The Go Anywhere Jeep Cherokee
DIY Replacement Battery Tray - Quick and Dirty Install
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My Cherokee has had some sort of Optima battery (Red/Blue) strapped into it since the 2nd-year of ownership. For a lengthy eight years the factory tray was subjected to the rough suburban streets of Illinois (that's not even taking into account going off-road) before it finally surrendered.
It really was only a matter of time that the combination of high under hood temperatures, over tightening the holding clamp and a jarring ride would "break" the OE battery tray as shown in the adjacent pictures. |
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I always get asked, "If Jeep did such a great job designing the Cherokee, why have I replaced so many factory components?" That question is never the easiest to explain, especially to a person that looks at a vehicle as just "transportation".
With time any vehicle will tend to show both its strengths and its weaknesses. Fortunately the Cherokee is long on strengths and short on weaknesses. But when a weakness becomes apparent I try to find or build a solution that will not only correct the weakness but improve upon the original design as well. I always had a pretty good suspicion of one item that wasn't going to last the life of my Jeep Cherokee. Eventually that premonition came true and my OE ABS plastic battery tray cracked and became unusable. |
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There are a few billet aluminum battery trays out for Jeeps, but they're mostly for CJ/YJ/TJ crowd (which have a ton more room under the hood) than for the Cherokee crowd so the aftermarket didn't offer much in the way of a bolt-in replacement.
So it was time to utilize our own fabrication skills. Due to space restrictions, my father and I decided it would be best to just emulate the basic shape of the factory battery tray, but this time it would be made from steel. I honestly don't remember what we used, but if I had to guess I would say it was about 1/8th of an inch thick. We just took some scrap cardboard we had laying around for such an occasion and carefully traced the various dimensions from the factory tray. Then we transferred those various shapes to some steel plate. Then using a Sawzall/Jigsaw/Grinder w/cut-off wheel; each piece was carefully cut-out. Some components lent themselves to being bent (on a sheet-metal brake) to speed up the assembly process; otherwise each component was welded together. We made certain to leave a hole for the battery temperature probe and reutilized the factory mounting holes in the bottom of the tray. The original screws where welded permanently to the new battery box; that alone was a nicer feature as they no longer annoyingly dropped down when trying to fasten the battery clamp as they often did with the factory setup. The final assembly was painted with POR-15 and had a coat of Herculiner slapped onto it. Four years later and a handful of trips in and out of the engine bay and I can't say we have any regrets with how it has turned out. Was it worth the effort? I would say yes as I can't foresee a reason that this new tray would need replacing. |
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***Disclaimer***
The above information has been created by someone that is an enthusiast and not a trained
automotive professional. My intentions are not to have any physical harm come to anyone,
but to highlight what I have done to my own personal vehicle or share my knowledge or
experiences. If you decide to use any of my information, you bear the responsibility to
verify its safety and accuracy.
***Please do not link to this article or republish it without my permission***