This is to make way for the intercooler core which was living down behind the radiator bit interfered too much with airflow thru the radiator causing some overheating in traffic.
There was nowhere else I could comfortably fit the cooler core so the battery went under the flat tray like this.
I fabricated that battery bracket up from some 20 x 20 x 3.2mm mild angle i have laying around.
I inserted crush tubes thru the chassis rail and the tray rail sos the bolts did not squash the rails when tightend up.
This pix was takne from down below the level of the battery but when you look at the ute from the side the battery is not really that obvious where it sits.
Next was to run some decent cable in some insulation tubing along the chassis rail and up into the engine bay.
I got one of those funky multi connectors the ICE guys use for power distribution to splice up the battery cables and to provide for the other accessories previously ganged up messily on the old +ive battery terminal.
I soldered the ends of all the cables with a big fuckoff 100w iron I have sos the grub screws dont squash and cut thru the cable core as well.
Kinda neatens things up a bit done with this connector block.
I can move the power steering reservoir back to the next set of holes in the inner guards to make further room for the cooler core but i will need to change the way the power steer pump high pressure discharge hose exits the pump. A bit of an arse but easily dooable as I have another style of banjo bolt union which will work nicely.
I also have a Falcon AU radiator twin fan/shoud assembly coming which is exactly the same size as the navara radiator. This should cure any airflow issues when stooging around in traffic.
Next then will be the cooler core back in where the battery used to be, fit the bigger injectors and boost the thing up and do some skids!
L8r
E
