Date:         Fri, 29 Jul 2022 19:37:38 +0000
Reply-To:     David Boan <dboan@OUTLOOK.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Boan <dboan@OUTLOOK.COM>
Subject:      House Battery and Clearance
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi Vanagon Types;

For those considering where to locate an accessory battery, this may be useful information.

Last year I replaced my deep cycle accessory battery with a 100ah AGM battery and installed it in the rear closet (the coat closet, not the one furthest back.   I got some feedback that the added weight (63 lbs) that far back would aggravate the existing tendency to lean to the left. In fact, the difference between left and right rear wheels measured at the rim was 1" after installing the battery (I do not recall what it was before).

I just added a second house battery and rather than have two in the closet I moved both to the driver side of the rear seat, which moved the first battery forward and as far right as possible.   That had no effect on the front height, which also differs 1" from left to right, but it brought up the driver side rear height by 1/4" and lowered the passenger side by 1/4"resulting in a 1/2" difference in height versus the previous 1".

I am interested to know what people think about the point a difference in height is meaningless.  Is a 1/2" difference in an empty vehicle with a full propane tank not important, i.e. it has no detectible impact on handling?

Wishing you all a great summer of camping

Dave B
Boise (where it is 103 degrees ;(