Four 6V Batteries on Trailer A-Frame

[WannaBeFree]

After testing with a pickup toolbox I found I could only add a battery box about 31" wide on the travel trailer a-frame.  Turning such that the travel trailer and truck were parallel would result in a wider battery box being crushed.  I tried to find an off the shelf box which would fit the 4 6V batteries and be 31" wide or less but had no luck.  If anyone has added four 6V batteries to the a-frame of a travel trailer how did you do it?


I'm thinking of building a wood box and placing it on an angle iron frame welded to the travel trailer a-frame.  In the attached image I show a possible design but I am no carpenter.  I'm thinking of using 1/2" plywood for the sides and 3/4" x 3/4" wood to screw the sides together.  According to Interstate the 6V batteries are 7.125" x 10.25" x 11.125" (shown as green boxes in the image).  I believe I could use a piano hinge to attach the top and a hasp to attach a lock.

 

[highdesertranger]

stack them. I know it makes building the box more tricky but solves the problem of the short tongue. I hate short tongue trailers. highdesertranger

 

[Trebor English]

Is it too much weight to put on the tongue?

 

[ZoNiE]

Yeah, I'd like to put four up there, but the tongue weight would be an issue. Unless you can offset that with MORE weight aft without overloading your trailer's tires and axles, and the tow vehicle, that would make more sense...

 

[user 37446]

I agree, tongue weight would be big... what's the tow vehicle? 1 ton van or pickup no problem. Conversion van big problem...

 

[caretaker]

i don't think its a good idea to put that much weight on the tongue. the best way to think about what the weight will do, take a stick, put a weight on it somehow and start it by your hand and then slide it out towards the end, notice how everything changes as it moves away from your hand, then think of the stresses the weight of 4 6v batts plus the box , which WILL be robust, you could be talking 500 lbs. thats ALOT

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

As far as the tongue weight goes, if you have access to a bathroom scale, you could use one of the techniques shown here:

https://www.etrailer.com/faq-how-to-determine-trailer-tongue-weight.aspx

To weigh your tongue.  Then get a length of 2x12, put it on the tongue, and carefully put your four batteries on it and see what your tongue weight is then.

Of course, you have to have some idea what your trailer's overall weight is in order to figure out if your tongue weight falls into the 10% to 15% range they want it to run at.

 

[MikeRuth]

On a personal level I'd be looking to put 2 on each side very near the axle. Realize this doesn't fit your plan, just my 2cents worth.

 

[WannaBeFree]

Thanks MikeRuth,

That battery tray mounted under the van is really cool. I'm going with lead acid batteries so I'd prefer to keep the batteries outside the trailer.

 

[WannaBeFree]

Thanks Optimistic Paranoid,

That Sherline Trailer Tongue Weight Scale is a really cool device to have around.

 

[WannaBeFree]

Thanks This world isn't home,

I'm pulling the trailer with an 3.5L Ecoboost F150.  The trailer has over 3600LB of cargo capacity.

 

[MikeRuth]

BTW no matter where you put the batteries on the trailer, be diligent about checking the water on them frequently as a trailer certainly bounces a lot more than the truck.