Best batteries for our trucks

[dripley]

I agree on the oul trick. Since doing the ground mod, my batteries have stayed dry as a bone with no sign of any corrosion. Just a little rust on one the bolt heads. Strange.

[2000Ram2500]

I should mention something that just came to mind that i learned a few months ago. Chrysler has spent tons of time and money figuring out how to perfectly charge a battery. Ie for our trucks: battery temp sensor, pcm voltage regulator. Ie for new stuff: battery temp sensor, pcm voltage regulator, battery voltage sensor, etc.

 

Basically they figured out that temperature affects how a battery maintains a charge and have stopped at nothing to find the perfect way to charge a battery and in the process have found other factors involved as well. I dont think it was too "powerful" on our trucks but in the last few years the cars are killing batteries because a bad sensor rather than going into a "safe mode" so to speak to protect the integrity of the battery

[JAG1]

10 hours ago, dripley said:

I agree on the oul trick. Since doing the ground mod, my batteries have stayed dry as a bone with no sign of any corrosion. Just a little rust on one the bolt heads. Strange.

Run some oil down the battery hold down bolts also because the hook at the bottom gets eaten away if you don't. This happened before W-T mods.

[dripley]

1 minute ago, JAG1 said:

Run some oil down the battery hold down bolts also because the hook at the bottom gets eaten away if you don't. This happened before W-T mods.

Funny thing is i have noyhing on terminals since doing the ground mod. Just keeping an eye on it for now to see how long this lasts. 

 

My bolts dint have hooks, tney have the metal clips with threaded holes in them. They have taken a beating over the years but still work. I have 4 brand new ones wainting install one day.

[JAG1]

Oops, your right mine has the metal clips. The new bolt has a hook. Shesh, talk about ol'timers disease.

[dripley]

2 minutes ago, JAG1 said:

Oops, your right mine has the metal clips. The new bolt has a hook. Shesh, talk about ol'timers disease.

My new ones came with new threaded clips to. Kind of if figured they would go before the bolts would.

[Sycostang67]

I have gotten the most use out of Les Schwab batteries.  I was replacing the terminals on my mother in laws excursion when I noticed her battery was 10 years old.  The one I had in my Mustang lasted for 8 before it refused to take a charge.  It currently has a super start(O'reillys) in it right now going on 5 years, with 2 of those years spent on my trailer running a winch while the car was apart getting resealed and building the transmission.  I tossed a maintainer on it for a few weeks and it's been working great since I put it back in spring of last year.  

 

Many years ago I had a 1980 Ramcharger with a generic gell cell type battery, optima knock off I guess.  I was climbing a hill when the battery retaining bungee cord let go and the battery fell on the exhaust manifold.  It melted through until the terminal touched and the truck died.  After my buddy put rocks behind my tires, I put the battery back in the tray and tied the bungee back together and the truck fired right up.  I was pretty impressed, I figure I would have had an acid bath in there with a regular battery and possibly a no-start situation.  That battery lasted another year, the exposed area eventually corroded and would still start the truck if it started right away.  It had no reserve capacity and would only give me 2-3 tries to start it.  I miss that Ramcharger, it was the second truck I owned that shot fire from the tail pipe.   

[notlimah]

On 10/22/2018 at 7:45 PM, dripley said:

My bolts dint have hooks, tney have the metal clips with threaded holes in them. They have taken a beating over the years but still work. I have 4 brand new ones wainting install one day.

 

Where'd those come from?

 

I’d honestly say buy from wherever gives you the best/easiest warranty. Truck just sat for a few months and I came back to dead interstate batteries (which were less then a year old) and all I did was run them back to Costco and get news ones, no questions asked.

[NIsaacs]

3 hours ago, notlimah said:

 

Where'd those come from?

 

 

These should work:

https://www.napaonline.com/en/search?text=battery&q=N%3D5002000%2B5002200%2B200220100%2B10200100%2B402203300%2B599999900%2B1000021900%26Nty%3D1%26Ntt%3Dbattery%26Ntk%3DKeyword&isApplication=true&indices=API

[dripley]

5 hours ago, notlimah said:

 

Where'd those come from?

