DLancer7676@cs.com wrote:
<<<Re: Tying down the battery
In a message dated 8/23/2001 10:00:50 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
Ajhsys@aol.com writes:
> I bought J-bolts from an Exide battery display at K-mart. I made a cross
> piece out of angle iron
I thought about this, but the way the battery is situated in the 1500, with
the posts to the front, the angle IRON comes awfully clost to the posts, and
I am afraid the angle iron will short circuit the battery. Be nice if they
made a non-conductive angle that could be used in place of the iron. I have
no battery tie-down presently either.
- --David C.>>>
Depends on the battery. The correct battery will have the posts to the rear.
The first replacement battery I put in, in 1981, was reversed so I cut
sections out of the hold down bar on each side of the top flat so the
remaining part was not long enough to contact both terminals simultaneously.
(The NAPA batteries I have been using for the past few years do have the
correct post orientation.)
But more important is to make the point that the battery hold down is a
necessity. I have gone for some time without one but have paid the price.
True, the battery is boxed in and doesn't have much of anywhere to go -
BUT... The first problem I had was when I noticed last year that the ground
cable fitting that's bolted to the firewall had cracked apart. The limited
space in which the battery could slide back and forth was enough to
accomplish that. The more major occurence was in July just as we got to St.
Paul for MG 2001. 2 miles from our destination hotel after a 400 mile trip,
my clutch went out. The cause? The red plastic clutch line. The clutch line
passes through the battery shelf right next to the battery. The grommet was
stretched over and the line wore on the metal shelf from the battery pushing
on it when it slid that way. Thankfully, Quality Coaches in Minneapolis had a
clutch line in stock (and even dropped it off at the hotel - Thanks Val!) and
we were able to do a parking lot repair the next morning without having to
wait over the July 4 holiday for one to be shipped from Kansas or California.
Kim Tonry
Downers Grove, Illinois, USA
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