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Old 10-08-2019, 10:12 PM   #1
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 24FS
State: New Mexico
Posts: 114
THOR #12181
4 batteries MB Sprinter

Hello all,
I like to boondock and I needed more power! I looked everywhere for a way to stuff extra batteries in my 2018 Thor Chateau 24FS. (2017 MB Sprinter) I could not find any info on the internet. So I just went went for it! It looked like a relatively easy job but turned out being harder than I thought. It was well worth it! Just spent 4 days at Balloon Fiesta and my 2 solar panels kept my 4 batteries full.
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Old 10-08-2019, 10:29 PM   #2
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Model: Tiffin Wayfarer 24 BW
State: New York
Posts: 22,195
THOR #8860


So tell us: what size batteries did you use?
What extra cables did you need to buy?
Do you have any more pictures of the wiring?
(Even some diagrams would be nice!)
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Old 10-08-2019, 10:37 PM   #3
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 24FS
State: New Mexico
Posts: 114
THOR #12181
I removed the 12vdc battery It came with along with another I added. I bought 4 GC2 6vdc golf cart batteries from Costco @ $89 each. I then disabled all power sources on the motorhome. I removed the battery tray from the MH. Even though it was pretty new there was a lot of corrosion from the cheap batteries leaking I guess. I pressure washed it real good. The tray will not fit 4 batteries as made.
I then flattened out the bottom rail opposite the side with the vertical supports. (With big adjustable wrenches and huge sledge hammer) then I cut a piece of heavy duty angle iron and welded it in place to widen the battery tray so I would except the new batteries sideways instead of lengthwise. I then cut a heavy gauge plate to bolt to the entire base of the tray to reinforce it for the extra weight. I painted the whole tray with rust-olium enamel paint. I made the tray 1.5 inches wider than the batteries because I knew installing them was gonna be a bear. It was! The trick to the install was that I flipped the tray 180 degrees and redrilled the mounting holes in the sprinter frame outboard about 2 inches. If you are thinking about trying this, Measure 3x and take your time. I did it on my gravel driveway by myself and was pretty challenging.I rewired the whole area since I was not happy with the stock wire routing.
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Old 10-08-2019, 10:52 PM   #4
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 24FS
State: New Mexico
Posts: 114
THOR #12181
I made my own cables and secured the big mess of wires outside of the battery tray. Neatly of course! Batteries were GC2"s 6vdc. 10.25 long x 7 1/8 wide x 10 7/8 high. Which reminds me. I had to lower the whole tray as well by 1.5 inches to accommodate the taller batteries and to account for how they must be installed. Which is slid through hole in the step lengthwise then rotated 90 degrees. Had to slide the first one all the way forward 2nd and 3rd all the way aft. install the 4th one and then slide them all forward.
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