# Here's another one of my stupid questions... (batteries)



## Sunking (Aug 10, 2009)

Not sure how putting them in a tool box exposes them to the elements since they are weather proof. Ideally you want them to be in the coolest driest spot you can, so not sure under the hood or under the vehicle is a good idea either.


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## dougingraham (Jul 26, 2011)

Lots of people place at least some of them under the hood. But under the bed of the truck is such a good place for them. They are out of the way and low. Under the bed will load the rear wheels probably improving handling.

You could avoid the tilt kit by hanging the batteries from the truck bed. You could either lift the batteries in their boxes from below or cut holes in the bed and attach the boxes to the bed itself. The box covers could be flush with the truck bed.

I have also seen people place some of the batteries under the rear seat in a Club Cab type vehicle.

All Lithium type cells are sealed to keep the electrolyte from evaporating so they don't care about moisture. I probably wouldn't want to completely immerse them, at least not more than a few feet deep if you can avoid it. Much more than that and the water would force its way past the seals and I doubt that water inside will do anything but cause a loss of capacity.


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## Sunking (Aug 10, 2009)

dougingraham said:


> All Lithium type cells are sealed to keep the electrolyte from evaporating so they don't care about moisture. I probably wouldn't want to completely immerse them, at least not more than a few feet deep if you can avoid it. Much more than that and the water would force its way past the seals and I doubt that water inside will do anything but cause a loss of capacity.


Corrosion and electricity do not play well with moisture or standing water do they?


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## Lionstrike (Oct 29, 2011)

dougingraham said:


> Lots of people place at least some of them under the hood. But under the bed of the truck is such a good place for them. They are out of the way and low. Under the bed will load the rear wheels probably improving handling.
> 
> You could avoid the tilt kit by hanging the batteries from the truck bed. You could either lift the batteries in their boxes from below or cut holes in the bed and attach the boxes to the bed itself. The box covers could be flush with the truck bed.
> 
> ...


This is very much along my lines of thinking. With SLA batteries, I can see why people are concerned with things like space and weight distribution. 

In envision 40 Calb 100AH cells. If that's true, that's neither much space or weight. That kind of thing can fit up front entirely yeah?

A toolbox would seem to work, but cables have to be routed out of the toolbox. That opens them up to taking on water. Even sealed... we're talking about serious levels of electricity here and I'd like to see them safe and dry.

It's just my thinking. I've got a long way to go.


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## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

You want to keep the weight of the truck somewhat balanced. And there is space under the hood, but I wouldn't necessary want to fit all the batteries there (if that is even possible).

I mounted a Pelican 1690 case to the frame under the bed with 48 Nissan Leaf cells. I would choose to do things differently if I wanted it to be "easy". If I could find a proper sized truck box to go in the bed, that is where I would put them. They would be much easier to get to, and you could open up the box without a motorcycle jack... But you give up some of your usability.

I have 1" insulation around my box and heating pads to help in the freezing cold mornings around here, you might want to consider that when you are sizing boxes.


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## Lionstrike (Oct 29, 2011)

Caps18 said:


> You want to keep the weight of the truck somewhat balanced. And there is space under the hood, but I wouldn't necessary want to fit all the batteries there (if that is even possible).
> 
> I mounted a Pelican 1690 case to the frame under the bed with 48 Nissan Leaf cells. I would choose to do things differently if I wanted it to be "easy". If I could find a proper sized truck box to go in the bed, that is where I would put them. They would be much easier to get to, and you could open up the box without a motorcycle jack... But you give up some of your usability.
> 
> I have 1" insulation around my box and heating pads to help in the freezing cold mornings around here, you might want to consider that when you are sizing boxes.


It gets RIDICULOUSLY cold here in Pennsylvania too. Insulation will be mandatory.

I was just curious. In an ICE truck most of the weight is up front anyway yeah? I was just wondering what the total weight differential is from an ICE truck when removing the ICE components but adding 400lbs of CALB cells. The engine weight is much lighter, but adding the batteries does something. Everything else has marginal weight in comparison. 

I was wondering what it all worked out to be.


