How to install battery box in 1977 Airstream Tradewind?

[ajcannon]

The battery box in my 1977 Tradewind has a few holes in it and is allowing water to get inside of my Airstream. I have ordered and received a new battery box from Out of Doors Mart, but I don't know how to install it.

I initially thought that when I got the new battery box it would be readily apparent how to install it, but it is not. At least not to me.

You can see pictures of the battery box that I purchased from almost every angle by going here:

http://imgur.com/a/9cth9

How do I go about installing this? Any tips or suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thank you all and have a great day.

[overlander63]

Umm...
That is the inner liner, and is designed to fit inside the housing on the front of the trailer, over the A frame. Not where the battery box assembly is located on a Tradewind, which is at floor level, on the street side of the trailer near the furnace/kitchen cabinet area.

[ajcannon]

Actually this is where it's supposed to go on mine. My brother in law has a '75 and it is in the location you describe for his, but in mine it is in the front behind the propane tanks.

Do I need to take off the face frame from the outside in order to install this? I can do that but wasn't sure if I needed to or not.

Thanks for the answer!

[ajcannon]

I'm back home now and was able to take some pictures of what I'm talking about. You can see these pictures at:

http://m.imgur.com/a/CWiNB

Here you can see where my battery box is (and also you can clearly see where it is cracked from the inside picture.)

I'm guessing that I have to take the exterior frame off, install the new battery box, and then reinstall the frame and the frame sort of holds it in place? That's got to be it but I'd love some confirmation if anyone knows for sure.

And then seal it with vulkum? How does my plan sound to the more experienced people out there?

Thanks again for everyone's help!

[fwjumper]

You are thinking correctly. Remove outer frame. That should release box to slide out. (after you break remaining sealant free. Cables enter through strain reliefs or grommets. Reverse process and be sure to seal front lip of box to skin as well as door frame. Use stainless screws if old ones are rusty.

[ajcannon]

Awesome! Thank you very much. I hope to tackle this this coming weekend. Thanks again!

[Alumineer]

Originally Posted by ajcannon

I'm back home now and was able to take some pictures of what I'm talking about. You can see these pictures at:

http://m.imgur.com/a/CWiNB

Here you can see where my battery box is (and also you can clearly see where it is cracked from the inside picture.)

I'm guessing that I have to take the exterior frame off, install the new battery box, and then reinstall the frame and the frame sort of holds it in place? That's got to be it but I'd love some confirmation if anyone knows for sure.

And then seal it with vulkum? How does my plan sound to the more experienced people out there?

Thanks again for everyone's help!

Most likely the box cracked because the random lumber under the box was not supporting the 40+ pound battery properly. So figure out how high the new battery box will sit above the floor, then laminate a couple of sheets of plywood to the right thickness to support the whole floor of the new box, and glue or screw the plywood to the existing trailer floor.

[drboyd]

Then you can score another battery box, door, and frame and add another battery on the street side.

[TomKirk]

You install it by sliding it in from the outside of your AS. You hafta remove battery door and frame assembly.

Once installed, you may need a block of wood under the box to support the weight of the battery.

Tom

[aircraft1]

Im in the middle of doing this to my 77 overlander. I have 2 battery boxes and replacing both. I will post pics tomorrow. I'm doing a bit different installation than the original. I made interior frames with aircraft nut plates so these can be removed easly in the future to replace them. Im using aircraft screws as well. They almost look like rivets. He seal I'm using between the battery frame and skin is plumbers putty, it works fantastic since you roll it and once you apply all then screws it fill all the gaps.

[ajcannon]

Originally Posted by aircraft1

Im in the middle of doing this to my 77 overlander. I have 2 battery boxes and replacing both. I will post pics tomorrow. I'm doing a bit different installation than the original. I made interior frames with aircraft nut plates so these can be removed easly in the future to replace them. Im using aircraft screws as well. They almost look like rivets. He seal I'm using between the battery frame and skin is plumbers putty, it works fantastic since you roll it and once you apply all then screws it fill all the gaps.

Great that does sound like something I'd be interested in doing. Where do you buy the aircraft screws? Please do post pictures when you get a chance.

Thanks again everyone!

[ajcannon]

Originally Posted by fwjumper

You are thinking correctly. Remove outer frame. That should release box to slide out. (after you break remaining sealant free. Cables enter through strain reliefs or grommets. Reverse process and be sure to seal front lip of box to skin as well as door frame. Use stainless screws if old ones are rusty.

Thanks fwjumper!

Hey - are you the person who I met at Huntington Beach State Park a couple of weeks ago? I was there with my Airstream and my wife and two daughters (and my boxer.)

[aircraft1]

Here are some pictures

[aircraft1]

Just to explain a my madness a little more, I fabricated the interior frames out of .040 2024-T3 alum. these are riveted in place with countersunk # 40 rivets. I was going to use nuts inside with large area washers, I opted for nutplates Then I thought, in the future I would have to access the interior to get to the nuts. No way! you may ask why do you want to remove these exterior frames again? well im focusing on the interior and when I'm ready to detail the frame and polish around this area it will be much easier + if these boxes need to be repaced again then it will be much easier. I'm also changing the cables for the doors, the locks will be replaced and I will fabricate a new bracket to support the box inside to take the weight of off the actual frame (Stress while moving) when the batteries are installed. I included the PN of the screws and you can get these at any aircraft hardware surplus and the nut plates. good luck with your project. share some pics when done. For me I will continue to navigate the forums for knowledge and ideas, and continue my restoration journey. Greetings from southern. HT

[ajcannon]

That is awesome Aircraft1 - thank you so much for the pictures and explanation. I ended up riveting my box back on last weekend. I used Olympic rivets and I will be shaving them down with the shaver tool that I rented from Out of Doors Mart. With that said, if I had to do it over again I think I would use the screw method like you did for a couple of reasons:

1. It is probably easier (at least it would be to me who does not use a rivet gun that often).
2. Being able to take it back off again when needed (I will be polishing mine soon too, but I'll just deal with it not being quite as shiny there as I am not planning on taking mine off again.)
3. Cost - the screw method would be a little less expensive than renting the rivet shaver that I did. This is pretty low priority though, and by itself wouldn't sway me to go with the screws. I would mainly want to go with the screw method because of reasons #1 and #2.

Thanks again for all of your help (and everyone else's too!)

-Andrew

Originally Posted by aircraft1

Just to explain a my madness a little more, I fabricated the interior frames out of .040 2024-T3 alum. these are riveted in place with countersunk # 40 rivets. I was going to use nuts inside with large area washers, I opted for nutplates Then I thought, in the future I would have to access the interior to get to the nuts. No way! you may ask why do you want to remove these exterior frames again? well im focusing on the interior and when I'm ready to detail the frame and polish around this area it will be much easier + if these boxes need to be repaced again then it will be much easier. I'm also changing the cables for the doors, the locks will be replaced and I will fabricate a new bracket to support the box inside to take the weight of off the actual frame (Stress while moving) when the batteries are installed. I included the PN of the screws and you can get these at any aircraft hardware surplus and the nut plates. good luck with your project. share some pics when done. For me I will continue to navigate the forums for knowledge and ideas, and continue my restoration journey. Greetings from southern. HT