Bolting to the frame vs. welding straight to it

[Bob Bath]

I finally checked out the method you recommend for fabricating the
racks. My only comment is that it appears to me that you have quite a
few bolts. Do remember that those bolts will subtract space, thus
making the batteries a tight fit. They will swell as they age. The
other issue is how far that intrusion will dent the case, and whether
it will have an effect on the actual plates of the battery. If you
use bolts, I'd keep a close eye on the way they wear the battery
cases...

[Tim Kutscha]

Hi Bob,

I agree that using bolts will subtract space. The group-31 batteries
are narrower than the 8V golf cart batteries, so they fit in the same
space with all the bolt intrusions. To the best of my knowledge, there
aren't any places where batteries are pressed up against bolt-heads,
causing damage to the battery cases. As this is the first design, I'm
sure there will be issues, so we'll see what improvements can be
made for rev 2.0.

Cheers,
Tim