Battery hold down/stabilizer question

[Slowleak]

I'm trying to utilize the battery stabilizer bracket on my ‘77, but things don't line up. I would assume the hole in the tray lip, where the rod attaches, should line up vertically with the hole in the stabilizer bracket, but it is about 2 inches off. Anybody know what is going on here? Were there two different trays in ‘77?

Here is a pic of FordFan's ‘77 “Porky” with the rod thru the bracket.

Here is a pic of mine. The hole in the tray does not align vertically with the bracket. The rod looks slightly tilted in the pic but it is vertical. It is really tilted if I try to make it fit.

 

[BRONCOchild]

I had to rig something up because my battery slid too far right and it was hit by the alternator flywheel. What I thought was radiator fluid turned out to be battery acid.

 

[helo-mech]

If you unbolt the battery tray from the wheel-well support and rotate it 180 degrees does it help? Seems that the tray will bolt up either direction.

Also, my vertical rod is along the rear side of my tray and I use a bolt/washer/nut combo through the from bracket attached to the core support. I never thought to check and see if it was supposed to have rod on the front of the tray as well.

 

[Slowleak]

I had not thought about reversing the tray. I will measure the location of the holes and see if reversing it will help.

 

[Slowleak]

Well, reversing would not help. The bolt holes in the bottom would be off and the holes for the rods would not change much at all relative to the bracket.

I'm just wondering if there was a different tray that was larger or set closer to the engine. Mine is about half an inch from the edge of the fender well.

It's not a problem since my battery is clamped down tight. It's just another unsolved Bronco mystery.

 

[helo-mech]

Being the last year along with all the other odd ball Bronco variations, multiple trays wouldn't be a surprise huh?

I just searched the tech side and found this though.

https://classicbroncos.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3400914&postcount=7

https://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=312624&highlight=battery

 

[Slowleak]

Thanks Helo-mech!
I will pull my battery tomorrow and see how things look. I'm curious to see if the original tray has the same bolt holes to allow me to shift it. Looks like the tray is wide enough to slide over without the battery having to move. If the battery moves it will hit the fittings on my A/C condenser.

 

[NewDog]

Let us know how it works out Slowleak.
I'm curious what your tray looks like.
For mine I wanted my battery to be closer to the rad, as I don't have AC for it to interfere with, and I wanted to make sure the positive terminal was well away from the fender. I also don't have the hold-down tab that you do.
Cheers,
David

 

[Slowleak]

Let us know how it works out Slowleak.
I'm curious what your tray looks like.
For mine I wanted my battery to be closer to the rad, as I don't have AC for it to interfere with, and I wanted to make sure the positive terminal was well away from the fender. I also don't have the hold-down tab that you do.
Cheers,
David

Well, here's what I found. The holes are there, and the tray can also be rotated 180 degrees.

This photo is the way mine is, probably from the factory. Edge is very close to the inner fender edge. Battery barely fits.

This one below has the tray moved out to the next bolt hole. The rod still does not line up. But the usable tray space is wider.

The next one is the tray rotated and moved out further. This is the only way the rod lines up with the stabilizer bracket and the full tray width can be used.

So I got my mystery solved but still don't know why Ford did some one way and some the other. Maybe the assumption is that if you use a larger battery, you move the tray out further from the fender and use the stabilizer bracket. I'm putting mine back like it was since I would have to move it too far out and it would hide my bottom a/c hose.

 

[helo-mech]

Once you get the tray back where you want for clearance, could you drill a hole in the side rail of the tray for the connecting rod so it aligns with your upper bracket? Not sure if you could just do the one based on the angle of the cross piece or if you'd have to drill the front and rear of the tray.

Now that you mention it I'm gonna have to pull my records. It seems that a
'Larger' battery was an option that mine came from Ford with.

 

[Slowleak]

Once you get the tray back where you want for clearance, could you drill a hole in the side rail of the tray for the connecting rod so it aligns with your upper bracket?

Probably would need to drill both but I'm sure it could be done. My clamp works fine. I was just curious about that bracket and why it wasn't used.

 

[helo-mech]

Went and dug out my letter from Ford, and sure enough it mentions a Heavy Duty Battery.

I wonder if this is the reason for the tray having multiple instillation variations?

 

[Slowleak]

I don't have the heavy duty battery option, only the heavy duty alternator on mine.

 

[DirtDonk]

The next one is the tray rotated and moved out further. This is the only way the rod lines up with the stabilizer bracket and the full tray width can be used.

So I got my mystery solved but still don't know why Ford did some one way and some the other.

Might also be at least partly due to the addition of the cold-air snorkel in '73.
Prior to that there wasn't much else between the battery and the inner fender apron to limit how far over you could push the battery other than the height of the terminal touching the fender lip and the voltage regulator when they were mounted on the apron.

Paul

 

[NewDog]

Probably would need to drill both but I'm sure it could be done. My clamp works fine. I was just curious about that bracket and why it wasn't used.

I guess if you did want to have the battery tied to the bracket, you could also just create a longer bracket, that would line up to where your hold-down bolt goes through. The bracket just looks like a piece of steel angle with a couple holes drilled in it.

 

[Slowleak]

I guess if you did want to have the battery tied to the bracket, you could also just create a longer bracket, that would line up to where your hold-down bolt goes through. The bracket just looks like a piece of steel angle with a couple holes drilled in it.

Yep, or drill a hole in the core support and move the bracket over to fit the hold-down. I'm just going to leave it stock now that I know what is going on.

I'm curious to see if only Broncos with the heavy-duty battery option on their Marti report are using the bracket.

 

[helo-mech]

I'm way past whatever battery first came with it. I doubt any of us have a battery that meets the exact size specs of what came off the line. My core support bracket is in the same spot as yours and my rods align. I don't have AC so maybe that's why I don't have an issue with my battery being further away from the fender and aligned with core support bracket.

I got to figure that the tray was used in multiple vehicles. This one is puzzling for sure. Whether it be due to original Heavy Duty batteries or a tray that went into multiple vehicles, it for sure is strange how there is a difference for no real for sure reason.

 

[Slowleak]

As I see original Broncos I will check how the tray is set and if the heavy duty battery appears on the Marti. I had never heard of that option. Maybe we have the mystery solved.

 

[helo-mech]

As I see original Broncos I will check how the tray is set and if the heavy duty battery appears on the Marti. I had never heard of that option. Maybe we have the mystery solved.

It still bugs me though. It would seem that the tray and core support bracket should align regardless of the size battery. The size battery may have to do with how the tray is attached, but it would not make sense that a normal sized battery would not allow for alignment. For the tray direction to be tied to the battery size, the only difference should be the tray orientation.

It's weird. I see that your tray does align with it rotated, but it covered a line so you flipped it back. I also noticed that your tray does in fact slide under the fender snorkel. I wonder how many attachment holes there are on a pre '73 tray. Maybe they added more holes to the tooling after they began installing the snorkels.

Anyways, after seeing your front rod I am going to go look for some all-thread to utilize on mine. I have never had a front rod, but rather just a bolt, washer and nut through the core support bracket. I like the look of your front attachment.

 

[Rustytruck]

My 1974 came with a tab off the core support that the rod and hold down went through and anchored the battery to the core support. T took it out so long ago because it was sharp and I kept getting hung up on it.