 

I got mine at Rock auto for half the  NAPA price.

[Shainer]

On 10/22/2018 at 5:54 PM, 2000Ram2500 said:

I should mention something that just came to mind that i learned a few months ago. Chrysler has spent tons of time and money figuring out how to perfectly charge a battery. Ie for our trucks: battery temp sensor, pcm voltage regulator. Ie for new stuff: battery temp sensor, pcm voltage regulator, battery voltage sensor, etc.

 

Basically they figured out that temperature affects how a battery maintains a charge and have stopped at nothing to find the perfect way to charge a battery and in the process have found other factors involved as well. I dont think it was too "powerful" on our trucks but in the last few years the cars are killing batteries because a bad sensor rather than going into a "safe mode" so to speak to protect the integrity of the battery

Might be  a little generous crediting Chrysler.  Charge/discharge rates & float levels for a given battery type have been extremely well tested and documented for longer than I've been on this planet.  The only thing this charging system accommodates is adjusting float voltage  based on a single battery temp.  Even that has been around a long time.  The charge rate is linear, and far from ideal to protect the batteries or alternator.  Jump start one of these dead rides and the PWM duty cycle goes to 100% and will remain there until voltage gets close to desired float level for the temperature.  Tossing 120 amps (or 60 amps per battery) is off the charge rate map.  The aggressive charge rate degrades battery longevity.  The alternator takes a beating as well.  Depending on the discharge state an appropriate recharge rate could take more than eight hours.  That doesn't work well in a vehicle so the decision is to charge aggressively.  Most replacement alternators warn about operating with a discharged battery.  Alternator outputs have been increasing while maintaining the same footprint.  They can't remove the thermal energy for sustained full load operation.  In my opinion many of the newest vehicles do a better job protecting against a rogue drain after shutdown with some automatic disconnects.  I don't know how many guys ruined batteries and alternators in these rides because of the drivers side seatbelt...  In summary the PCM implementation was more likely cost driven as it combines multiple functions into a single box.  It is not revolutionary, but rather evolutionary as systems moved to computer controls and their analog brethren left behind.

[Mopar1973Man]

Actually the voltage regulator really has changed a lot since 1960's. The old school steel can had the temperature compensation. Just it used the under hood temperature as a battery control. Hence why most where mount in such away to feel the radiator temp from the fan or wind pushing through. The only thing that improved was the single steel can was moved into the PCM and then added a temp sensor at the battery. This in absolutely no different that my inverter here at home with a single battery temp sensor. But I've got 8 batteries and 1,000 pounds in those 8 batteries. Just one sensor for one battery out of 7 batteries. Still the same old 2 wire field same alternators just bigger current same 12V operation. Even the wire colors are the same from the 70's. Blue for the + side and green for the variable ground. Some of the vans had green for the ground side but red for the hot side of the alternator.

[Mopar1973Man]

Thing is there is only a hand full of battery manufactures. Brand name doesn't mean much. Being there is only 3 manufactures for batteries. It just matters for CCA. 750 Amp batteries where the stock size. Anything bigger is a bonus. Like my Walmart Batteries are now 8 years old and same manufacture as the factory batteries but instead of 750 CCA its now 810 CCA. Main cableshave less than 4mV drop. 

[gerlbaum]

I'll add I bought group 31s from a auto parts store and they $119 ea. I'm on year 4 with them. It was over 110 degrees for 57 days this summer in phoenix. Hottest summer in history and it beat the old record by 20+ days. My batteries are fine. Normally, you see lots of dead batteries in the summer. I can't tell you how many Tesla's I saw dead on the side of the road this summer or in limp mode going 20mph because the heat destroyed the range of those vehicles (lots of AC and they do have a cooling system to keep the batteries happy).

