GEM E825-4 Trojan T-1275 Battery Hold Down

GEM Forum
1

I bought a 2002 GEM E825-4 that the previous owner put Trojan T-1275 batteries in. He said the battery hold down bars would not fit with these batteries in the car, so the batteries are just sitting in the battery trays.

Is there some way to make the battery hold down bars fit with these batteries, or is there something else others are doing to hold the batteries down?

Thanks in advance for any help. I am completely new to the GEM cars (although I have a bit of experience with EZGO gassers).

Ross

2

I am a little surprised no one else has dealt with this issue. Perhaps someone can tell me if it is safe to use the vehicle without the batteries being strapped down. That is, should I bother figuring out a solution to this, or is it a non-issue?

3

I personally would want my batteries held down firmly in place to avoid having them shift around in use but it’s hard to imagine this being a real safety issue. And I’ve seen others address this issue in a straightforward manner - nothing very sophisticated is required.

At least on my 2001 GEM, it’s a pretty low tech/engineering battery tie down design - a J bolt and a length of 1/2" or 3/4" plastic lumber between every other battery. I know the height of the T1275 is taller than an OEM battery but certainly nothing sophisticated needed. The length/width seem to fit OK (just barely) so it’s just the height issue.

I’d go to a car parts store and buy longer off-the-shelf “J” battery tie down bolts of appropriate length and fashion a low-tech hold down using wood or plastic lumber (anything non-conductive should work) as the top hold down bar. OR you could use threaded rod and cut and bend the ends to hook onto the frame as required, A good propane blowtorch should heat it up sufficiently to allow you to bend the rod easily enough. You might even be able to avoid bending the threaded rod if you wanted to use a bolt/washer system on the chassis end.

I’d think this would be well within the capabilities of an average owner.

Al

4

Thanks for the info Al. I really had not had a chance to look into it, and was just going off of what the previous owner said about the hold downs not being able to be used. I will see if I can find some suitable length J bolts. I was at the parts store this morning. I wish I had thought of looking for something along those lines when I was there.