Battery Tray

Anyone familiar with the Ballistic Fab battery box?

http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Ballistic-D51-Optima-Battery-Box-_p_1644.html

The reason I ask is after searching and reading, I saw something about a temp sensor and was wondering if I can place the sensor I have in the stock (and broken) tray I have now on that box, can I leave the sensor off (doubtful from what I've read) or are there any other things I should know/do?

Thanks.

That box is meant to bolt onto the stock plastic tray. Their battery boxes are a great deal (compare to some generic ones JEGS carries). I dont think that sensor really does anything. I disconnected it and did not realize it for about 6 months...

The temperature sensor tells the PCM what the charge is doing to the battery. The PCM will reduce the charge rate as the temp goes up...

So it bolts right on TOP of the plastic tray? Blah...I was looking to replace my plastic tray altogether since it's broken so I guess this won't work.

Are there any other options that are a replacement for the stock plastic battery tray other than OEM or another plastic tray itself?

austinaubinoe said:

That box is meant to bolt onto the stock plastic tray.

Click to expand...

Huh?

Their box has 4 mounting points. You can put it wherever you can get a flat surface long/wide enough for all 4 to be on the same plane.

I bought a stainless battery box to fit my Optima through Ruff Stuff ( vendor). That box is built really well and is fairly inexpensive at around 30 bucks, but it also needs the plastic tray for mounting purposes.

I found a clearance issue with the top of the battery and proximity to the upper radiator hose, so I had to actually cut into the aft side of the plastic tray to allow the after market box to move back about an inch. That allowed me to install the battery without rubbing into the radiator hose and potentially obstructing fluid flow and the bracket cutting into the rubber. I have detailed the installation in the Frog Blog (http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1025143&page=15) on page 15. Hope that helps.

If you can have someone fabricate a basic steel battery tray to bolt to the fender well, perhaps you can simply mount the aftermarket battery box (Ballistic, Ruff Stuff, etc) to it and benefit from the lower height it would give and bypass the clearance issue I had. Good luck.

Gaidge said:

Are there any other options that are a replacement for the stock plastic battery tray other than OEM or another plastic tray itself?

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There are a lot of options out there. Artec, RuffStuff, Blue Torch, etc.
The biggest thing would be to make sure the size of the box will fit in the stock location. Some of the boxes out there are quite large and the area the stock one sits is not entirely flat (it is for the most part though). Remove it and you'll see what I mean.

I would not worry about the temp sensor. If you are, drill the appropriate sized hole in the new box and slip it in.

MoparManiac said:

Huh?

Their box has 4 mounting points. You can put it wherever you can get a flat surface long/wide enough for all 4 to be on the same plane.

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That makes a little more sense. Thanks Mopar.

But! Do you know if I can remove the OEM plastic tray and bolt this right in? I haven't removed my tray yet to see if it's possible so I thought I'd ask since I'm at work and unable to do so until next week.

on 97+ I'm fairly certain a missing battery temp sensor will trigger a CEL. Like Bill said, just drill a hole in the bottom of the box and pop it in... problem solved. It's held down by the battery.

Gaidge said:

That makes a little more sense. Thanks Mopar.

But! Do you know if I can remove the OEM plastic tray and bolt this right in? I haven't removed my tray yet to see if it's possible so I thought I'd ask since I'm at work and unable to do so until next week.

Click to expand...

I doubt there's enough room to keep it flat.

You'd have to space it up higher, which is why I'm sure some people kept the stock box.

You could try to mount it sideways/vertical/ or whatever since Optimas don't care.

Thanks all.

I'll just have to remove my current tray and take some measurements next week.

Thanks RCman for the other sites. I hadn't been able to find anything other than RuffStuff and Ballistic Fab's boxes.

I do not have an answer on the battery tray but on my 1996 XJ, if the temperature sensor was not connected it will trigger the CEL and eventually shut the engine down after 30 minutes on the highway. Turning the key off then on again got it going for another 30+ minutes.
The 1994 XJ did not come with the sensor just the hole where it should be.

Per my FSM, the temp sensor works with the PCM to control the voltage output. "In colder weather the voltage out put will be greater reducing as the temperature rises". Sort of paraphrased, but that is the gist. For safety sake, the temp sensor must be functional. Ever see a battery blow up? Some of us "old" guys have seen one go due to the mechanical voltage regulators sticking...

DANG maybe that sensor is the source of my CEL. Sometimes its on, sometimes its off. However, I have seen no performance issues or lower MPG's.

You can mount the battery mount however you want, but good luck finding a flat surface. The reason the plastic ones break is because we tend to over tighten the battery old downs. This bends and stresses the plastic.

Find a nice one at the junkyard, and cut the lip off all the way around. Put your new mount on top of it, and mark where you want your holes. When you bolt your new battery holder to you plastic mount, I would put some big washers between the nut and the plastic to distribute the weight.

Also, IMO the Ballistic fab one is the best because it utilizes the channels built into the side of the optima's.