House Battery Detaches on Highway Today

[Tronadora]

RandyNH - AGMs on their side is A-OK. In fact it is standard on all Intertates with underslung mounting.

IB - Yes, the EXT versions, when loaded up, do ride like you've got a load of sand in the back of a pickup.

Now that I've had the "benefit" of driving with different load position points away from the rear wheels, I would shy away from putting 150lbs off the hitch in a carrier box on one of these EXT models. Unless the rest of the rear storage inside was comprised of toilet paper and boxes of cereal. Just my opinion.

[Hein]

When I built our Sprinter van, I placed the batteries (four 6V GC2 size AGMs for total of 500Ah @ 12V) ahead of the rear wheels. Much better place for the weight, IMO. They have been going strong for over 4 years.



More photos of our 3500 battery boxes during the installation can be found at the following link: https://sprinter-source.com/forum/sh...&postcount=312

We produce battery boxes for Sprinter and Transit vans.

All the best,
Hein

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Hein

...We produce battery boxes for Sprinter and Transit vans.
...

Hi, Hein. We've indirectly met on the other forum but I cannot recall if I ever encouraged you to consider expanding your product line to include a decent hitch carrier optimized for use with a Class B. I've done the research and the generic carriers on the market amount to crap, crap, and more crap. The market is wide open IMO.

Many people have looked at ours and asked where they could buy one, but of course they are not for sale because ours is a custom design cut and welded by my husband LB_3. There's no claim of intellectual property or trademark associated with this design that I know of (certainly not by us). The device itself weighs a slim and efficient 57 pounds and includes bolt-on / bolt-off options for the cooler and other equipment (pressure washer, gas can, other break bulk, etc). Versatility and adaptation are the keys to the success of vanlife, especially off-grid vanlife. This one product has to be able to perform multiple functions, which it does, and quite efficiently.

I've been hoping that some micro-business can take our idea and refine it even further to offer a good quality sale product to the van community. For instance, we've never considered incorporating a bolt-on / bolt-off kayak adapter, which is something I'm sorely missing right now (as opposed to a few years ago when we designed this for our immediate needs at that time, which did not include such a consideration).

Design info here. The first picture shows the freshly-welded and degreased carrier prior to paint coating and edging with DOT C2 and abrasive tread steps.

[Boxster1971]

TRONADORA - that added strap looks like a great solution. Airstream needs to picks up on this design as a recall or at least Technical Service Bulletin before someone is involved in a serious accident.

[Alex AVI]

TRONADORA - Good stuff, nice job. Speaking for my own rig, the C/S location like yours was done, is also probably the optimum location in terms of balancing the weight distribution of R/S & C/S in that area since my water heater is on the R/S. I don't know if it matters a whole lot but probably still better than having all of them on one side

[Tronadora]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

TRONADORA - that added strap looks like a great solution. Airstream needs to picks up on this design as a recall or at least Technical Service Bulletin before someone is involved in a serious accident.

Mike - I think A/S or A/S LV did come up with this already for Eyechip. When I clued in my local dealer with a link to this thread, they contacted A/S and voila the same basic design came up. And yes, you're right, this should be standard issue on every Interstate.... maybe even a recall, at least for anyone who has had oversized batts put in by the dealer.

[VAtom]

Originally Posted by Tronadora

RandyNH -
IB - Yes, the EXT versions, when loaded up, do ride like you've got a load of sand in the back of a pickup.

Now that I've had the "benefit" of driving with different load position points away from the rear wheels, I would shy away from putting 150lbs off the hitch in a carrier box on one of these EXT models. Unless the rest of the rear storage inside was comprised of toilet paper and boxes of cereal. Just my opinion.

We have an EXT and a StowAway which is a lot of weight beyond the rear wheels AND bumper.

For us, it rides fine.

Before the StowAway it was nauseating and frankly impossible to sit on the back couch while travelling because of the bouncing and trampolining.

Now it is smooth and comfortable.

Not recommending it for anyone else but we're happy.

https://www.stowaway2.com/

[swilly43]

Has anyone installed the Airstream battery trays (2016 AI GT Ext) on the passenger side of the coach to increase the battery capacity? I am having difficulty finding someone to install the factory rivets. These are 1/4 inch steel. Believe it or not, not even the Airstream dealer has the tool to do this. It seemed to me at the time to be an easy way to get more capacity after I had given up on fabricating something. If I have to go the fabrication route, I will take the plunge and use the 6V path.

[gmillerok1]

You can buy a pneumatic rivet gun at Harbor Freight what will handle 1/4" stainless steel rivets. That's what they use for the bracket for the macerator.

I had to replace the bracket after it lost an argument with high center at a railroad trestle. The only way it can be reattached is with a pneumatic gun, as the space is not large enough to use a manual rivet gun. I used 1/4" stainless steel, the same as the original rivets.

With that being said, I would never use rivets to attach something as heavy as batteries nor would I count on the floor of the chassis being strong enough to hold it. This is a very bad idea. Weld it to the frame if you have to go that route.

[TN Princess]

I installed two Airstream battery boxes on the curb side.
Used this: https://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-...tle-66422.html

I did not used the included rivets. It was not easy to manually pop the rivets, but doable.

[wachuko]

Originally Posted by TN Princess

I installed two Airstream battery boxes on the curb side.
Used this: https://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-...tle-66422.html

I did not used the included rivets. It was not easy to manually pop the rivets, but doable.

Same here...that is the one I also used.

[gmillerok1]

I strongly encourage anyone who just uses rivets to a hold a tray full of heavy batteries add a supporting strap to the frame to insure they can't fall off.

There's too much risk that a failure could occur with all the movement of the van in my opinion using rivets.

I would be very concerned that it could detach and kill someone. It's not worth that risk.

[swilly43]

Thank you for the replies, An extra strap to add more safety factor is wise. TN
Princess and Wachuco, when you said you did not use the included rivets, you meant the one that came with the rivet gun correct. Did you use the Airstream rivets? These are steel and the long handled tool was adequate to install the steel rivets? Thanks again.

[TN Princess]

Did not use the rivets supplied by Harbor Freight.

bought 1/4 inch 3/8 inch long rivets on this website (Albany County Rivets)

https://www.albanycountyfasteners.co...vets-s/733.htm

I do not have an extra strap. Installed holders in March of 2018, have driven about 15,000 miles. Several thousand miles on secondary roads (not interstate quality). I recently check the battery holders (removed batteries, looked for cracks, loose, etc) no issues found. I check the holders because of this thread.

FYI: I used my garage jack to lift the batteries to the correct height then slide in to place. Batteries are heavy and difficult to lift while under van.

I have 13 rivets available for someone. Price is what it costs to mail.

[swilly43]

Here is a link to my install write up.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f240...ml#post2227863