The bungee cords I was referring to are black rubber cords with metal s hooks, The kind truckers use to secure tarps on high side open top trailers. Quite sturdy and impervious to weather.
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How many times have you had an automotive battery leak acid? For me, the answer is zero. In my entire life, I have never seen a sealed battery leak, not in any of my parentsā cars or in any of my cars or motorcycles.
There will be fumes, the cordās under tension, elastic could deteriorate in that situation. Like I said, I wouldnāt, even if I knew the cord wouldnāt deteriorate.
You have never seen a corroded battery terminal? The corrosion is caused by acid leaking from the post, batteries that donāt leak have clean terminals.
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Well, count me as one of the apparently rare individuals that has seen an automotive battery leak acid
Several times, in fact
For me, the answer is far greater than zero
Iāve seen plenty of corroded and rotted out battery trays
Keep in mind I live in Los Angeles, so you know those battery trays didnāt rust out because of the rain
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personally, Iāve seen quite a few.
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Nope, I havenāt.
ā¦on a sealed battery? Are you sure?
On batteries that Iāve had to manually pour the electrolyte solution into, the batteries are vented, but Iāve never used one of those in a car, only sealed batteries.
None of my batteries have been sealed.
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Interesting. Seems to be some disagreement here whether a fabric strap (presumably nylon) would deteriorate a lot faster than the traditional metal tie-downs due to the battery acid. Seems thereās little doubt the metal methods corrode and deteriorate in the battery environment. I noted that those posters here that have actually used the fabric strap method didnāt mention deterioration as a significant downside. Given all the posts above, Iām leaning towards switching to a strap hold-down method. One upside: Checking the battery fluid levels would be much easier, so Iād do it more often.
Iāve never had a problem with a battery tie down, so I guess I have no problem with existing designs. Sometimes simple is all thatās needed. 
Honda has used stretchy ārubberā straps with metal loops on the end to hold batteries in their motorcycles and scooters forever. They seem to be the same material as those rubber bungees truckers use. After 30 years they do get checking and cracking and should be replaced, but 30 years on a motorcycle thatās abused often and vibrates a lot is good enough for me.
I have to say that this has never been a big issue for me.
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I used cotton string one time in a pinch to hold the battery down during an off-road session in my truck. Does that count? I needed my shoelaces to hold my shoes together, sort of an anti-shoe-theft device .
Now you mention it @wentwest , I recall my Suzuki off-road motorcycle used a fabric battery strap like that. Iām guessing this is a common method in extreme-use 4 wheel vehicles too, like race track cars, off road rock crawlers. Anything where the battery is exposed to a lot of lateral force.
Motorcycle battery hold down straps are engineered to hold the battery in the battery box to some degree when the bike is knocked over or in a mild collision, ādumpedā.
Will a bungee cord or rubber strap hold a battery on a battery tray of a car or truck in a collision or roll over? The condition of the battery after a roll over doesnāt matter but with leaking fluids you donāt want the battery terminals resting against the underside of the hood.
Good point. Anything rubber-like, that stretches to any extent, isnāt a good choice for the strapping. And the battery really needs to be held down in both directions, not just one. Strapped with a X pattern, like youād wrap a package with ribbon. You really want it held firmly in place, b/c in a roll-over if the + terminal touches bare metal it could explode, catch on fire, certainly nothing good would come from that. I canāt imagine either of the methods used in my vehicles would stand up to a roll-over. The battery would almost certainly fly away loosey-goosey.
My first car, a 1947 Pontiac, was designed for a long, narrow battery that was rather expensive. One of probably many previous owners bought a cheap square battery. He placed a board on the battery tray, took a length of what looked like clothes line wire, ran the wire through a section of heater hose around the battery, through two holes in the inside fender and then twisted the ends of the wire together. The heater hose pressed against the battery so that the wire didnāt cut into the battery case. It kept the battery in place. The battery had about half the CCA that the battery specified for the car had. Yet I was able.to start the old.Pontiac in zero degree weather.
Seems like a simple way to improvise strapping for a battery hold down. Twisting the wire with pliers provides some tightening leverage, similar to a ratchet mechanism. One problem , removing this sort of strapping in order to re-fill the battery fluid wouldnāt be as quick and easy as a ratchet tie-down strap. But still, it seems like it would be quite functional @Triedaq .
My churchās 1995 John Deere 325 riding lawnmower uses a rubber stretch cord to hold down the battery and it has a battery larger than some cars. 22 years old and no cracks.
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Iāve had several Toyotas over the years, and some of them used the same hold down method, as on Georgeās car. And Iāve never had any problem of loose batteries, after hitting potholes. And we have plenty of bad roads in Los Angeles
I agree with the others . . . some other auto manufacturers have better hold down methods, but the Toyota hold downs havenāt posed a problem for me yet