[Mopar1973Man]

Even my 8 year old WalMart batteries went to Mohave Valley and spent nearly 3.5 weeks there. No issues with hot summer heat or starting. Just the factory sized batteries no need for buy huge over size industrial batteries. Thes have gone from freezing cold at -40*F in New Meadows winters all the way to the frying pan of Arizonia. Just simple 810 CCA. Group 27. Walmart... Only thing I do when needed is equalize charge the batteries. 

[Doubletrouble]

@Mopar1973Man, is there a write up by chance on equalize charging and desulfurizatio( may have the term wrong) of batteries? Mine were in the truck when I bought it (date stickers shows 11/14) , recently topped off the cells. No dry plates showing but water level just covered them. Recharged for an hour each at 6a then hooked them back up. Both are 1000cca and tested good afterwards.

[gerlbaum]

I think the more relevant take away isn't an argument about battery size, but battery cost. Cheap batteries seem to work fine.

[That Guy]

22 hours ago, Doubletrouble said:

@Mopar1973Man, is there a write up by chance on equalize charging and desulfurizatio( may have the term wrong) of batteries? Mine were in the truck when I bought it (date stickers shows 11/14) , recently topped off the cells. No dry plates showing but water level just covered them. Recharged for an hour each at 6a then hooked them back up. Both are 1000cca and tested good afterwards.

 

Sulfation, cycles, temperature, and buckling kill lead acid batteries. The coating on the plates can flake off with the expansion and contraction and form a conductive brown mud in the bottom and will eventually cause self discharge. Buckling can be caused my too much sulfate buildup or freezing and will actually break the grids. Obviously, the sulfate just coats things and reduces capacity because it doesn't conduct.

 

The process of desulfating a battery is to hit it with high voltage in short spikes. Might hit it at 50v+ for 10-20 microseconds 2000 times a second for several hours. Maybe even a rest period. They are more effective when caught early.  

 

As an aside, voltage, amps, and resistance are all tied together and lead acid is self regulating. Most chargers are voltage regulated rather than the amperage regulation they would suggest. I have a charger from the railroad that can amperage regulate and can fry a battery in short order if not careful. 

 

Picked this up at the local Napa last 4th of July. Had a sell and it was around $140 (normally like $200+). It has a desulfate mode which seems to work well, which it is in currently and hooked to a misbehaving tractor battery. It will automatically go into the mode when it detects sulfate buildup. I'm not certain on how it does it, I've always checked the resistance of the battery. 

[Mopar1973Man]

This is why I do not suggest AGM or sealed batteries. 

 

There is no way of doing this equalize charge on any AGM or sealed battery. Even my solar system does this same task with raising the battery voltage above operational voltage and continues to run till the set time expires. Basically you looking to increase a 12 volt battery to at least 15.5 volts and hold it till the charge amperage drops to near zero. This will signal the completion of the equalize charge. Oh yeah 8 years on my current batteries still ticking WalMart... 

 

I also cheat and use the solar system to do my equalize charging. I hook up battery cables to two 6 volt batteries and then hook up to the 12 volt battery. Then set the solar system for equalize and let her rip... Battery goes along for the same ride. 

 

After all that I typically check the electrolyte before make sure there is enough electrolyte to start the process and then again checking afterwards. Do not top off cells full before the charging typically the electrolyte will rise or expand during the charge process. A full, weak cell could over run be aware.

 

Again...

 

WARNING: Do Not Equalize any AGM or sealed batteries! EXPLOSION will occur! It will cause battery damage by venting too much moisture from the electrolyte.

 

Edited September 11, 2020 by Mopar1973Man

[LorenS]

Picked up two DEKA Gold, Group 65 batteries today.  After an evening or two on the battery maintainer and desulfator, they will be installed.  Hopefully in +7 years I'll have a very good update to give!  They are sealed, as that's what was on the shelf.  I didn't want to wait for Group 27 serviceable units.  The abused Wal-Mart Everstart MAXX batteries were sluggish this morning, and it's only 32F.  That simply won't due when I frequent the Iowa/Minnesota border with regularity!