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## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

Before you start taking out parts, you should measure the gap between the top of the tire and the wheel well. On my truck it was 7" in the front and 11" in the back. At the end, it should be similar.

You do take out a lot of weight from the front. But the motor, controller, charger, DC-DC converter, etc are probably half or 3/4th the amount that was under the hood originally. And the fuel tank, spare tire, and muffler are some weight savings out of the back. I'm not sure I would want to put all of the weight up front however. Especially in a rear wheel drive truck and with the yearly icy/snowy road conditions.










You could also build your box using the bottom of the bed. 









It might be a little more compact with Lithium batteries.

I need to carry bicycles and kayaks though, so I needed to put mine under the bed.

You don't need to have a tilt, you just would need two people to help lift the bed off after you remove 6 to 8 bolts if you needed to get to the batteries.

Here is what the professionals at EV West did. I wonder if they ever thought about selling battery boxes in the kit? It would be nice if the kit came with the battery boxes and batteries...
http://youtu.be/CDw-BllyFVE?t=2m39s


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## Lionstrike (Oct 29, 2011)

Caps18 said:


> Before you start taking out parts, you should measure the gap between the top of the tire and the wheel well. On my truck it was 7" in the front and 11" in the back. At the end, it should be similar.
> 
> You do take out a lot of weight from the front. But the motor, controller, charger, DC-DC converter, etc are probably half or 3/4th the amount that was under the hood originally.  And the fuel tank, spare tire, and muffler are some weight savings out of the back. I'm not sure I would want to put all of the weight up front however. Especially in a rear wheel drive truck and with the yearly icy/snowy road conditions.
> 
> ...


Great conversions. Lots of options here...

Well, that under the bed conversion sounds like a great idea. I mean how often does one REALLY need to get at those batteries? Probably not very often.

It avails me of space to haul my electric bicycles too, minimizing the need for high capacity batteries. I could simply drive to where I charge... and take an ebike from there.

Seems it would be easier to route cables that way too.


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## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

See if you could buy the metal truck bed boxes that go on the left and right side of the truck bed, and mount them on either side of the drive shaft. I think I could have mounted those into the frame much easier, and with some angle iron that could just bolt into the frame for them to sit on. 

That is the second 'mistake' I made. Now, it is easier to wire them all in one box, but it will be very heavy at 400 lbs. 2 boxes at 200 lbs each isn't much better, but I think it would be a little more manageable. If I get extra batteries in the future, this is my plan for expansion.


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## Lionstrike (Oct 29, 2011)

Caps18 said:


> See if you could buy the metal truck bed boxes that go on the left and right side of the truck bed, and mount them on either side of the drive shaft. I think I could have mounted those into the frame much easier, and with some angle iron that could just bolt into the frame for them to sit on.
> 
> That is the second 'mistake' I made. Now, it is easier to wire them all in one box, but it will be very heavy at 400 lbs. 2 boxes at 200 lbs each isn't much better, but I think it would be a little more manageable. If I get extra batteries in the future, this is my plan for expansion.


I didn't even know that there were retailers selling truck bed boxes for conversion enthusiasts. Those in the photo are pre-fabricated? Could you tell me who sells them?


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## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

I'm not sure about the EV West ones. Those look custom made.

But, there are boxes for the sailboat community:
http://www.westmarine.com/buy/noco-...FD7-2FA654B33379&cm_sp=Onsite-Recs-_-MB-_-PDP

And there are Pelican Cases:
http://www.pelican.com/cases_detail/Case/1690/

And here are the truck bed ones:
www.amazon.com/5748-Challenger-Single-Lid-Side-Mount-Specialty/dp/B00029WXKE/

But, you need to do the math on how many batteries you will have and their size as to how many will fit and in what configuration.


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## Lionstrike (Oct 29, 2011)

Caps18 said:


> I'm not sure about the EV West ones. Those look custom made.
> 
> But, there are boxes for the sailboat community:
> http://www.westmarine.com/buy/noco-...FD7-2FA654B33379&cm_sp=Onsite-Recs-_-MB-_-PDP
> ...


Thanks man, I'll look into those.


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