jimp wrote:
There are very few good reasons to mount your battery
in the front of your buggy.
There are lots of reasons to mount the battery behind the
seats.
I did not have room behind my seats because of a large
gas tank, so I mounted it in front of the passenger's feet.
This a bad idea because:
1) The cables to the starter have to travel real far. This
length increases resistance and makes hard starts even
harder. Starters can burn out easier because of this.
Easily fixed, instead of using 2 ga. wire
use 00 welding cable
2) Batteries mounted up front are vulnerable to puncture
from objects kicked up by the front wheels. I have had
side, top, bottom and front punctures.
1/8" thick aluminum box would stop that
real quick also could contain any "spills"
3) Lead acid batteries can rupture or explode, which will
spray occupants with acid in a moving buggy.
A gel cell battery(optima) or a dry cell battery
(odyssey) solves this and the shock issue below.
Also note, a dry cell battery will not corrode, leak, explode or
is susceptible to shock
4) Front mounted batteries get shocked and banged around
more than rear-mounted.
5) Having more weight in the front is undesirable.
Having an extra 30 lb up front is a good thing
for any buggy with good tires and some HP when dealing with
real steep hills
Everything we do with these things seems to be a compromise. One thing we should not compromise on is safety