Well, here's my solution.
They're made from 1/8" steel plate. It hooks over the top of the frame and will be clamped on the bottom. It's not finished yet, I still need to drill the holes to mount the battery box and for the bottom clamp. Then prime/paint. It's made 12" tall by 10" wide so the top of the battery box should be about even with the top of the frame rail. That way it should sit all the way back against the front of the trailer.
They're made from 1/8" steel plate. It hooks over the top of the frame and will be clamped on the bottom. It's not finished yet, I still need to drill the holes to mount the battery box and for the bottom clamp. Then prime/paint. It's made 12" tall by 10" wide so the top of the battery box should be about even with the top of the frame rail. That way it should sit all the way back against the front of the trailer.
Keith Haw wrote:
Thanks for the replies guys. The option of any bigger batteries on the tongue is out. the tanks are as close to the jack as possible and the tank frame is the limiting factor in that direction. The front of the trailer extends out over the battery tray far enough it's hard to even get the box tops on and off, not impossible but not easy. And for that reason I can't go on top of the frame with them, it just wont fit. If I could have made it fit I would have loved to replace the 1 group 24 with 2 GC or group 27 batteries but couldn't so I went with 3 more 24's. I do have 140 watts of solar and a genny but like to watch TV 4 hours or so at night and have a CPAP I have to use all night. I have thought about using some 2" angle mounted under the frame, extending out far enough on each side for them, but not sure of how to attach them without welding, which I don't have access to. IDK maybe mount the angle iron flat side up and bolt it in place then secure the boxes to it. Anyway, I just want it to function and look good to. I'd love to have a single box that houses all the batteries but there's just no way it would fit on the tongue. I've never owned a trailer with such limited space in the tongue area.
Post a couple of pictures of your tongue area to give us some ideas of options. I actually mounted a Torklift box on top of my LP tanks since my trailer is so short and I can add 5 batteries if I want to. The tongue area is the best place for batteries because of the weight.
You would be surprised what you can fit into a tight area.
Yeah, I think you're limited by the plastic tank cover and the slope of the trailer front side. I moved my tank holding base right up to the jack but I don't have a plastic cover. I mounted a box on the front that will hold two grp.31's and a junction area for all of the exterior trailer lighting. As it is, I decided not to mount any batteries up there because I didn't want to add to the tongue weight. Now, I store blocks, hoses and other stuff in the box.
FWIW, all of my batteries are inside the interior--3 AGM's and 2 6V GC2's. Kind of convenient since all of my larger wires have short runs. I made a vented battery box to house the 6V's. It's not for everyone but it fits my needs pretty good and I don't have to worry about theft (as much).
The vented box:
Interior of box:
FWIW, all of my batteries are inside the interior--3 AGM's and 2 6V GC2's. Kind of convenient since all of my larger wires have short runs. I made a vented battery box to house the 6V's. It's not for everyone but it fits my needs pretty good and I don't have to worry about theft (as much).
The vented box:
Interior of box:
I used small one-inch L angle to run on top of the existing frame and extended out over both sides of the trailer frame between the Propane Tanks and the edge of my trailer front deck. Was able to mount four GP24 batteries with ease. The two outside batteries was at least a half of battery extending out over the frame.
This photo shows the original setup with only three GP batteries mounted but adding the two longer L-angles extending out over the frame allows for four GP 24 batteries to fit great for me. I am fortunate here that I can go higher with no problems for taller batteries. I know you have a tighter situation but just showing this for how I solved my problem. Might give you some good ideas on how to fix yours.
My future plans are to add to metal battery box in this same area and have two Trojan T1275 150AH batteries on the trailer tongue and two additional Trojan T1275 150AH batteries installed in the bed of my truck. I have a need for two group of batteries to support just being out with my truck by itself to give me 300AHs of capacity and of course being able to connect all four together when camping giving me 600AHs capacity. My converter/charger is already upgraded to a PD9260C 60AMP smart mode unit.
Floor Plan will look something like this. The two conductor cable on the tongue connects to the two batteries in the truck bed.
The truck side wiring and components will look something like this drawing.
I charge my batteries each morning running my 2KW Honda generator sitting in the tail gate corner of my truck. The 30AMP Trailer shore power cable connects directly to the generator 120VAC receptacle and will re-charge my batteries in a three hour generator run time each morning.
Adding solar panels to the roof of my OFF-ROAD POPUP is another planned upgrade allow me to cut back on using my generator some. Being able to use the SUN DAY when available will help me alot when camping off the power grid.
Roy Ken...
This photo shows the original setup with only three GP batteries mounted but adding the two longer L-angles extending out over the frame allows for four GP 24 batteries to fit great for me. I am fortunate here that I can go higher with no problems for taller batteries. I know you have a tighter situation but just showing this for how I solved my problem. Might give you some good ideas on how to fix yours.
My future plans are to add to metal battery box in this same area and have two Trojan T1275 150AH batteries on the trailer tongue and two additional Trojan T1275 150AH batteries installed in the bed of my truck. I have a need for two group of batteries to support just being out with my truck by itself to give me 300AHs of capacity and of course being able to connect all four together when camping giving me 600AHs capacity. My converter/charger is already upgraded to a PD9260C 60AMP smart mode unit.
Floor Plan will look something like this. The two conductor cable on the tongue connects to the two batteries in the truck bed.
The truck side wiring and components will look something like this drawing.
I charge my batteries each morning running my 2KW Honda generator sitting in the tail gate corner of my truck. The 30AMP Trailer shore power cable connects directly to the generator 120VAC receptacle and will re-charge my batteries in a three hour generator run time each morning.
Adding solar panels to the roof of my OFF-ROAD POPUP is another planned upgrade allow me to cut back on using my generator some. Being able to use the SUN DAY when available will help me alot when camping off the power grid.
Roy Ken...
