I consider myself a bit of a professional (I did grow up in a shop that I
later owned and operated).  Having said that, my Chrysler Sebring
convertible that I bought on a bit of a whim had me totally confused when I
first looked for the battery.  It too, has to be accessed via the wheelwell
opening.  My niece once had some type of Chevy that you had to remove the
right wheel & panel to get to the oil filter.

Route 66 Rider!
Ramon Hill
Live Long and Be Free

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Daniel O Stevens
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2007 8:50 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Aux battery access woes

Imagine having to remove your front wheel.

There's a model Chevy car that has the battery in the DS front wheel well.

Battery placement isn't a major worry for auto mfgs. It's generally an item
that gets serviced once every 4-7years for factory batteries.  Yes I've had
more then 1 factory battery last more then 5 years Though not in a camper
application yet.

But for ease of access/use that's why I plan on adding a fork truck
connector for my jumper cables.
They stock a mid sized one at my local Napa for $40~

Dan in NY
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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From:    Ellen in Oregon <elleninoregon@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Aux battery access woes

Imagine, having to take your seat or steering wheel off just to get to the
battery!  After I sent my first message to the list, I went back out and
applied a couple of screwdrivers, prying this way and that....voila, a
corner popped up.  I literally ripped the cover out of there (and I don't
plan on putting it back either) the starting battery has plastic shields
that fit over the terminals; any reason why I can use these on the aux
battery too?  Oh, the good news is, the aux battery is only a little over a
year old, and the voltage is acceptable (14 volts or so).

Ellen