I bought the biggest, heaviest-duty truck batteries I could find, and not leaving anything to chance, I headed for my local Ferret Parts store (also known as Home Depot) to buy some thick rubber "home" door mats (my keen idea). I asked the first empoloyee I saw, where the rubber floor mats were. He asked (to my surprise) "What are you going to use them for?" I calmly responded "Im going to cut them up to insulate the batteries in my military vehicle." He said "Cool, what kind ya got?"

We then spoke for about 45 minutes... Turns out he is recently retired from the Air Force(U.S.). His last assignment was as a senior NCO over a motor pool in Alaska. He advised that the metal boxes would indeed run down the batts if not insulated from the battery and added that it was standard practice for his guys to cut-to-fit thick rubber sheets made just for the purpose of battery padding and 1,000,000 other uses, he said.

He also said that padding the batts was a good idea because, as hard as they drove their vehicles, it prevented the batteries from beating to death the batt/boxes from the inside out. A lightbulb then went off in my mind as I pictured my bare naked batteries bouncing up and both terminals contacting the metal lid simutaneously. Something I had never thought of before. He also mentioned fuel stabilizers which can be another repair story.

Needless to say, my powerful truck batteries are completely suspended in a thick cocoon of rubber. That's been almost a year now and no more problems. I may have been the last to get this info, but if not... I hope it helps, Sean.

Parts: I bought three rubber home door mats.(cost about $8 each) They were thick, about 1/2 inch or more. 50% of each mat was holes... Picture the perferated steel planking (PSP) like the sand channels except more holes. The holes made it easier to cut them. I cut the sides to the exact demensions of the batt boxes (I used heavy duty tin snips).