DIY Discussion Starter: Securement of Battery Tray and Straps

[Geronimo John]

Owners:

Mike and Carol’s “Battery Box Separation” thread well addresses the battery box structural securement to the frame and hull.  My intent of this post is to re-look at the battery tay and straps and their securement.

Despite our OEM straps being VERY tight, twice I found one of them had gone slack and come loose from the tray hook hole.  Not good. 

I am starting this separate thread to focus on how to ensure that our OEM tray and batteries “stay put”.  So basically, I would like to learn more about how the tray is mounted and then how to super contain our batteries in the tray.  I would very much appreciate your sharing your thoughts on how the battery box embed plate and straps do their job.  Some questions follow:    

·       How is the battery box embed plate attached to the structural member below?

·       What’s you guess as to the dimensions of the embed plate?

·       Are all battery sliding tray fasteners buck-stopped by the embed plate?

·       I assume that the embed plate is aluminum.  Can it be tapped for additional hold-down bolts.  If yes, what bolt length will work best? 

·       Can you share your DIY solution?

GJ

PS:  

 As far as the tray slide coming open, I like Horace's (Hull 93  Maverick) Dec 17, 2020 idea.  A couple of these would increase security and would prevent movement should the slide fail.  My upgrades to his idea would be to use a Riv-Nut in place of the nut and washer. Maybe also pop rivet the aluminum angle to the tray sheet metal.  Combined, less parts to get lost when doing battery checks and service.

 

    

Thanks

GJ

Edited January 20 by Geronimo John

[topgun2]

14 hours ago, Geronimo John said:

As far as the tray slide coming open, I like Horace's (Hull 93  Maverick) Dec 17, 2020 idea.  A couple of these would increase security and would prevent movement should the slide fail.  My upgrades to his idea would be to use a Riv-Nut in place of the nut and washer. Maybe also pop rivet the aluminum angle to the tray sheet metal.  Combined, less parts to get lost when doing battery checks and service.

GJ - 

Remember that the later model Olivers have two of those spring loaded catches on the tray.  This was done to lessen the chance of failure at that point.  Unfortunately, I do not remember exactly when Oliver made this change.

As far as Horace's ideas - why not simply drill a hole for the bolt a bit closer to the sliding portion of the tray, use a wing nut on the that bolt and do away with the angle piece of metal since the bolt head will be enough to stop the tray from sliding out?

Bill

Edited January 21 by topgun2

[Geronimo John]

4 hours ago, topgun2 said:

As far as Horace's ides - why not simply drill a hole for the bolt a bit closer to the sliding portion of the tray, use a wing nut on the that bolt and do away with the angle piece of metal since the bolt head will be enough to stop the tray from sliding out?

Roger on the newer sliding trays having double latches.  Likely more new ones than older ones like ours.

On the deletion of the aluminum angle:  Don't know as my Ollie is on your side of the pond.  But possible. But I seem to recall that the geometry of the area was such that just a bolt and nut was not doable.  My guess is that for our vintage of sliding trays Horace figured it out and needed the aluminum angle to make it work.  I would wager one of Art's home brews on that!

On using a bolt and wing nut: I would prefer using a Rev-Nut if it will fit.  One less thing to not get lost (nut),  Besides when leaving Ollie for some time, I would like it taking some time to open the drawer from an anti-theft perspective.  Kind of like removing the fuse from the front jack.  Make hooking up a 600# tongue a PITA.... go next door to the SOB and steal that one.

GJ

[topgun2]

9 hours ago, Geronimo John said:

On the deletion of the aluminum angle:  Don't know as my Ollie is on your side of the pond.  But possible. But I seem to recall that the geometry of the area was such that just a bolt and nut was not doable.  My guess is that for our vintage of sliding trays Horace figured it out and needed the aluminum angle to make it work.  I would wager one of Art's home brews on that!

Wish I had a pic of mine - but - no angle metal needed on mine.

Good point on the wing nut if your point is to deter a thief.  I've found that the wing nut makes things easier to get into and out of (there isn't that much space in that spot). 
But, then again, I'm not worried about "unauthorized" access to my batteries for a number of reasons.

Bill

Edited January 21 by topgun2

[Tony and Rhonda]

Doesn't @jd1923's post from Oct. 2024 solve two possible problems:  preventing (or slowing down) theft and locking the tray in position?  

 

[rideandfly]

Here's the old & new style battery tray:

 

[mossemi]

My battery tray keeper is not as elegant as Horace's or as secure as jd1923's, but it keeps my battery tray in place and it’s easy to remove and replace.

Mossey

[Ronbrink]

On 1/21/2026 at 10:25 AM, rideandfly said:

Here's the old & new style battery tray:

My OLEll has the new style, which solved much of the problem with trays coming loose in older models and causing damage to box doors. However, one should take care and ensure both catches are fully engaged when closing. Occasionally upon slamming the tray into the secured position, only one of the catches will fully latch correctly. It’s easy to overlook, so owners with this type tray need to visibility verify that each spring-loaded catch is properly seated. A second ‘slam’ usually gets it done! Because these catches are horizontally mounted at each side of the battery tray, it is more difficult to further lock them in place in such manner as @jd1923 and @mossemi have successfully achieved. Has anyone figured out a way to deter theft with these new style battery trays?

On 1/20/2026 at 5:12 PM, Geronimo John said:

Despite our OEM straps being VERY tight, twice I found one of them had gone slack and come loose from the tray hook hole.  Not good. 

Early in ownership I replaced the stock 12V Bright Way SLA/AGM batteries with 6V Trojan T-105 flooded lead acid batteries. In time the off-gasses from the Trojans deteriorated the battery securement straps, both the webbing and plastic buckles. This caused the tray hooks to loosen and require vigilant inspections. When upgrading to LFPs, I made a new set of straps which have held tight thus far!

 

 

Edited Friday at 01:41 PM by Ronbrink

[Geronimo John]

On 1/21/2026 at 4:51 AM, Tony and Rhonda said:

Doesn't @jd1923's post from Oct. 2024 solve two possible problems:  preventing (or slowing down) theft and locking the tray in position?  

Yep, and no nuts to lose either!

[jd1923]

7 minutes ago, Geronimo John said:

Yep, and no nuts to lose either!

Not quite as cool as our updated version! 😎

 

Edited Friday at 09:20 PM by jd1923

[Geronimo John]

10 minutes ago, jd1923 said:

Not quite as cool as our updated version! 😎

That works well for those that don't have their master switch in there. 

GJ