battery bracket hold down

Well, while I was takin' a break from all the heated conversation about timing belts today, I decided to see what I could do to "create" a battery bracket hold down.

Yep, I done my search(es) on this board and know what they have to say. Yep, I seen Spiderworks nice $30 deal.

WAY cool!

But, you know, I just wanted something to anchor the battery down bombproof with no worries and NO money.

Soooo's.... this is how it unfolded, so to speak:

I rummaged around in my toolshed and found a piece of 1/4 inch threaded rod, maybe about 16 inches worth. I started messing around with a couple of vice grips and an 8-pound sledge hammer. Pretty soon, I had both ends of the threaded rod bent real nice (180*) like they look in a store.

I started staring' at the battery, drinkin' a beer or two.
Pretty soon, I had a plan. I got out the strap from a cheap hardware (non-automotive) "u" bolt. I anchored it to the inboard side of the battery tray with an appropriate bolt, lock washer and new shiny nut.

Meanwhile, I found my bolt cutters and whacked off the end sections of the quarter inch threaded rod. I took a real good fine file to create new threads on the end of each piece. I used nice shiney new nuts to make sure the threads worked OK.

Then, I rummaged around our property and found some scrap OSB. (That's "oriented strand board," for you lumber-yard-challenged guys.) I cut a piece of 7/16 OSB into an 8 inch by 4 inch dimension. I drilled holes at either end of the OSB and made sure they fit the threaded rod. Next I took two huge fender washers and some duck bill tin snips and trimmed those washers to fit the hole/edge alignment of the OSB. Then I fit the threaded rods into their respective places and cranked them down on the piece of OSB.

Man, I am here to tell ya--it might not look as sexy as Spiderworks' $30 gig but it's just as danged bombproof.
It ain't goin' NOWHERE!

Now, I'd reckon all a ya'll know 'bout OSB. But maybe some of you don't. Trust me, whatever glue they use to "weld" those wood particles together is impervious to acid, at least for a year or two. But, hey, at a few pennies per piece (based on a 4 by 8 sheet price), who's complaining?

j

Did I mention I searched the board for "All posts" in these categories:

battery bracket
Battery hold down
battery bracket hold down

Nothin'