Suspension fun, aka How much do those batteries weigh?

If you studied these UB121100 batteries at all, you'd learn they're about 70lbs each.  Since there are 26 of them, that's a total of about 1800lbs.  Add cables, the frames that Dad built, you're talking 2000lbs added.

You're probably thinking, what in the heck!?!?!  That's just an S10 body - it can't handle that!

... or can it...

Consider:
-  As it was a "factory" electric vehicle, the GVW was already more than the 4200lbs than a short-bed S10 was back in the mid '90's.  The side of the door shows it in fact - 5400lbs.  So we're good legal-wise.
-  Because they knew there would be weight, they put an extra leaf in the leaf spring - Very nice of them, but not nearly enough to deal with an extra ton of weight.

So what did we do?

1. First, we use very, very strongest, ultra-duty coil over shocks we could find that would fit an S10.  Dad, if you remember the exact name, put it in the comment below.  Here's a picture though:

Notice it connects directly to where it would normally connect, nothing special here.

2. Next, he installed a helper spring.  It was quite noticeable, but he painted it along with all the regular leaf springs black, so you can't see it too well.  Here is a better angle:

The helper spring is the one at the bottom of the spring that is bent.  It connects to the rear part of the spring.  This is an after-market product you can buy just about anywhere, here's an example.

3. Finally, he built his own spring shackle, which you can also see in the picture above - it connects the frame to the back of the leaf springs.  The truck had one in there already, but it was short and didn't give enough clearance over the rear axle & differential.  So Dad made an extra heavy duty one out of 3/8" steel and 1/2" steel, about a foot long.  one thing to note - if you make your own spring shackle, you have to make it extremely sturdy, including a plate back there to prevent them from twisting.

There you go!  Do these three things and you too could have an extra ton of batteries, yet still have plenty of suspension in back.  Here's how it looks from afar

Lastly, if you're reading this thinking about a conversion, staying within the GVW is actually still doable considering you will lose lose the engine, the gas tank, and several other things, but adding these batteries plus a motor and controller et al.  Maybe an extra 1,200 or 1,500 over stock.  I was looking at this for the '91, and I think we still could have stayed just under the GVW, even with two people in the car.