I picked this GEM up late last fall, and have been redoing it. I thought the previous owner told me to charge it with the main switch off, so that is what I was doing.
When I finally figured out that was incorrect I have some low battery issues. They are Trojans and I got 5 to recharge, one I cannot get above 11 volts so a load test does work.
Should I just bite the bullet and replace it?
BTW how do those rings on the battery hold down bar work, I have never seen those before.
I had to bite the bullet and get all 6 new’ish ones myself. If you’re going to be using it a lot this summer, it’s worth it to spend the $100+ to get a good working battery and make sure you’re not stranded. My humble opinion anyway.
If it’s the rings I’m thinking of, they just slide in the pole across the batteries and hook into the long J-hook that hooks to the frame. Might be wrong, I took that bar out when I first got mine and haven’t put it back.
For the cost of 6 trojan batteries, you can get lithium cells and never have to check water levels again.
…and take 400-something lbs of weight out of the vehicle. Difference is phenomenal.
This is so true. I only WISH I had done this instead of buying FLAs to replace the dead ones in my “new to me” car. Before I actually bought mine I watched a lot of @grantwest vids on YT. If I had only found this forum beforehand.
Yep. I should have done that too with my 2002. It ran when I got it, but had 2-3 “meh” Trojan 31XH batteries out of 6. Decided to get Deka DC31DT (AKA: O’Reilly 31DCM, Duracell SLI31DT, NAPA 8231). Not bad batteries for $120/ea, but after all the fiddle farking and headaches, I regret not spending the extra $600 for a set of 25 LiFePo4’s with balance boards.
Oh well, live and learn. Got a 2010 with dual volt packs now, but can’t drive it because DMV is closed for the next month and will be hugely backloged when they open back up 
Hmmm
My floodeds weigh 60 pounds apiece.
I bought 8231s for my 2002, so yeah.
Deka batteries weigh about 60 lbs ea. OP asked about Trojans, which weigh around 80 lbs ea iirc. 25 green cells are around 100 lbs I believe.
Ok, so I exaggerated a little.
I would agree, green cells are much lighter.
I own a 2008 GEM E2, with new gel batteries. The car runs great, no issues. I drive 2 miles to/from a golf course and play golf almost every day. An electrician installed my R4F motor and I have 14” rims on my GEM. I travel 35-40 mph on the street and I am not not necessarily seeking more speed.
When I replace the gel batteries, is there a “plug-n-play” option using lithium ion batteries?
I am NOT skilled when electric expertise is required. I would like to drop 400 lbs of weight and improve “miles per charge”.
I do not require replacement batteries now, but I want to change to lithium when it is time. I am gaining knowledge and expertise on lithium “plug-n-play” for when the time arrives. I do not want a “project” to work on for several days/weeks/months. I use and depend on my GEM everyday.
Plus-n-play options… EZ options? Cost is less important than EZ plug-n-play options.