Wow, seems like just teh other day I was reporting on breaking something an here I am again. Trend maybe?

Well, I hit the same USFS service road I was on last time. We just got a bunch of rain and a snow/thaw, so the time was DEFINITELY right to play.

So everything's going great, only managed to get stuck once, I took a bypass trail that comes back onto the main one. Wasn't really paying as close of attention as I should have and dropped both of my tires into a sand rut deep enough that my front bumper was about 3" off of the ground. About half an hour with a shovel, alot of chain, and ALOT of wheelspeed got me popped out, but I can honestly say it was the first time I've been stuck with this truck. I was kinda nervous since it was all sand and my rear tires kept digging deeper, but kept going anyway.

I woulda been fine if I'd crossed diagonally (would have if I knew the rut was there). With the chain I stuffed it under the wheel and tried crawling out to no avail, slipped it in high range (no other changes), and the truck rolled right out. Sure amazed me (i'm a mud newbie).

Down the good (main) trail I had my drivers side so far down in a rut that mud was coming across my floorboard (35's and a 4" lift, doors are better than 2' off the ground), kept the passengers side high that time. Almost got it stuck again here (in 30" of water ), but just stayed on the gas and cut the wheel looking from traction.

Everything was great fun until I was on my way back on 63. A cloud of acrid smoke billowed up from under my hood, looked like the radiator had gone . Upon closer inspection (and smell), my battery went (guess you could say fortunately, still driveable at least). Hole right through the side of it spraying right on my exhaust and cooling fan. Great. Apparently during my romp in the mud, the clamp that holds the battery to the tray decided that it had had enough and snapped, letting my battery fall onto the alternator pulley. Ate a hole clean through it.

So there went $80 I didn't wanna spend, but hey, I was waiting for this battery to go bad anyway so I could pick up a 1000CCA for my winch. Got that now, so no reason not to install the winch now (except $50 for steel ) And for $80 the battery was worth it. Motorcraft with a 3 year free repalcement and 100 month prorate I can see winches cooking batteries like none other

Justin

 

Heh, heh. The 'tard I bought my truck from had it bungee corded in, so I made one with those cheapy j-hooks and a couple of pieces of bar stock. I welded two pieces on a longer piece that holds the top of the battery in place, and the top piece has enough length to have holes for the j-hooks. I would have been ****ed if this would have happened to my optima

 

If you don't mind spending a lil bit of money you might go to your local weld shop and have a custom battery tray built. I did that i had two built cause here soon i'm gonna be running two Optima's in my truck. Or if your good at welding yourself make your own. Mine are just a lil bit bigger than the Optima's length wise and width wise but are 3 or 4 inches tall to make sure they do not bounce out or fall out.

 

theres nothing wrong with tarp straps holding them in ive been doing that for years and never had a problem. they never rust and fall apart and always keep tension on the battery so it never gets loose. in fact they hold my new 1000CCA batery in place now. one thing that i would recomend to anyone going with a bigger battery is to get one with the 3/8 stud on them instead of the posts. those ancient cables need replaced anyways (about $25 at tractor supply for all 4 and there 1ga) so why not go with the superior style battery. They dont corrode like the posts (because they are stainless) and offer easier installation and removal. Just my 2 cents but thats would do and did.

 

Yea, I had that happen once too. Truck stopped and we couldn't figure out why. I jumped out and popped the hood and saw the battery laying up against the pulley. It was a mess too. They're right when they say that battery acid burns. Took 2 full beers to wash all the acid off my hands. Did a few temporary splices in the shredded battery cable (that are still holding nicely, thank you) and switched battries, and it ran fine. Right up to the point that it didn't...

 

cables are brand new and the battery tray was just replaced with a junkyard special. The tray and everything else held great, it was just one of the J hooks popped where it goes through the tray.

I didn't get any acid on myself, but the vapor really got to me. I sat outside about 20 minutes hacking and coughing praying my alternator was up to snuff.

Cleaning up I got kinda lucky, for some ODD reason I had a box of baking soda in my truck (don't ask why, i couldn't tell you). Dumped it on the acid, let it set, hit it with some water, and everything was fine. My biggest worry was it trying to eat a hole in my aluminum radiator, wanted it cleaned up as quick as possible.

Justin

 

See, if you had the radiator BED mounted, that wouldn't be a problem, now, would it?
Just one more reason I get all my stuff at AutoZone. Lifetime warranty, BA-BEE...

 

I took some scrap metal and built a batery box that bolts to the inner fender where the batter tray goes. Now I set the battery in, use some J hooks to secure the battery, and away I go. That way if the J hooks break, the battery is still secured...Unless I turn bottom side up. Then I have bigger things to worry about then my battery....

 

Funnt story...
I had a party in October and rolled my Bronco. Unfortunately, I had a couple things to do yet, 2 of which were to make a better battery tie-down, and the second was to make a better fuel cell tie-down. After it rolled (all the way over), I got up and looked around, and I found the battery about 10 yards to my right, and the fuel cell 10 yards to my left.
And you know what? I STILL haven't made GOOD tie-downs for those two items. Thank god we're not having another party for a while...

 

On my off-road vehicles I build a battery tray out of at least 12 guage and bolt it to the fender shirt, side of the fender, and front radiator support. Then I build a custom battery hold down of at least 1/8 that exactly fits the battery and bolt that down using 1/4" grade 8 hardware. I wrap the hold down in fuel line rubber and electrical tape so if I accidently touch it with a wrench or the terminals I do not nuke the battery.

 

Yea, ever since I took a hard corner in my '67 merc during a road race at night; my battery cut loose, welded itself to my inner fender, killed the lights and motor amidst my power slide (!!!), I take battery tie down pretty seriously.

Glad to hear you are popping your mud cherry Hoxii

 

Hey Pro...I feel your pain. I have only nuked one battery and it was in a simialar situation. Racing a little ford pinto at the local dirt track, and bamm!! the battery came loose, went into the fan and killed everything. I was 16 at the time and now, 15 years later, the batter is the first thing I check before heading off the unbeaten path!!

 

Even better when the Battery, and radiator (and fuel dell, and trans cooler) are bed mounted

 

I built a custom one out of 3/16" plate for my F250, wish I took a pic. It weighs like 20 lbs. This is the one I modified from a 95 truck for my beater: