Car/SUV battery, what to buy . . what to avoid?

[Dawico]

Am I the only one who proactively replaces batteries at the 4 year mark?

I’d rather replace it when convenient for me.
Because when they fail on their own, it’s at the worst possible time.


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You're probably alone.

I own jumper cables.

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[pronstar]

You're probably alone.

I own jumper cables.

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…which don’t work when you’re alone like me


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[TheDan]

Am I the only one who proactively replaces batteries at the 4 year mark?

That's not a bad idea, but I kinda like seeing how much I can get out of them. Back when my e21 was my daily, I drove it for about a year where if the battery sat for a few hours it wouldn't start the car. Not an issue as my driveway was sloped and there was a nice sloped spot at work, too

…which don’t work when you’re alone like me

I've got a few of these and they are awesome. Much more compact than the older style jump packs. If you're heading out in the middle of nowhere it's easy to take one with you.

https://amzn.to/3CXqA3H

 

[Younggun]

I’ve got a nearly identical little booster. It want jump the F-550 from a completely dead battery, but it’ll do the job if it’s just too weak to hold voltage for the computers.

Definitely worth having in every vehicle being so small and easy to find room for.


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[HKaltwasser]

We run Optima Red Tops in both the FJ and the Armada that pulls our travel trailer. I used to have constant problems with my truck dying(mostly due to my fault) because I leave my back window open that keeps the lights on or running my subwoofer a little too long.

My wife's truck struggled a little when running the camper, it just pulled too must and if it's hot or cold, it made even more of a difference.

Since we both bought the Red Tops, no problems.

 

[pronstar]

That's not a bad idea, but I kinda like seeing how much I can get out of them. Back when my e21 was my daily, I drove it for about a year where if the battery sat for a few hours it wouldn't start the car. Not an issue as my driveway was sloped and there was a nice sloped spot at work, too


I've got a few of these and they are awesome. Much more compact than the older style jump packs. If you're heading out in the middle of nowhere it's easy to take one with you.

https://amzn.to/3CXqA3H

View attachment 279543

I’m a bit hesitant of jump packs, lots of fires have been reported and many have been recalled due to fire risk.


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[oskal]

We run Optima Red Tops in both the FJ and the Armada that pulls our travel trailer

Second the rec on the optima red tops. These are the only ones that my truck could not kill through multiple new england winters.

 

[TheDan]

I’ve got a nearly identical little booster. It want jump the F-550 from a completely dead battery

They make a 4000A one, too. Of course it's a lot more expensive than the smaller ones.

https://amzn.to/3urhWYm

 

[TheDan]

I’m a bit hesitant of jump packs, lots of fires have been reported and many have been recalled due to fire risk.

Yeah between the oily rags, gas cans, reloading powder, and lithium batteries, my whole life is a fire hazard.

 

[Axxe55]

That's not a bad idea, but I kinda like seeing how much I can get out of them. Back when my e21 was my daily, I drove it for about a year where if the battery sat for a few hours it wouldn't start the car. Not an issue as my driveway was sloped and there was a nice sloped spot at work, too


I've got a few of these and they are awesome. