TRUNK BATTERY WARNING!!!

Post by **Edub1** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 1:49 pm

I know everyone in this section has a trunk mounted battery.

Just wanted to take a minute and make sure everybody knows how much force a 40lb car battery will create in an accident and make sure everybody has theirs adequatly bolted down.

To give you an idea - my bus partned rear ended someone in our cargo van ~ 30MPH. We had a steel bulk head that seperated him from the cargo. In this case the cargo is 5 gal bag in box syrup for soda fountains ~ 55lbs.

The bulk head is bolted to the body all around and managed to stop the flying box of syrup but was absolutely mangled as if it was hit by cannon fire. Had it not been bolted, I have no doubt it would have folded in half and killed the driver.

Trust me when I tell you that it boggles the mind how much force a 40lb car battery will create in an accident. If you think the back seat will stop it, you are not even close.

Some thing to consider.

Post by **Logan76** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 1:51 pm

thanks for looking out for us, mine acutually isnt secure or bolted down as we speak, its on my need to do list.

Post by **S0lid_Snake** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 3:00 pm

um so my 200lb sub box isnt good, since its not bolted down?

Post by **Zion8561** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 3:08 pm

Good post. I pulled the rear seat from my hatch and I have a tendency to leave a lot of stuff back there that is unsecure...spare tire, tools, jack, oil, etc. Never really thought about what would happen to them in a crash scenario.

Thanks

Post by **wild_maxx** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 3:18 pm

good point man!

I have mine bolted down with 2 heavy duty boltsthrough the frame rail with thread locked nuts and locking washers. I also run a gel cell battery (optima) to prevent any acid spill/corrosion.

Post by **boznuttz** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 3:50 pm

about a year ago when my car went over a guard rail, my snowboard wrecked my windshield the second the nose of the car hit the dirt 10 feet below... missed the back of my head by less than a foot.

Post by **S13HatchKa24DET** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:26 pm

Well, this is the same info. i was told when i tried to take my car to the drags for the first, also they added in all of the info. on the dangers of the acid. I have my battery bolted down secure, but i need to make or buy a box that is IHRA legal. I was wondering if anyone knew of a place to get a moroso battery box for cheap, well less than the usual $90? Thanks

Post by **Jookmasta** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 9:30 am

or you could just route the piping so the battery stays where it is from factory...............

Post by **hek1620** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 10:21 am

it's a good thing my speaker box is wider than the shock towers. thats what holds it in place under bracking.

Post by **C-Kwik** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 11:51 am

My battery was in the stock location when I had my KAT. But it's definitely a great reminder for anyone with a rear mounted battery.

Post by **Biggamehit** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 1:02 pm

yea not to mention fires from the battery grounding its self out frying ur car and electronics

Post by **Florida240sx** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 1:43 pm

Be afraid of the battery starting a fire....

Post by **crzycav86** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 1:47 pm

mine is under the hood.

Post by **CleanSfourteen** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 2:51 pm

wild_maxx wrote:good point man!

I have mine bolted down with 2 heavy duty boltsthrough the frame rail with thread locked nuts and locking washers. I also run a gel cell battery (optima) to prevent any acid spill/corrosion.

Great stuff, for anyone needing to relocate the battery i agree that you should do it right, just like wild_maxx. Keeping it secure is good, but going cheap on a battery and getting a non-sealed type battery can land you in some trouble.

The electrolyte in a fully charged battery is about 60% water and 40% sulfuric acid, which will definitely screw your trunk up pretty bad. Sealed batteries are the best for relocation, Optimas are just the best period.

And about secondary collisions (your battery flying at you in an accident). If you are goin 65 down the road, and get in a head on collision with another car the same size moving at the same speed, if you don't have your seatbelt buckled, your face will hit the windshield with about 44,000 lbs of force. So ya, your backseat ain't doin nothin to stop a battery that wieghs a quarter of what you do... we're talking about something in the range of 11,000 lbs of force, which will easily break your seat and injure you.

Post by **KATwo40** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 4:35 pm

I run an Optima (gel cell) in the hatch. It's inside a marine box with J-bolts going down through the box, through the hatch floorpan, sandwiching it all together.

However, now that I think about what I've learned in this thread, I might consider a steel box and using bolts/nuts with lock washers to fasten everything.

Post by **mrzabala** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 4:48 pm

I guess its time to experiement with the free welder a friend let me use. Would welding a box for a battery violate any ssca rules and or other racing organization rules?

Post by **S13 240SX** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 5:18 pm

the dude is right.. i mean yeah its cool to wire the battery to the trunk but really in the end its just stupid, dumb, and very very dangoues.. anything could happen with that battery in the trunk.

i had my battery in the trunk for a few months and I moved back in the engine bay but i re-locacted mine to the other side of the engine.

I mean think about it.... u get into a really bad addicent with the battery in the trunk and say the bolts snapped where u bolted it and the battery flys, causing it to spark and ya never that battery might spark close enough to the fuel pump, and yeah don't even wanna think of the aftermath of that.

and thats why I took my battery out of the trunk.

