Thread: Discovery 2 Battery Tray

I have a 2000 model D2 and it has a 2nd battery tray on the chassis under the front passenger door as standard, I assumed they all had them there cheers JP

Originally Posted by gone bush

I have a 2000 model D2 and it has a 2nd battery tray on the chassis under the front passenger door as standard, I assumed they all had them there cheers JP

Thats the mounting tray for SLS compressor

But has successfully been used to hold a battery if you have coils

I have a 2002 D2 with SLS and rear air con. I also have the Piranha battery tray that is needed when you have the rear a/c and the extra pipework as someone has shown above.

I did the research at the time and found - the ARB tray at the time was too big to clear the a/c pipes and the only option on hand was to go with the Piranha version. it is a fairly small tray and will only take a particular battery but has served me well.

Originally Posted by Shaker

I need to fit a battery tray for a second battery, they have 2 in the Pirahna listings for TD5.
One is listed as being for D2 fitted with "dual airconditioning", is this the A/C with separate digital controls for driver & passenger?

Hi shaker, the N70 won't fit in the ARB or TJM battery tray they are designed for a smaller battery like the N50, i would get something around the size of the N50 if your going for the ARB or TJM tray, the fullriver 60AH will fit in these trays, but you may have to adjust the height in lowering the tray a bit as the fullriver is the same height as an N70 Exide but much shorter in length so will fit in the ARB/TJM tray.

I made my own tray to fit an N70 Exide as i wanted a large battery, but because of heat from the turbo and the fact the N70 is lead acid, the larger N70 died fairly quickly, i now have a 60AH Fullriver, this a good size and 60AH is plenty for running a fridge and a couple of lights for 2 to 3 days without charging, i also run Traxide SC40 Dual battery controller from Drivesafe, it's a great unit, it will charge evrything back up by just running the car for around 15min.


I can't say enough about how important the heat sheild is, i now have a second one in front of the exsisting one.

Also don't put a lead acid battery in, the D2 alternator will boil a lead acid battery.







Baz.

Will get a pic as soon as I get the camera sorted, ARB stores here in australia have them, the battery reccomended for this tray is an ED4R, a little small but will give me peace of mind.
Cheers

Bit of extra feedback. I have D2 TD5, no rear a/c. I had an 80ah AGM on the floor in the rear but had to go to an under bonnet job when I made my rear drawer system. I chose the ARB bracket as it looked a better unit and was half the price of the Pirahna. Unfortunately both the ARB and Pirahna are designed for the Exide ED4R which is only 55ah and is a liquid lead acid. I first put in a 60ah Fullriver AGM, which required bracket modification but the thing failed in under a year due, I think, to the heat from the engine. The standard ARB mounting has a heat shield as part of the holding down mechanism which I wasn't using. I have since gone to a liquid lead acid 60ah (not the Exide) which uses the ARB hold in bracket However, I have found another trap for young players. As the battery gets hot it bubbles acid out the caps which corrodes the tray and bolts badly. I didn't think it was boiling as it only seemed to happen when off road when everythings sloshing about. But maybe it is boiling or maybe I overfilled. Have only had in 6 months or so, so the jury is still out at the moment.

I think the best solution is, for those with the 5 seater, to put the battery in one of the rear paniers. There's a thread from a few weeks ago with photos which is a brilliant solution as one can get a large AGM (100ah) battery in there and it is very space efficient.

If (when?) my current battery fails, I'll go to the panier solution and use the ARB tray to hold my air compressor.

Cheers
Mal

Thanks for all the replies & ideas, is it right that a lead/acid battery should not be used?

I am also quite interested in the idea of putting a battery beside the chassis rail in the compressor mount.

should be using a calcium/calcium battery in a D2,, (to handle the higher voltages)
I cant see putting a battery in the 3rd row seat/pannier spaces,, you would have to cut the moulding to get to something solid, then seal it, then make it look presentable,

after doing that you lose precious rear storage space!!

I do like the idea of bolting one NEXT to my SLS compressor,,,,,