Wondering if anyone has successfully installed this size battery in a 2020 machine? I know a few guys have had success with 2018 and maybe 2019 models. I took the battery cover off tonight and noticed a molded black piece of the floor that creates a “seat” for the factory battery. I didn’t see this piece on the older models. Looks like the width of the battery might not work without cutting this out (which I’m guessing is a possibility worst case scenario). Anyway, hopefully someone has some insight. Thanks in advance for your help!
I just swamped the battery in my 2019 HD8 XT Cab. Mine had a round piece a bit different then yours. The odyssey would not fit seated to the inside of it but was enough room to sit on top and it is wedged in really well with the battery support it is not moving lo. I attached two images with the highlighted piece. That round piece seemed to move but I did not investigate if it could be removed.
Thanks for the pictures! Looks like different model years and also 4 door and 2 door defenders have different configurations for the battery pocket.
This project took a little bit of time to get it to fit. Again, I think this is due to my machine being a max and from what I can tell the depth of the battery pocket is smaller than the non-max defenders. I’m curious to hear if any other max owners have gone through this process with the pc1200 battery.
I started by using the dremel to remove the molded black pieces on the driver and passenger side of the battery. Got them sanded flat to the floor. Good to go there. Did a test fit with the battery and it fit as far as right to left, but did not fit front to back. The battery just barely slid down into the lowered battery compartment past the raised floor. Keep in mind, this is with all the wires now relocated on top of the battery so I wasn’t getting any interference there. This was good, however I found out the plastic battery cover wouldn’t fit because the battery was too far “forward”. Using the factory vertical battery hold down was out of the question at this point because the holes that the 2 bolts go in we’re covered by a good inch or so. I realized the top rear of the battery (the red cap piece) was hitting the black plastic firewall. I traced out the top of the battery on the firewall and back to the dremel. I removed about 8” of width and 1” of height. This plastic has a slant to it so I only had to remove the top part. This was handy because it created a new pocket for the battery to slide into. The will keep it from moving left to right. Be careful with this step because the gas tank is behind the plastic getting removed. Battery finally slid in perfect and cleared the battery cover. I used some of the 1/2” insulation I used for sound deadening on the firewall and put that on the floor. Added another piece on top of the battery so wires aren’t rubbing on top. Cut a couple of groves on the floor to fish a lashing strap over the top of the battery to secure it in place. Done! Took a few hours to get this all buttoned up. Fingers crossed I get a good life span out of this. Some say this is a 8-10 year battery. The Arizona heat kills batteries, so hopefully this was a worth while modification. Hope this helps someone looking to add this battery on a max unit.
