I did this over a month ago but i have not shared the results yet so i thought i would. Now to start i took this to the dealer and they told me that two batteries would not fit and that i would have to use smaller batteries in order to make it work. I swear those guys have no "out of the box" ingenuity.
Well two full size batteries do fit, they actually fit perfectly.
First i removed the one battery.
Then bolted down a piece of plyboard and screwed it through the metal support strips below.
Then i set the two batteries on the plyboard and used a pencil to mark their locations.
Then i took scraps of wood i had and glued and screwed them down on the pencil lines i had drawn. The two batteries fit perfect in the basic block box i made.
Then i took the two batteries out and used some spare straps i had and screwed them in place under where the battery would sit on them.
Then put the batteries back in place and strapped them in.
But not quite perfect, since i did not use flat heads for the staps, and did not inset the screws the batteries wobbled just a bit, so i used some used popcicle sticks as levelers and glued them in the corner to balance the batteries.
Then cut each end of the two covers off so they would fit together and used pull ties to pull them tight.
Then just added a bungie over the top of the covers.
Those batteries are not going anywhere unless i roll the trailer. Knock on wood...
Two things i would have done if i had to do it over. First was to inset the strap screws or use flat heads. Second was to prepaint the board.
Im not sure if water gets up there or not while going down a wet road but just in case i plan to paint the bottom of the board.
But i am worried that since i will be going to humid country for a month or so that the dry board could soak up some moisture and rot on me before i can get back to dry air country. I dont know how quickly that would happen, but i dont want the humidity to weaken that board.
Turned out just fine in my book for the first try....
Now my meter shows im getting 13.5 volts.