How can I secure my battery better?

[Friday88]

So I took my truck out on it's first "offroad" trip last weekend and did about 80 miles of rough forest roads. On my way back out, my gauges started flipping on and off, and the truck died. I opened the hood to find the clamp that held the battery in place had lost its single screw, and the battery had fallen onto its side, somehow melting it's own negative cable.

The cable wasn't actually severed, but the insulation had melted off and the little wire to the chassis had torn off as well. I taped the open areas back up, zip-tied the battery clamp in place, and drove it home essentially without a ground.

Anyway, I'd like to avoid having this happen again and I'm sure I'm not the first person it's happened to. Is there some other common way of adding extra support for the battery, other than putting loctite on that bolt?

Thanks.

 

[gamefreakgc]

I think you're the first person, lol.

It was probably loose to begin with. Locktite will help though. A tight, secure stock battery bracket will not come loose, unless your battery is oversized or undersized. It is designed for off-road use in mind.

 

[JWaldz]

Depends what battery you have. Factory size with the caps on top there's not much out there for you. Otherwise, I know there's a couple companies out there that make custom trays and clamps for our trucks. They just typically require a larger battery or dual battery setups.

CBI comes to mind >> here

 

[weekendclimber]

[...] I opened the hood to find the clamp that held the battery in place had lost its single screw, and the battery had fallen onto its side, somehow melting it's own negative cable.

Wait...you only have one bolt? There should be a bolt up front and then the J-bolt and a nut towards the fuse box.

Disclaimer: this is [MENTION=58830]JWaldz[/MENTION] picture.

 

[alumarine]

If you're setup like weekendclimber and the that clamp fits the top of the battery properly that should work just fine forever.

You can use shims to make it fit better if it's an odd size battery.

If it can't move chances are it won't come loose.

 

[Friday88]

Depends what battery you have. Factory size with the caps on top there's not much out there for you. Otherwise, I know there's a couple companies out there that make custom trays and clamps for our trucks. They just typically require a larger battery or dual battery setups.

CBI comes to mind >> here

I believe it is the factory size. Maybe the bolt was just loose... I was thinking some way to add a second bolt might be good but I don't want to fabricate anything.

Wait...you only have one bolt? There should be a bolt up front and then the J-bolt and a nut towards the fuse box.

Disclaimer: this is [MENTION=58830]JWaldz[/MENTION] picture.

I have the J bolt, but the one in front came loose causing the J bolt to come loose from the bottom side. I feel like it should have two bolts up front for redundancy considering the vibrations it could experience, but the first poster said these were designed for it so maybe it's not necessary. I might just try some low power loctite to satisfy my paranoia lol

 

[Friday88]

If you're setup like weekendclimber and the that clamp fits the top of the battery properly that should work just fine forever.

You can use shims to make it fit better if it's an odd size battery.

If it can't move chances are it won't come loose.

I was able to tighten the top clamp down tight when I zip tied it on, so I think it must be the stock size.

 

[Roc Doc]

I was able to tighten the top clamp down tight when I zip tied it on, so I think it must be the stock size.

double nut it.

 

[RAD4Runner]

... I don't want to fabricate anything.

There's the key statement/constraint ^^^. So...
Yes, lock-nut on the J-bolt, Loctite thread-lock on the front. Or loctite on both bolts.

 

[t4rFL]

i was having trouble with mine moving, every week i was having to re-do my ground cable since it tore off. the tie-down seemed a bit bent, so i tried making it sit better on the battery, bending it in place, then tightened the bolts and seems to be good for now.