Moving Battery to Tongue

[Losthwy]

Anyone moved their battery to the tongue? If so how did you mount it/modify the tongue area?

[frank_a]

I had to move my propane tank holder back to have just enough room, then used light angle iron screwed to the frame to fit to the front and back of the battery box, bolted my battery box to those, and used a battery hold down strap wrapped around everything to hold the battery box top down. Since then ParkLiner changed it to hold one of their custom battery boxes, and I can't find any pics of what I had done. It wasn't difficult, but every situation will be different I would imagine.

Frank

[Bob Miller]

I recently had to install a battery & LP tank on the tongue of a pop-up I was rebuilding and I used a piece of 3/16" aluminum non-skid plate, cut to fit on the inside of the frame rails. Here is a pic: P1010596_zps3874ea44.jpg Photo by advocateone | Photobucket

[Losthwy]

Nice clean job Bob. Space is tight on the tongue. I may have to move the propane tanks which would give 2" more room. The hose carrier will have to be moved, no biggie. I did find this aluminum locking box with a sliding top (needs less room than a hinge top) searching online. Which is prefect for this project but not cheap.

http://www.pplmotorh...battery-box.htm

[Timber Wolf]

I did not “move” my battery to the tongue but will be modifying the tongue to hold two 6V batteries soon. I have removed the propane altogether so I have plenty of space up there now. One thing I did briefly contemplate was dropping the batteries down 3” or so. Laying under the Scamp revealed that the floor drops down 3” lower than the bottom of the frame at the tongue/hitch. I do not see any problem with the batteries being down that low, the truck hitch is even lower than that. I am planning on mounting a toolbox over the batteries that is hinged to tilt away to allow access to maintain the batteries so lower would be nice. In the end I decided it was not worth cutting out the current battery support framing which is flush with the bottom of the frame. If I did not have any to start with, I think I would go ahead and recess the batteries a bit. Probably more than you wanted to know but maybe food for thought.

[RogerDat]

I would be reluctant to use aluminum on a steel trailer frame or put steel fasteners through aluminum. At least without some form of inert washer between the two. The two metals react with each other and will corrode (rust) more rapidly from galvanic corrosion.

While the effect will be modest enough to be tolerable in many cases, a trip to the ocean with salt air or an urban area with the right sort of pollution will greatly accelerate the process. As will high humidity environments.

Image shows typical zinc plated steel bolt in aluminum vs. aluminum bolt in aluminum. The two different metals react pretty strongly over time.
http://www.aluminiumdesign.net/wp-co.../fasteners.jpg

I just had the joy of trying to remove stainless steel screws from aluminum frame, was not pleasant, impact driver got some loose but some had to be ground off or the heads snapped off. Screws were just corroded in place.

[Bob Miller]

Originally Posted by Timber Wolf

I did not “move” my battery to the tongue but will be modifying the tongue to hold two 6V batteries soon. (clip).

There are covered battery boxes available that are designed to hold two Group 24 or two group 27 batteries available on boat supply sites. Makes it a lot easier to install and protect.

[Timber Wolf]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

[/FONT][/SIZE]
There are covered battery boxes available that are designed to hold two Group 24 or two group 27 batteries available on boat supply sites. Makes it a lot easier to install and protect.

I have also seen boxes online made just for two 6V batteries, either end to end or side to side. The side to side should work out fine. I need to investigate teh two group 24 though, if one of those would work (tall enough) for the two 6V batteries it would give me more options later. Might require some scrap plywood inserts to keep things from sliding around but I have plenty of scraps. I come by it honestly, my mother and grandmother never threw anything away, in fact some of these scraps came from my Mom's garage when she downsized from a 5 bedroom 3 1/2 bath house to a two-bedroom apartment. Sorry for the thread drift.

[Losthwy]

I got the box mounted. Removed the hose carrier, moved the propane tanks towards the front fas as possible. Just enough room. With the help of a couple of cutting/grinding wheels, a cordless drill to remove the old steel angles. Then installed some aluminum angle. The connections for the solar panel just fit the throughout strain relief. And will make connections Just need to run the wire form the old battery compartment to the new box on the tongue tomorrow. I really like the box from PPL Motors Homes. Two ties downs, dense foam pad, and the sliding narrow profile are useful features. The knock out on the left side (not shown in the photo in the link) is were the solar wires are. The 10g a wire runs through a plastic lined hole in the rear.
Secure Battery Box - Power Armor by Torklift - PPL Motor Homes

[Timber Wolf]

That is a great looking box and should make for a very nice installation. Would be even better if a fellow only had one propane tank in front of it. Post some pics if you can we would like to see your outfit.

[Losthwy]

Here is a photo of the box mounted.There are two wires coming out of the side 3/8" factory hole. Blue wire with yellow plug for the charger and a small black wire (hard to see) for the solar connection. The middle front (with the black cap)is the cylinder lock. I ran 10 ga wire to the battery and the last 6 ft is in 1/2" flexible conduit .

[stevebaz]

I suggest you make a support for your propane valve. That's allot of leverage and weight hanging out there on the fittings bouncing down the highway.