Truck Battery

[Bill Gunn]

How long do you keep a battery?
I have a 2002 F-150 with the original, bought in Sept '01. It seems to work fine, but I would hate to have to change it, or even get caught in a winter storm because it died.

I seem to have good luck with the Sears Diehards, what do you get?

[Rock Chuck]

You're running on borrowed time. Most batteries, even the best, won't last as long as yours has.
I've used a lot of Diehards with excellent results. Sears has a very good warranty, too.

[Bushman]

Bill, I think those of us up here in the frozen north get better battery life than the guys in the really warm areas. I've had that kind of life out of good batteries up here, but when dad had his place down in Yuma, his car would eat up a battery in a couple of years. I used to get Diehard batteries, but I think that they were better back a few years than they are now. I know that Consumers Reports down graded them from what they used to. I've never been one to save money on a battery so I get the biggest, strongest battery that will fit in the battery compartment. The difference between a good one and an average one is only $30-$40 and over the life of the battery, it is worth that to me for piece of mind. The best fix-it shops around here all stock the Interstate batteries and those are what I've been buying and getting excellent performance from. In the case of the F-150 in the driveway it is an Interstate Mega-Tron Plus MTP65 with 850 cold cranking amps. I've got two cars and the truck, so for just every day driving there is always a spare vehicle around so I'll stretch a car battery to the end, but I'll always have jumper cables in the trunk. The truck has a manual transmission so I figure that if worst came to worst, I can always get it going with a tow. Not so with an automatic though.

My F-150 is the best starting vehicle that I've ever owned. In fact I wish it would turn over a few more times than it does before it fires right off just for lubrication purposes. I'd say that if you are planning a trip into the hinterland with an 8 year old battery, having a spare or a rabbits foot along might not be such a bad idea. Swapping out the battery of your choice in your yard at 70 degrees now instead of what you might be forced into later I think might be prudent. Maybe your boat or trolling motor could use a new old battery. At any rate I think that I would get it tested at a place like Batteries Plus. They do that for free, but will want to sell you a new battery if yours is not up to snuff.

[DancesWithKnives]

I was going to spring for an Optima but a friend who does a lot of four wheeling talked me out of it (he has one in his Jeep). He thought it was overkill for my truck.

My friend pointed out that nearly all batteries are made by four large companies. He told me that the most expensive Walmart batteries had been getting good reviews among the guys in the 4WD clubs. I read a few reviews that seemed to support that.

I went to Walmart and the battery for my Chevy K2500 was made by Johnson Controls, a reputable major battery manufacturer. I bought it for about $75. One thing my friend told me is that Walmart will replace it during the initial 3 year full replacement period without even testing it. I've had Sears argue with me over whether a Die Hard was really dead or not. Turned out it was a Croak Easy but I had to go back a couple times to get a warranty replacement.

I've had the Walmart battery for only a couple months so I cannot yet report on its longevity/durability. [By the way, the reviews on various car forums advised against buying the lower end Walmart batteries.]

DWK

[Bill Gunn]

I'm taking this all in....

I just sprained my foot bad, so it's hard to sit still and type :( :(

[DancesWithKnives]

Ouch! I've found tequila helps....

DWK

[Bill Gunn]

Ouch! I've found tequila helps....

DWK

Pain killer left over from Liver transplant, I can't drink because of rejection meds.... No Hangover, but your right, it does hurt a lot :o

[Rock Chuck]

One big advantage with a Walmart is that there's a store in about every town in the US. It's easy to take one back.

[Bill Gunn]

I'm gonna see what Wally's has that compares to a good Diehard.

I'm tempted to join "Consumer Reports" on line. It seems like I'm always looking to compare stuff like this.

[Altjaeger]

Down here I feel good about 3 years and not dumped on if I get two years. I'm not a name brand buyer simply buying upper middle line batteries. I figure it like buying contractor grade building materials, the most efficient for the dollar. Warranties are not too important since they are all prorated making it pretty meaningless if a 48 month battery dies at 36-or 42 months, which is most likely if it dies early at all. Interstate seems about as widely distributed as any around here.

[Rock Chuck]

Diehard, Wally's, any place else. What you buy will be made by Interstate, Exide, or 1 of only a couple other companies. The hard part is finding out what's under the label.

[Bushman]

I asked the Batteries Plus guy why Optima batteries were so much more expensive than the other brands? He told me it was because they used new pure lead in their batteries and others use reclaimed battery lead. I'm not sure what kind of a difference that makes as most people around here don't buy those Optimas because of the cost.

Bill Consumers Reports is in every public library free for the reading including all the back issues. If I look hard around here, I might even have a battery test issue and recommendations.

[Bill Gunn]

Here's some stuff on the Optimas...

http://www.1st-optima-batteries.com/faq.asp

Here a list I found on another site, but the info is from 2008 (if that matters, I doubt they check them every year). The guy said that the Diehards were rated a lot lower than they were in previous years...

Consumer Reports top 4 picks;
1)NAPA
2)AutoZone Duralast
3)Wal-Mart Everstart
4)Interstate

There's a NAPA real close by, I'll check them out (When I can walk again :mad: )

[DancesWithKnives]

In my area, the Autozone batteries were $15-25 more than a comparable Walmart model. Since they rated very close to each other, I went with the Wally bat. As mentioned above, the Walmart GM battery is made by Johnson Controls.

DWK

[Bill Gunn]

I checked out the best NAPA against the best Walmart

NAPA...

84 month
cca 800
84 Months/24 Months Free Replacement

$104.00 + tax

Walmart...

Everstart Maxx 65N
CCA 850
3yr free and 108 month pro-rat

$75.00 + Tax & it's installed free

I'll be at Walmart tomorrow....

[LE]

Bill, you beat me on longevity. My 2003 F250 diesel still has the originals in it. Been thinking just like you. It will happen, but when & where will they die. Just turned over 100,000 miles this week with it & still have the original tires on it. Going to treat them with a balance & front end alignment tomorrow.

[Hi Ball]

Well Gents, I just got back from the WALLY-MART store Friday and exchange another one of those "EVERLAST" batteries. I had the old receipt so no problem there with getting another one FREE!!!

The battery had a 3 year FREE replacement on it and that part is a good point, not to mention the fact there is a Wally Mart in darn near every little town across the USA. Auto Zone is $20 dollars higher on their same battery, 1000 cranking amps.

However, Wally-Mart is handling a newer brand of battery from the old one I purchased over 2 years ago. The newer ones only have the 850 cranking amps as being the largest on the shelf. I have always believed in buying the largest battery possible and it has saved my rearend a couple of times in really cold weather.

I once put a 1000 cranking amp battery in one of my kids auto's for going back to school up NORTH (gets 25 below in the winter) and his car was the only one that started on the parking lot one very cold morning. It turned that 4 cly over like an electric egg beater.:D