160: Monday 27th September 2010

I have now completed over 3000 miles of electric driving since 9th March 2010. After fixing the problem of the batteries shifting from side to side I am now getting a banging noise from the bracket when I go over big bumps in the road. I know I don't have much suspension travel with all the batteries in the trunk, but this is not the problem. When I mounted the battery rack I used riv-nuts just to hold the rack in place and to stop movement from side to side and back and forth. The problem is none of these things, but the batteries are trying to jump up when I go over a big bump and I believe this has pulled the riv-nuts out. They will still keep the rack in position, but not for jumping up on bumps. Fortunately the holes for the riv nuts are easily accessible from under the car, so I should be able to re-fix the bracket with bigger bolts and using nuts and big washers underneath. This should hold the bracket down and get rid of the banging noises. I never really had this problem with the old batteries, so I need to spend a bit of time just shoring these up some more. I may find some time this week to work on the instruments some more too.