Shortening draws / rear aux battery fit

[Hodge]

Since my last Aux battery busted under the hood, I took on a mission to put the aux battery setup back in the rear by shortening the left draw. I've received several PM's about how I've been going with it, and what the idea was, so I decided to make a post about it now that I've mostly finished.

. I've seen jaysee and a few other guys on other forums and FB have done it, but I went a different way about it. Challenge was mounting the battery securely to prevent it from moving around, especially jumping up and down, and possibly shorting. And NO way was I gonna mount the battery on it's side. I know their sealed units, but the lid on top is still the weak link.
To add to the challenge, the floor at the back of the Patrol slopes downward, around 150mm from the back of the draws, meaning the battery simply sitting on the floor/carpet was never gonna sit comfortably flat.

So I had ARB aux battery tray from my old Navara, and I realized, on one side bracket extends down, which would normally sit/bolt onto the inner wheel arch under the hood. I figured if I shortened this bracket, it would make the tray sit and support the battery tray perfectly. So i mounted the battery tray at the back of the draws which then enabled me to secure the battery. There was 2 captive threads under the carper, for bolting the tray down (lucky!!!) plus few bolts at the rear and a bracket at the front. It's going nowhere.
The rest was easy, shorten the draws and wire everything back up.


Draw and battery sitting side by side showing roughly how much of the draw I'd lose. (Bugger all)
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=76040&stc=1


Battery tray roughly mounted.
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=76041&stc=1http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=76042&stc=1http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=76043&stc=1http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=76044&stc=1

Shortening the draw. I lost 190mm of the draw. IN the grand scheme of things, bugger all.
Compared to others I've seen. I didn't cut the whole draw. I just cut the very rear face off, then cut enough floor off to accomodate battery/tray, and then mount the rear face back on. Leaving the runners uncut, meant more support left for the draw, and the end stops remained in the same spot, meaning draw can still slide out the same distance while still being stable. Runners simply go to each side of the battery/tray.

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=76045&stc=1http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=76046&stc=1http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=76047&stc=1http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=76048&stc=1

All wired up, secured. I got some HV insulating mat from work to cover the cop of the battery. My CTEK unit has a thermometer attachment which sites next to the Positive post of the battery and then adjusts the charge rate in contrast to the battery temp. Still plenty of airflow for the battery from underneath and then exhausts through the top of the draw and at the back.
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=76053&stc=1
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=76051&stc=1http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=76050&stc=1http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=76052&stc=1

[Yeti's Beast]

Looks great Hodge.
Are you also on Patrol 4x4 ?
Warty has done a similar thing with his draws


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[Hodge]

Looks great Hodge.
Are you also on Patrol 4x4 ?
Warty has done a similar thing with his draws


Nah I'm not on the other forum. All the other ones I've seen are where they completely cut down the draws. One on FB that I saw was at the back of a 105 cruiser where he reduced both draws to fit 2 batteries.

[Yeti's Beast]

Here are a few bits from Warty’s thread
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2018/08/4.png
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2018/08/5.png
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2018/08/6.png


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[Mc4by]

Very neat job indeed.

[Hodge]

Here are a few bits from Warty’s thread


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Very nice. Looks like he has a smaller battery and managed to use one of the floor brackets under the draws and the tray. There is no way my battery would have fit that way. I have like 5-7mm gap between terminal bolts and the top panel. Hence why I used that HV mat.

[Yeti's Beast]

Very nice. Looks like he has a smaller battery and managed to use one of the floor brackets under the draws and the tray. There is no way my battery would have fit that way. I have like 5-7mm gap between terminal bolts and the top panel. Hence why I used that HV mat.

Yes, he also bought that off me. He wanted something with a low profile and that was all we had in stock. It’s a 55ah Gel battery made in Germany. They cycle better than a normal battery so even though it’s smaller it will perform the same as a larger battery. They cost around $240
He is happy with the result.
It’s kinda funny, your both Victorians and had similar ideas and on separate forums.
You both have done excellent jobs that look like they were made that way. Could start a trend !


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[mudski]

Bloody brilliant job Eric. You've put some thought into it and its pulled off! 10/10

[Yeti's Beast]

I just re read 44 pages from Warty’s build. He repurposed the original battery tray from under the bonnet and mounted it on the existing frame of the draws. I prefer your idea because you can fit a bigger battery in.
Either way lots of good info for others.



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[Hodge]

I just re read 44 pages from Warty’s build. He repurposed the original battery tray from under the bonnet and mounted it on the existing frame of the draws. I prefer your idea because you can fit a bigger battery in.
Either way lots of good info for others.



I might have a look at his thread, when I get a chance. I had several ideas I toyed with, including sitting the battery on TOP of the draws in the far front left corner against cargo barrier.

And once again big thanks to Yeti's Beast for hooking us up with a quality battery from Mpower. I'm spewing I couldn't fit that Xtreme series battery you had as that looked like a beast and had cranking support too, was just too tall for my setup with the posts.

[Hodge]

Bloody brilliant job Eric. You've put some thought into it and its pulled off! 10/10

Yeah mate thanks. OVerall happy with how it came out. Battery tucked away at the back using space I otherwise would not have used. Shorter draw means jack all to me. Battery is now in a better spot from a temperature point of view. Away from the turbo/motor.
If I knew how to weld & had basic welding gear, it would have been a neater job. But this will do for now.

And this frees up A LOT of space under the hood for catch can etc.. And easy spot for larger air box / snorkel later.

[Bacho86]

Very neat job hodge, nice work mate!


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[jay see]

Like the idea of not cutting out the draw runners Hodge. Nice work.

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