MS6 battery tray size issue
 

I received my MS6 battery tray. Let me say it is a nice looking, well made piece. But, there is a problem. The official size for 51R is 5 1/16" by 9 3/8". The dimensions that the tray will support is basically 5" by 9 1/2". Although, actually, it is about 1/32" less than 5". Extremely close to 5", but, I can see on the tape measure that it is just a touch less than 5".

Given that the official dimensions are 5 1/16" by 9 3/8", one would expect the tray to allow a bit of clearance on the official spec size. So, what I would expect is it to be something like 5 3/16" by 9 1/2". So, the tray length is good, but, the width is less than I would expect for a 51R battery tray.

At any rate, what I really wanted to use was the XS Power D5100. It is advertised as a Group 51 sized battery, although it cheats a bit, and is a touch wider than the spec. It is 5.43".

I just happened to learn about HTP's battery tray the last day of the introductory price and it was after hours. So, I realized that my battery choice was a bit oversized and I realized there was some chance it might not fit. But, I figured that chances are, the tray would have been designed with a bit of clearance over the spec and decided to just go ahead and go for it.

So, while the tray is very nice looking, and, I understand my choice of battery is slightly oversized from the spec, It really seems to me that the tray should NOT be slightly undersized from spec. As I said, it looks to me to be about 3/32" under spec.

It seems to me that the tray, to be to spec and allow clearance, it should be 5 3/16" wide. What I would need is about 5 5/8" wide. Is there any possibility that HTP could make me a custom piece? I would be willing to pay some reasonable extra.

What I currently have is a Stinger battery, that is about 6 3/8" wide. I have a 3" intake that barely fits, but it fits. My goal was to try to be able to fit a 3.5" inlet pipe. it would still be very tight, but, the battery I picked out is about 1" slimmer, and the intake I want is 1/2" wider than I have. So, I should actually wind up with a net spare additional room of about 1/2".

What I had hoped was that maybe HTP would build me a custom 3.5" version of their 3" TIP. (Maybe become a regular product for them? And their 3.5" MAF, which will hopefully be out soon. It would be pretty cool to have all that fitted with HTP products, the inlet, MAF and battery tray. But, to make that happen, I need HTP to make these products, you know? LOL.

By the way, I have a WAY WAY WAY not stock sound system. I have three amps, two Alpine PDX amps and a JL Audio sub amp. Those are all high-efficiency amplifiers, and I also have a 5 farad cap, so, I don't have to have the absolute biggest battery. But, I still want a reasonably substantial one. The XS Power battery I picked out looks like the best power for the size battery. Well, unless you go lithium. I've seen a couple of brands selling Lithium batteries now. Holy crap! Specs on them look fantastic, but holy crap they are expensive! I saw some Braille lithium batteries running close to $2,000!

So, assuming no lithium, I'd really most like the XS Power unit. But, I need a tray to fit it. Thanks for any help.

Please give me a call on Monday and we'll get you situated with a tray that will work with what your trying to accomplish. We can get you set up with one of our 3.5" intakes also.

Thanks
Matt
636-282-4007 8-5:30 CST

Cool!

I just talked to Matt. He actually called the vendor of the battery to get the exact specs! From the picture, it looks perfectly square, but, apparently, it does taper a bit. He says that the tray as it is works with most 51R batteries because most batteries generally taper some. So does the one I intend to get, but, it is still a touch bigger than will fit. So, Matt said that what he will do is make one slightly custom for my application!

He did have some concern that a 3.5" intake wouldn't fit if the battery I'm getting is too big. But, after getting the exact measurements of the battery from the vendor, he seemed to feel better about it working. But, he wants me to send pictures of what I'm running now so that he can be sure.

Bottom line is, it looks like I will probably be able to get what I want, the battery I wanted, a tray from Matt, and a 3.5" intake from Matt. I'll keep everybody posted!

Just to clarify things a bit. The battery that we are talking is a XS Power d5100(r). This battery is not a standard group 51r. It is a specialty battery that was based on the 51r but is a little honey boo boo plus sized for additional car audio amps. If anyone is wanting something a little outside the norm, just give us a call. We will modify or fab something new for whatever your needs are.

