Battery tray upgrades

[Frogger2662]

Looking into upgrading my battery box to the 87-91 style. Is it a bolt in job?
I found a donor truck I am going to look at this weekend.The bottom bracket that bolts to the radiator support and inner fender is what I was mainly concerned about. Looking at pictures it looks diffenant.
Forgot to add year.
1984 F150 5.0

[C.Jett]

I put a new original in my 85, what is the upgrade? CJ

[Gary Lewis]

The upgrade is to use the later battery tray, as shown below on Big Blue.  It is much more solid having that arm above, but while I think the lower bolt holes were there I may have had to drill the one for the arm.

And not shown in that pic is the wedge-style battery hold downs that come with those trays.  With the right battery that has the lip at the bottom the wedge-style hold downs capture the battery tightly and you don't need the clamp at the top.

[salans7]

The only part that doesn't bolt right up is the support arm that goes at the top of the fender. I drilled the hole and then put in an M6x1.0 rivnut.

[Frogger2662]

Gary,
I think maybe I see my confusion. The brace that bolts to the bottom of the tray. Looking at the parts drawings looks to me like it bolts in horizontly.. Bolted to the core support. Looking at your pic it appears to bolt in up and down. Not bolted to the core support at all.
My tray is in bad shape and I do not have the lower brace at all.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Do you want me to take a picture of my 87 when it gets daylight?

Parts drawings are generic. Don't trust what you see.
As long as it's generally correct you can trust the numbers in the MPC (with a few exceptions, as noted)

[Frogger2662]

If you would that would be very helpful. What I have now in my 84 is rusted pretty bad and there is handmade bracket supporting it. Not really secure and does not look good.

[Gary Lewis]

salans7 wrote

The only part that doesn't bolt right up is the support arm that goes at the top of the fender. I drilled the hole and then put in an M6x1.0 rivnut.

Yes, that's my remembrance so I'm glad you confirmed that, Shaun.

While you might get by with a sheetmetal screw going into a newly-drilled hole, I wouldn't recommend that.  There is a lot of weight on that arm and you really want it to be well supported in the fender.  So a rivnut/nutsert would be my recommendation.

[ArdWrknTrk]

These are the best angles I can get without removing the battery and cold air intake from the radiator support.
Also note the hold-down wedge at the front.







Hope this helps!  

(Sorry for the sideways orientation )

[mat in tn]

one of the points about upgrading to the next version of battery try is that it is completely inside the engine bay. the original bullnose tray actually is under the inner fender well but reaches up through slots for mounting and hold downs and bolts through to the core support mount which doubles as a mount for the evap canister.  the tray actually helps hold up the fender liner but the failing is that it is in the water/salt splash area so they rot out way too fast.

[Frogger2662]

Thanks for the great pics. That helps a lot. All of the original support structure is missing from mine. Just a rigged hand made bracket that I do not like.

[C.Jett]

Jim, my 85 is basically the same and I believe it uses both style clamps. CJ

[C.Jett]

Mat, my top bracket was pretty bad but the one under fender was in great shape. CJ,’

[salans7]

I have my radiator support and fender off of the truck currently, so I put them together for an unobstructed reference photo.

[Frogger2662]

Thanks everyone! Great pics. Now I know exactlty what I need.