Battery relocation good idea or bad?

[CougarCouple]

I have been trying to think how we can use the dead space on either side of the camper in front of the wheel wells. It occurred to me that if we transfer our house batteries to this dead space we would essentially be gaining that same space inside.
Other than not being able to access the batteries with the camper on the truck what other cons do you see with this idea.
Thanks in advance.

Russ

 

[Chrish]

How would you tie them down?

Btw, that space outside of the camper is ideal for dirty laundry storage. Turnbuckle attachment points make that space unusable for batteries on my setup.

 

[DavidGraves]

Hi Russ

I think that is a great idea and one that I have been thinking about.

To that end I replaced my front turnbuckles with thru bolts to the truck frame.

It would involve some extra caution with chafe guard on leads etc.

I read somehwere early campers were set up that way.

Moving two heavy lumps of lead that far forward and ballanced side to side must be a good thing.

Jack the camper once in a while and just pull truck forward enough to check on things....and easily do a visual inspection thru the front turnbuckle hatch.

I use an AGM battery so electrolyte is not an issue.

David Graves

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Russ, I believe this is common with some campers. When I was talking with Alaskan, that was their suggestion.

I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t do it with your Cougar.

 

[Vic Harder]

Battery temperature might be a concern. Does your solar controller have temp compensation? Only do it if you have AGM's. Pain in the butt to check fluids with them in there. Other than that, sounds like a great idea.

 

[cwdtmmrs]

I moved the single battery in my Ranger II to in front of the passenger wheel well of the pick up bed years ago and IMO it is best place for the battery(s). There are lots of auxiliary battery trays/hold downs on the market.

cwd

 

[CougarCouple]

Morning
Well securing the batteries would requires a mounting bracket. Enough to elevate them and hold the batteries close to the outer wall. My ford has radius where the side meets the floor. Our batteries are in the very front under the couch. That are sealed agm. Vic I do not know about the temperature control part of your question. Factory PWM charger from atc. Would probably fab up a custom bracket.
Well this sounds promising, any suggestions on where to buy Anderson connectors.
Thanks for the input.


Russ

 

[kmcintyre]

I think the 2 main things would be a) exposure to the elements and b) not much insulation so the battery would drain quicker in the cold.

 

[BlueSky]

I tried going this route. When I had my Cougar built I asked Marty at ATC about putting the battery in front of the wheel arch in the bed, and he said because of the turn buckle it would not fit (I have a group 27 Marine). Once I got it home I found that Marty was right, but it would fit behind the wheel arch so I moved it there (see pic below). Ultimately I moved the battery back inside up front because I was a little worried I would smack the battery with the front corner of the camper when loading the camper on the truck, and when I take the camper off I have this 70lb battery sitting in the bed that I also have to remove. Finally, having it back behind the wheel was not helping with my weight distribution. Temps are not a problem as long as the batteries are kept fully charged. Two smaller batteries up in front of the wheel arches would work and keep good weight distribution/CG and far less likely to damage one when loading the camper of the truck, but you still have extra wiring and heavy batteries sitting in your bed when the camper is removed.

Two smaller batteries on

 

[DavidGraves]

Blue Sky

You image attached to your posting brings up a question I have long pondered.

How large a portal cut in the side of the floorpak can one make without structural issues ?

The round hole is a very strong shape structuraly.

David Graves

 

[PaulT]

—snip—
Well this sounds promising, any suggestions on where to buy Anderson connectors.
Thanks for the input.
Russ

PowerWerx carries much of the Anderson PowerPole products and are popular in the amateur radio community. Their ratcheting crimpers result in non deformed terminals that slide easily into the plastic parts. DC Power Products | Powerwerx

Paul

 

[BlueSky]

Blue Sky

You image attached to your posting brings up a question I have long pondered.

How large a portal cut in the side of the floorpak can one make without structural issues ?

The round hole is a very strong shape structuraly.

David Graves

Ah, that's the $13,000 question. Round is certainly better, but I cut a square hole to the rear of the wheel arch, staying an inch or more away from the edges of the plywood, boxed in from the outside, good for frying pans but probably too shallow for a battery, fine so far...

