Skid plate mounted battery (Pics)
 

I redid my skid plate mounted battery and am extremely happy with the way it turned out, and the stability it provides is great! It had 5" of center cleance and now it has 4.75" of clearnce. I only lost .25", not bad at all for the gain in lower CG.

Here is the custom packs I built to fit in the tight area. I know they are not straight, they actually need to be shaped exactly this way to clear the drive shafts.

http://www.nor-calrcrc.com/albums/tx...7909.sized.jpg

Gotta love the braided wire!

http://www.nor-calrcrc.com/albums/tx...7911.sized.jpg

The skid plate is now hinged with a 4 mm screw perma locked in the threaded hole in the chassis. Clips hold the other side up.

http://www.nor-calrcrc.com/albums/tx...7914.sized.jpg

http://www.nor-calrcrc.com/albums/tx...7915.sized.jpg

Here is a shot with the skid/battery tray down.

http://www.nor-calrcrc.com/albums/tx...7918.sized.jpg

With a battery strapped in.

http://www.nor-calrcrc.com/albums/tx...7920.sized.jpg

Its hard to see the amount of clearance I have, but I did not want to loose too much center clearance so I mounted it as close as possible.

http://www.nor-calrcrc.com/albums/tx...7924.sized.jpg

http://www.nor-calrcrc.com/albums/tx...7925.sized.jpg

Side view with the battery in.

http://www.nor-calrcrc.com/albums/tx...7926.sized.jpg

I just slotted the skid and bolted the strap in place. Keeping the screws and nuts as low profile as possible.

http://www.nor-calrcrc.com/albums/tx...7927.sized.jpg

Here's the other side of the 4mm bolt. I taped the hole and used permanant thread lock so I don't have to use a nut.

http://www.nor-calrcrc.com/albums/tx...7928.sized.jpg

Side shot with the skid down ready for a battery.

http://www.nor-calrcrc.com/albums/tx...7931.sized.jpg

And since I can't have my tranny mount on my skid plate I simply tie rapped the motor to the cross member. It tranny does not move at all it is suprisingly secure with this simple method. Does not look that great though. Ohh well.

http://www.nor-calrcrc.com/albums/tx..._001.sized.jpg

Re: Skid plate mounted battery (Pics)
 

Nice work. Do body pins hold the skid plate up in the rear? we will see how well it works tomorrow

Re: Skid plate mounted battery (Pics)
 

Yep the body pins hold the rear of it up. They work fine. 8)

Re: Skid plate mounted battery (Pics)
 

That is excellent... the batts down low will make a HUGE difference. And you will never miss that 1/4" of center clearance you lost.

Re: Skid plate mounted battery (Pics)
 

Pretty cool. You're right though, the motor "mount" looks pretty ghetto. :twisted:

Re: Skid plate mounted battery (Pics)
 

The tranny mount thing is a simple fix.

Get some extruded "L" aluminum from Lowe's or Home Depot and make a bracket that bolts to one of the chassis plates and to the motor mount plate on the tranny.

Re: Skid plate mounted battery (Pics)
 

I learn from the biggest getto ass mofo! 8)

Re: Skid plate mounted battery (Pics)
 

Yeah, I deffinitly want to fix that. I kindof see what you are saying since I have already bought some "L" aluminum, I just have not spent the time to figure it out yet. If I am going to make a bracket then I want to do it right.

Re: Skid plate mounted battery (Pics)
 

NICE!! I mite Be Gettin A TXT So...I'll Be Doing That.

Re: Skid plate mounted battery (Pics)
 

I wonder if low and centered is "better" than a lowered up front stock location?
Guess a few more BBs could help with that...

Looks great though man.

But the top few pics aren't working for me.

Re: Skid plate mounted battery (Pics)
 

IMO this setup is far better then my old lowered front setup. The battery is actually lower then the lowered front configuration and the weight in the center of the chassis makes the truck much more stable on side hills and up and down steep stuff.

Re: Skid plate mounted battery (Pics)
 

That is seriously hardcore Badger. 8O I hate the thought of building my own battery packs. :lol:

The loss of clearance should be worth the gains you will see from the lower, more centered CG.
Seriously badasse setup you got there.

Re: Skid plate mounted battery (Pics)
 

Thanks Griz, I was really happy with it yesterday at the trail ride.

Making the battery packs were easy... once you have remade one 10 times! 8O I have never even built a battery pack before this so I had some learning to do. 8)

Re: Skid plate mounted battery (Pics)
 

that sweet!! you sure cant keep it as it is!!
good job

Re: Skid plate mounted battery (Pics)
 

Thanks. You are right I can't leave well enough alone... last night I installed my Novak brushless SS 5800 in it just to see what it would do.

HOLY CRAP! This thing moves now with the mammoth and a 9 tooth pinion! It will almost pull wheelies if the trackion is good. 8O And the torque is amazing, way to much power for a crawler! The wheel speed is fun though. :lol:

Re: Skid plate mounted battery (Pics)
 

Cool Mod!

Lowering the placement of weight on a TxT makes such a dramatic difference in performance.

Joe