Bar over battery on EXT

by **chevycrew** » Thu May 26, 2011 7:53 pm

Im running an optima yellow top.

Stock lower battery hold down, with the plastic cover, and the factory bar over it...

My winch is currently on the side posts, but eventually I will switch it over to the top.

For adding items on the side posts, just pop out the factory stud, and use a 1" or so long 3/8" bolt. Screw a nut all the way onto the bolt, stick bolt through battery cable and accessory eyes, and thread into battery till tight. Then tighten the nut to smash the cable tight to the battery side post. plenty of room for everything you want to add. (not enough? get a longer bolt!)

This method is actually from Warn for installing winches to side post batteries.

by **djthumper** » Thu May 26, 2011 7:54 pm

I didn't say it couldn't either... :lol:

by **BigBen** » Fri May 27, 2011 12:03 pm

The optimas are "ok" batteries. At best they are only a 75ah battery and the posts are farther back than the odyssey is. The odyssey is a 100ah deep cycle agm. It's a dual purpose battery meaning it has the starting power and is able to be cycled to 80% discharge and recharged over 400 cycles.

For you "winchers" a deep cycle would be better suited. It gives you more overall power available.

by **chevycrew** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 2:59 am

Bringing this back up as im looking for a new battery.

I have noticed that oreilly, auto zone, and sears all carry the same group 78 AGM battery for about $145

Although its not the platinum, it may be worth a shot.

by **BigBen** » Sat Dec 31, 2011 11:54 am

Yea car quest has the ngt3478. Looks the be the same battery just rebadged.

It's close to $170. Plus it's a dual cycle agm.

by **SomeOffPave** » Sat Dec 31, 2011 2:14 pm

Getting back to the bar...... I have seen FIBERGLASS slats for holding up boat covers that were approximatelly 1.5 inches wide x 1/4 inch thick. One of those cut to length w/ oversize holes, rubber grommets, and fender washers should do the trick. The slats come 6 ft and 8 ft long so after you make one for yourself you can go into production with the remainder! OR you could make your own from fiberglass cloth & epoxy with metal reinforcements in the ends and as many "S" bends as necessary to clear the top post.

by **BigBen** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 1:59 pm

The more I look at the bar, I feel it's more of structural support in case of a crash to keep the fender from buckling on top of the battery. The piece the holds the battery down from the backside wasn't tightening on mine. But now that I'm lifted and took out my fender liners I can get to the under side of that bolt easier. When I get home next week I'll be removing the bar and putting the new battery in. Then I'll take the tb out somewhere and give it all a good bouncing and see how it holds up. Better bring a spare battery and that bar just in case it doesn't hold up.

by **navigator** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 9:01 pm

BigBen wrote:The more I look at the bar, I feel it's more of structural support in case of a crash to keep the fender from buckling on top of the battery. The piece the holds the battery down from the backside wasn't tightening on mine. But now that I'm lifted and took out my fender liners I can get to the under side of that bolt easier. When I get home next week I'll be removing the bar and putting the new battery in. Then I'll take the tb out somewhere and give it all a good bouncing and see how it holds up. Better bring a spare battery and that bar just in case it doesn't hold up.

I think it has more to do with crash damage distribution as well instead of holding the battery in place.
Mine still has the standard battery bracket to hold the battery in place.
When I switched to my top post battery I took mine out.
I figure I could bend it and make it work but I'm more likely to have that bar hit the positive terminal and cause issues from there than to have extra issues as a result in a crash.

by **NC_IslandRunner** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 8:28 am

I think the Roadie nailed it with rollover safety, but can see it maybe used to push fender out. But why not on both sides?

by **BigBen** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 10:39 am

Mine has one on the other side as well. It rests over the air cleaner.

by **fishsticks** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 12:18 pm

I still run mine with my Diehard P4. I just left the positive top terminal cover on. It's close but it doesn't rub.

Yes, I winch off the sideposts... :raspberry:

by **KBlaze** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 7:06 pm

It might be beneficial to look into a battery with the posts reversed, this would put the pos terminal to the inside of the engine compartment rather than the outside. I don't know if they still do it but most batteries used to carry an "F" designator for the swapped terminals.

by **navigator** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 7:16 pm

I can't remember if the stock cables are long enough to switch sides.

by **chevycrew** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 7:33 pm

It would be easy to build 6" long cables with 3/8" eyes on both ends as extensions.

I could even make and ship them out for a small fee.

by **KBlaze** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 8:03 pm

To me it seems the Pos terminal will reach, the neg side looks to be the one that will wind up short, But that's an easy fix.

by **bgwolfpack** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 8:32 pm

KBlaze wrote:To me it seems the Pos terminal will reach, the neg side looks to be the one that will wind up short, But that's an easy fix.

Just go ahead and hook it up, see if they'll reach. :twisted:

by **KBlaze** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 8:47 pm

Hook it up or not. The fact remains is if the terminals are swapped. It clears the Pos terminal away from the bar and that eliminates the problem with the pos terminal being as close to the bar as it is in the photos. Just makes basic sense to me. Doesn't change anything in regard to the battery capabilities.

YouTube Videos · by **Trail X** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:17 pm

A whole lot simpler to just leave the bar off.

by **djthumper** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:22 pm

JamesDowning wrote:A whole lot simpler to just leave the bar off.

all it is another safety device

by **chevycrew** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:51 pm

I like having the bar on mine, when (not if) I roll mine I dont want to trust the little plastic hold down at the bottom.

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