Thursday, May 28, 2009

Battery Boxes Continued



This post covers work done over several weekends. All of it involved steel work and some frame modifications to the truck. Since my last post I have done a lot of steel cutting to get all the pieces ready for tack welding on the rear of axle battery box and one of the front of axle boxes. I still have yet to cut the steel for the remaining battery box. This one will be a bit trickier because the drive shaft of the truck is slightly offset and there is not as much room on the passenger side as on the driver's side. This battery box will be a very tight fit.
My son's friend Mike has been a big help with the welding. So far we have spent a couple days tack welding the first battery box together. I have been practicing with the welder also and managed to successfully tack weld the second battery box together. I will more than likely let Mike finish all the critical welds. I am not real thrilled with the idea of batteries bouncing down the road because of inexperienced welding.
On the truck frame we welded in a new support of square tube across the rear of the frame. This will support one side of the new battery box. I then used the chop saw to remove a section of steel between the shocks. This would serve to impede my access to 2 of the batteries. After the pictures were taken, the front support was also welded into place. As soon as the rear of axle box is welded complete, it will be ready to install into the truck and welded into place. So, the battery box work continues, and maybe a few posts left covering it before we move on.
There are some tricky roads ahead, but progress is being made. There have been a lot of comments from friends and others about seeing the truck after it is done. I believe we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Stay tuned for more EV fun!!