also.

secured the 00 gauge power cable to chassis with zip ties,steel clamps etc and connected directly to winch on/off solenoid (behind R/F head light)than back to starter which is the opposite to how Nissan run it,if you follow the factory wiring for the winch you'd be very surprised how long it is,much shorter now with heavier cable.found a shut off switch laying round so fitted that at the battery end.wired the batteries up and went for a we drive make sure every thing still works,no problems to date.

To do list:
make up cover so nothing can fall on battery terminals(first job)
wire up fridge/air pump/extra interior lighting etc

[tgaguy1]

Nice work Shane.
A couple of questions though, just because I am nosey.

Is the cover going to be gas proof?
From memory if you put batteries inside, the battery box has to be gas proof and vented to the outside. I maybe wrong. Can anyone confirm or deny?

What are you going to do with the spare space created in the engine bay?

I am watching this with interest as sometimes it is easier to let someone else do the R&D.
Very tidy job of the wiring too.

[toysuzi]

for rally cars the battery box has to be sealed and vented out side
should be all right

[tallsam66]

Nice job BUT

You must vent them to the outside ( hydrogen is extremely explosive remember the Hindenburg) & also in a strong cover you dont want acid to go everywhere if you have a roll over.

[Shane]

Nice job BUT

You must vent them to the outside ( hydrogen is extremely explosive remember the Hindenburg) & also in a strong cover you dont want acid to go everywhere if you have a roll over.

batterys are completely sealed no vent tubes at all,have tested one up side down no leakage,I well be making a cover for them but wont be sealed/vented out side.

[UBZ]

Looks Great, I been thinking about a similar mod for the surf for a while know.

One question though. How have you connected the battery negative to the starter motor? The under body pic only shows one wire running to the engine bay.
Are you running high current negative through the chassis rail to back to the battery?

[Shane]

Looks Great, I been thinking about a similar mod for the surf for a while know.

One question though. How have you connected the battery negative to the starter motor? The under body pic only shows one wire running to the engine bay.
Are you running high current negative through the chassis rail to back to the battery?

Have a 4 gauge cable going to vehicle body and a 1 gauge(red) going to vehicle chassis which is what the starter well earth through,seams to be working fine so far.

[PigFmr]

Nice job there Shane,you back to work yet full time??

vince