Round or oval is better. My sense is that these campers are pretty light, and the weight is distributed over the length of the bed (6.5 feet), so a hole the size of the ones used for the turnbuckle access are probably ok to add on each side, assuming you are not blasting down trails getting air. If the plywood were to fail, it would probably buckle inward along a line parallel to the floor at about the middle of the hole you cut. Fixable but something bad is probably going to happen elsewhere in the structure too.

 

[DavidGraves]

It's only wood ! ; )

In reality....your 1 inch from plywood cut in the corner in the second image is still and long way from the back corner of the floorpak.

Am I seeing it correctly ?

The front and rear wall and corner with the sides are what seems to provide the rigiidty or "box strength"

Glad to see such improvisation...god for you.

David Graves

 

[BlueSky]

It's only wood ! ; )

In reality....your 1 inch from plywood cut in the corner in the second image is still and long way from the back corner of the floorpak.

Am I seeing it correctly ?

The front and rear wall and corner with the sides are what seems to provide the rigiidty or "box strength"

Glad to see such improvisation...god for you.

David Graves

That's the furnace cabinet to the left of my square hole (and the turnbuckle access panel). So yes I am away from the rear most panel of the camper.

I was thinking, if you put two smaller batteries on each side, you have to run wires between them. I guess you could put the wires tucked under the bed rail in front, or drill holes and run them under the bed. You also have to have your battery separator in there somewhere. Maybe there is a waterproof version, or just put it under the hood.

 

[Beach]

Putting in an access door so you would be able to access the battery without removing the camper would certainly be an easy option for someone with a shell model. I will add that anyone going with this relocation would be smart to put you battery(ies) into a marine type battery box to avoid acid coming into contact with a metal truck bed. A good battery tie down is essential too, as a loose battery banging around will do some serious welding and or fire and no way to get to it unless you remove the camper; not good.

 

[CougarCouple]

Not cutting any holes in my camper period, anyway there cabinets and sofa in the way. Would drill for the wires and use Anderson connectors.
Batteries will be in the the plastic battery box which will strapped to the mounting bracket. That will be bolted to the bed.

You made me think of something new. The cheesy strap will need to be revised. Must have strap that will not rot or have plastic buckle to break.
Thank you.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Realize I'm late to the party here, but I was just wondering how much internal space you're going to gain back, and what you plan to store there? Cause this strikes me as an awful lot of work for not an awful lot of return. Of course, that could just be my inner lazy bum speaking . . .

 

[pvstoy]

Russ, my older FWCs I had the battery in the bed. The campers were also bolted through the floor. I used the marine battery boxes with footman loops on the bed with just the nylon strap that came with it. Never had a problem. Now that I know about Anderson connections I would have used one of them. I even had the starter battery back there on the other side. I had sealed blue top battery's, but I would not have done that if I had lead acid batteries. Use proper wire grommets and wire loom and strap the wires down and watch where things move and rub.

You mentioned solar controller, if you have a model that you can add a tempature sensor that would be good. The controller depending on your model likes to see what the temperature is at the battery and adjust charging accordingly. Not a end game if you can't move it with the battery as the one FWC is putting in on a inside cabinit face don't have a probe to the battery.

Just think of it as wood and metal... everything can be modified to fit your wants and desires, just takes time and money.

 

[jimjxsn]

I have been trying to think how we can use the dead space on either side of the camper in front of the wheel wells. It occurred to me that if we transfer our house batteries to this dead space we would essentially be gaining that same space inside.
Other than not being able to access the batteries with the camper on the truck what other cons do you see with this idea.
Thanks in advance.

Russ

I did this on my prior set up, a 2000 Tundra with the FWC Ranger. The Ranger was pretty narrow so there was plenty of room to bolt the battery box to the bed. It worked out fine but I eventually moved it back into the camper. It did add considerable storage room under the bench.

Have your considered relocating the battery under the truck bed rails?

This looks like a good solution if one is available for your application.


TorkLift HiddenPower Under Vehicle Battery Box

 

[BlueSky]

Realize I'm late to the party here, but I was just wondering how much internal space you're going to gain back, and what you plan to store there? Cause this strikes me as an awful lot of work for not an awful lot of return. Of course, that could just be my inner lazy bum speaking . . .

This is the conclusion I came to, as well as shifting the weight back forward.