Post by **mrzabala** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 9:28 pm

Lol..... If your not confident in what you do like bolting down the battery securley in the back than thats really not our concern. Good for you if you put it back in your engine bay (dont know why you even relocated if you put it back unless you had pipings going through the battery tray but even then ). As long as you dont cheap out and buy a cheap battery that has to be maintained and doesnt have the quality like an optima and you make sure you have plates below the the trunk for extra strength, have it placed perpendicular to the car, use grade 5 or higher bolts that are about the size of your seat bracket bolts (if you look at the seat that bolts onto the bracket and not floor, they are 14mm and arent big) and have at least 4 holding the box down and any other thing you may want to do (sumit battery kit is **** if you think about how safe it would be compared to a bolted down box). Heres examples of good boxes to start with:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...wItem(heavier since its 12 gauge steel but the strenght makes up for it) http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...wItem(approved for racing by NHRA and IHRA)

Post by **CleanSfourteen** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 9:49 am

Exactly what he said

Post by **nismo dreaming** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:37 pm

Sooooo true. One day, i hit a bump and the "straps" that used to hold my battery box down snaped. This caused the battery to fly accross the trunk with a pretty large thud. Thank god it was left to right and not rear to the back of my head! Bolting those down is the only way to go.

Post by **joe3180** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 6:22 am

for me i just moved mine from the trunk to the rear of my passenger seat and bolted it to the ground and completely covered. i dont think its a problem being there since its a gel battery...right?

Post by **mrzabala** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 6:55 am

joe3180 wrote:for me i just moved mine from the trunk to the rear of my passenger seat and bolted it to the ground and completely covered. i dont think its a problem being there since its a gel battery...right?

You fail in life.

Post by **CleanSfourteen** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:33 am

mrzabala wrote:You fail in life.

Why did you relocate your battery???

Post by **joe3180** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 2:40 pm

make way for the intercooler pipeing.

Post by **mrzabala** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 4:04 pm

I answered this question many times. So did many other fellow nicoians. But here is some of the reasons:-Space for inter-cooler piping-Cleaner engine bay-Weight distribution

Post by **7anshin8r** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 8:22 am

My friend left the bowling alley years ago, and by the time I got home from the bowling alley I got the call...

He sat his bowling ball (around 15lbs) in it's bag in the back passengers seat floor board. Someone pulled into his lane on the way home, they were drunk. The bowling ball hit him in the head and crushed his skull.

He would have lived if it wasn't for that. It was a low speed wreck, and it has kept me mindful of what I have loose in the car before I drive.

Be safe out there.

Post by **mrzabala** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 8:26 am

Theres a difference between having a bowling ball in a bag laying on the floor of a car and a bolted down battery. If your not comfortable doing it or do a half *** job, just dont bother doing a relocation or you will regret it..

Post by **lostforawhile** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 12:47 pm

HI new guy here hopefully to have my datsun truck soon, I am doing this project on my 86 honda accord hatchback,My original plan was to put a moroso battery box down in the spare tire well,surrounded by a steel box welded to the car,and a steel top plate over the entire well with a bolted down cover. also a littlefuse mega fuse within six inches of the battery, on the box. also a mega fuse inline with the alternator output,in case of a cable short causing high current to flow from the alternator to the short in reverse. remember you have two high current sources in parallel. this would be safe,but i decided to get the odyssey battery and mount it to the bulkhead in the large space behind my bumper corner,in the front. this takes it out of the passenger compartment. my original reason for the move,is i have a large forced air oil cooler that has to go where the battery is. after moving the battery,all i'll have to move is the washer resovoir. this will go in an aluminum resovoir in the passenger footwell,up against the firewall.

Post by **eazye2000** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 1:00 pm

Sounds like a plan. Take some pics. We like pictures...

Post by **Florida240sx** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 8:30 pm

Friend got into a wreck battery went out the side hatchback window.

TRUNK BATTERY WARNING!!!

TRUNK BATTERY WARNING!!!

Re: (Logan76)

Re: TRUNK BATTERY WARNING!!! (Edub1)

Re: TRUNK BATTERY WARNING!!! (Zion8561)

Re: TRUNK BATTERY WARNING!!! (Edub1)

Re: (C-Kwik)

Re: (Florida240sx)

Re: TRUNK BATTERY WARNING!!! (Edub1)

Re: TRUNK BATTERY WARNING!!! (Edub1)

Re: (S13 240SX)

Re: (mrzabala)

Re: TRUNK BATTERY WARNING!!! (Edub1)

Re: (joe3180)

Re: (mrzabala)

Re: (CleanSfourteen)

Re: (mrzabala)

Re: (7anshin8r)

Re: TRUNK BATTERY WARNING!!! (Edub1)

Re: TRUNK BATTERY WARNING!!! (lostforawhile)

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