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Battery Boxes Design!

Oct. 12, 2007

I want to get the majority of the batteries in front of the rear axle.
All of the metal is 1/8" thickness or wall.
These are ideas put on paper and all sizing and thoughts are subject to change!

Front Box
10.5" wide X 29" long.

Revised, Apr.21, 2008, added 3 batteries to the front, on an "L" battery box.
3 batteries added to the front battery box, removed 3 batteries from the rear box.

Center Boxes on each side of the driveline & a Rear Box behind the axle.
Heavy shaded lines are 1/8" X 4" flat iron to span the battery edges.
Each center box is 15" wide X 42" long X 11" tall. The rear box is 36" long X 40"wide X 11" tall.
Revised, Apr. 21, 2008, to only 5 batteries behind the rear axle. I will use the open area in the rear battery box for tool storage.

Getting Started...


Nov. 1, 2007
The driveline necks down at the rear axle joint. In order to have clearance for driveline movment, I need a driveline that is this smaller size the full length. I will have one made after I get the battery boxes completed.

Nov. 3, 2007

I made the metal to fit around the spring perchs from a cardboard pattern.
I made small tack welds to hold the baskets in place for now, cause I had to readjust them several times to get them square and straight.

Nov. 17, 2007

The battery boxes on each side of the driveline are all tack welded together.
I will weld them solid after I get the driveline back from being made.

The rear battery box is ready to be welded solid.

Nov. 23, 2007

The front battery box is tacked together. I will weld them solid later.

Bent an "L" piece to secure the battery box to the frame.

Apr. 1, 2008

Question: I would like to know what the material you are using as what I call "battery bottom separator supports" - those strips of steel with holes in them that look like they are tee-shaped in cross section. Where did you get that stuff?
Answer: The material you are looking at was originally a couple lengths of 1/8"X7/8"X1 1/4" (formed in a metal brake) sheet metal angle iron from a used electrical control center cabinet. Note: I have seen the same angle at Home Depot or at my local "Overhead" garage door dealer, or installer.
They may even give you some that was left over after a door install.
I cut the angle iron to the proper lengths and then I just hammered the angle out until it was almost flat.
The little ridge in the iron that you see is all that is left of the ridge of the angle.

Apr. 4, 2008

To gain more clearance away from the driveline, I cut loose the right side battery box frame, above the driveline, and moved the vertical (corner) angle iron and also 3 of the vertical battety frame sides at the top and bottom in 1/8".
Making the inside of the width of the battery box a little smaller, but it should not be a problem.

Apr. 11 & 12, 2008

I finished welding the battery box frames with 3/32" 6011 welding rod.
I welded a angle iron brace between the battery boxes, right behind the cab, to tie the boxes together.
This will help insure the square tube at the front of the battery boxes does not sag under the weight of the batteries.

I used a angle head grinder to grind all of the welds, where I could not get the grinder in the corners I used a air chisel to remove the welding slag.
At this time, while cleaning up the welds, I saw places that needed to be welded .

I covered the cab with a plastic trap and taped it around the battery box frame.
I used gloss black spray paint to cover the frames.

I used old corrugated plastic political posters for the liners for the battery boxes.
I cut them to fit using my home owner table saw.
I taped them in place, so the wind would not blow them away!

When I tried to paint the plastic posters I found that the gloss black spray paint would not adhere to the plastic surface, that there was a silicone film residue.
The fresh paint was full of "fisheyes" on all of the multi-color posters.
I decided to cover the sides that faced to the outside of the battery boxes with black roof sealer.
The roof sealer will dry to the touch in a few days. The roof sealer will also protect the metal frames of the battery boxes.
I did not put any roof sealant on the inside surfaces of the battery boxes because the batteries would get stuck down with the roof sealant.
I sprayed the inside surface of the plastic boxes with the gloss black paint. If the roof coating on the exterior of the boxes ever strats coming off I will touch the areas up with more roof coat or black spray paint.

Apr. 21, 2008

After mounting the alternator, it looks like I have enough room along side and over the motor to move 3 batteries from the battery box that is behind the rear axle to the front motor bay to get the weight more equally front / rear balance.
I cut and welded up an angle iron frame box, the box with mock-up batteries is just setting in the area to give me an idea for mounting them to the front S10 frame.

Apr. 22, 2008

Front battery box to side battery box mount, and rear side box support that goes down behind the upper steering pivot to the S10 frame.

Apr. 23, 2008

Drilled and threaded the right frame for a 5/16" bolt, and used the shortest one of the old S10 engine braces to make the support for the left side battery box, down to the S10 lower control arm bracket frame. The top of the brace goes through a short 3/8" piece of pipe that is welded to the battery box corner.

Apr. 24, 2008

Added braces to the "L" front battery box, cleaned welds and painted.

Installed the front boxes,

You can see just below the master cylinder, the support rod going down to the S10 frame near the lower control arm.

Apr. 25, 2008

Added the recycled posters to the front boxes.

installed the batteries

This is the rear box minus the 3 batteries that I moved to the front, giving me a total of 7 batteries under the hood.
I will line the open area with plastic and use this open area for tool storage.

Aug. 17, 2008

I decided to use the area at the rear of the rear most battery pack for tool storage.
I made a holder for the battery hydrometer from a short piece of 1 1/2" ABS Pipe.
I left the bottom of the pipe open.
I mounted the tube at the far end of the rear battery box with a wire tie.
I also bought a narrow plastic tool box from Harbor Freight to mount at the rear of the batteries, in a piece of styrofoam.

Aug. 23, 2008
I drilled 7/16" holes in the front battery box frame and used 30" plastic wire ties to go around each battery for a hold down.
I put the tie locks under the battery frames out of sight.
I also used some thick styrofoam and made a cut out for the plastic tool box to set into at the rear battery area of the truck.
I will have to paint the styrofoam with water base paint as the spray bomb paint desolves the foam.
I need to make a list of tools and items that need to be included in the tool box.

NEXT S-10 Driveline and Brake system.

More next time...