Matt

I think I said that...

Thanks! This will be great to have your tray and 3.5" intake!

This is also a battery i was looking at pairing with your tray. Its not for car audio purposes although i might do some small audio mods down the road, but simply because it seems to be the highest output battery in that size.

Dont we need the D5100 not the R?

but i have no issues going with a yellowtop either

Given the battery is only about 5 inches wide, I think it won't matter too much if you get the R or not. You would put in either where the negative is towards the firewall. Its just that the post would be upper left or upper right and only a few inches different either way.

Yellowtop has a 1 year warranty. The XS Power has 4 year. Or was it 3? Anyway, a lot longer. I've had good luck with Optimas in the past, but, I really want the XS Power this time. And, I'm confident Matt with get me fixed up and I'm sure he'll get you the same.

Yea I will hopefully be able to pull the trigger on this soon. Did you look into kinetic idk if they make a g51 battery or not

Sent from galaxy Nexus vis CM10

Kinetic and Shuriken make G51 batteries. I hear they are really the same thing, just rebadged, but I don't know that for a fact. But, if I recall, they were also a touch over the G51 size.

Sorry for the delay on updating this thread. I had a death in the family, and then some business travels, so I put this on hold a bit.

But, I have been in contact with Matt. He is having a custom tray made for me that will hold my XS Power battery. Now, sure, I could've gone cheap and just hacked my stock tray to fit it. But I'm sure I'll like Matt's tray.

I also ordered a 3.5" intake from him. I see that there is a 4" version coming. But, I think that will be overkill, at least for most applications. And, I don't think it will fit with the battery I have anyway. So, 3.5" it is!

Hope to have it soon.

EDIT: I forget how much he charged me for the difference in price for a special version of the tray. Like $10 or $20, something like that.

A full 3.5 intake or just a tip?

Sent from galaxy Nexus vis CM10

Full 3.5 Intake

-Katie

why is this not on your site i want :(

I was told the reason it isn't on their site is that it is still considered pre-production as there are lots of variations from one big turbo install to another. I will post pics when I get mine.

I want for k04

Sent from galaxy Nexus vis CM10

You want a 3.5" intake for a K04? Isn't that rather overkill? I've just been using a 3" on my 3071. While I think I could use a 3.5", its not like I was terribly undersized.

3.5" might be a bit of overkill but there is tons of threads on here showing that 3" or greater intake lets you get the most out of the K04.

3" intake
DP
Internals
Tune

that will get the most you can get out of a k04. I plan on going BT at some point in time so i wont have to buy another intake when i do if i get a big one now ;)

Okay, fair enough. I'll post pics when I get it.

Short update. Katie said their powdercoater was closed Wed-Fri last week so my parts are a couple of days late. No biggie.

I got the part something like Dec 1. But, I have been just too busy to mess with it. When my wife worked weekends I had so much more time! LOL....

So, I finally got around to installing it. And it is great. He made it a lot different than the original part. The battery tie-down is vertical instead of the more common horizontal used on the original part. And since the space constraints are in the horizontal dimension, that is a big improvement. There fairly ample space in the vertical direction.

I don't have pictures yet as my car is still pulled apart. I've got a few projects I'm working on. I'll post pictures eventually. But, bottom line is, if you want to use a battery like mine, slightly oversized compared to the Group 51 spec, then Matt can fix you up.

Great to know!

Matt, I'm running an Odyssey 34r-1500. It's listed at 10.85 x 6.76. If I get you the exact measurements of the bottom, can you custom make one for me as well?

Here's a picture as it sits now. I got a lot of work still to do. So, this is just the battery tray installed. I cut a battery mat to fit. Probably not necessary, never used one before. But, I figured it wouldn't hurt. My last battery leaked some. Also, since the aluminum tray will undoubtedly get hot, the mat should provide a bit of thermal insulation. And maybe even a bit of vibration insulation. Prolly not enough to make any difference, but I guess it can't hurt.

http://i344.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps3dcc2eb6.jpg