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Yes it does, of course you are missing the other bolt. But you know that. But I am not sure the proper orientation on the bracket. My truck has been apart for a lot of years.
Mine had that part on it too. The rest of the hold down was missing. I didn't reuse it when I got a new hold down. Bolt goes in the middle hole with the blind nut behind it. Sorry I don't have a picture from before I removed it.
I looked at LMC, not sure why it exists, there should be 2 j-bolts, 2 nuts and a bracket. I have 2 bolts in the bottom of the tray, one to the core support and one to the passenger inner fender. Plus I'd have to have one of those plastic trays batteries sometimes have to raise the battery for that bracket to work.
LMC says the '73-'76 hold down bracket is no longer available, I wonder what it looks like?
Maybe the blind nut came loose. Also looks like yours may have been cut/broke. I got the hold down from Bronco Graveyard with the 2 J-bolts and except for the plastic hold down that goes over the top not sitting snug on the top of the battery, I am happy with it. I tried a couple of others and they didn't fit very well at all.
I think the funky fit might be because the battery is indented around the top edge.
If the battery was a true square from the sides to the top, brace would fit right.
LMC says the '73-'76 hold down bracket is no longer available, I wonder what it looks like?
The earlier brackets were made out of steel and coated with rubber. They were basically the same shape & design as the plastic ones shown in the pictures. The problem with the steel/rubber coated ones is that the rubber would eventually break open and the steel would begin to corrode from the battery acid. The plastic ones are much better in terms of longevity.
The strap to the fender often doesn't fit well (if at all) because of the shorter batteries that many people install. Like John89 mentioned, the indents along the edges of the batteries from some manufacturers can also cause issues with the bracket. Shopping for a battery of the correct size and shape does make for a better fit if you are trying to use all of the original hardware. Even with the original correct battery the battery hold down hardware does leave room for improvement from Ford's engineering dept.
Mike, do you have another photo of that hold down? I see my bracket, but not what its attached to.
Bill, I have a RH battery like Mike has shown. Did the '73-'76 bracket look exactly the same as the '77-'79 bracket, just metal and paint instead of plastic?
Bill, I have a RH battery like Mike has shown. Did the '73-'76 bracket look exactly the same as the '77-'79 bracket, just metal and paint instead of plastic?
The pic of the brace (it's not a clamp) I posted (post #11) looks exactly like your example. The single (R/H) battery set-up doesn't show anything like it (see upper pic below).
This pic shows what the original rubber coated steel battery hold down clamp (C5AZ-10718-A) looked like. It was later replaced by D0DZ-10718-B
All 1973/79 battery hold down clamps are plastic. 1977/79 is different (D4MY-10718-A) than 1973/76 (D0DZ-10718-B)
FYI the battery hold down from LMC that lists for 3.95 doesn't fit out batteries. Like I mentioned earlier, the kit from Bronco Graveyard is the most cost effective except for maybe shipping. LMC seems to have the same parts, but they are listed individually.
Just for comparison, this is what came in my '79 F-350. Same as the OP's only narrower and goes on top of the plastic battery hold down. There's a mirror image for the driver's side battery, but no captured nut in the fender.
05-21-2019, 07:54 PM
but now I'm thinking it might go on the core support for the dealer add on A/C system 
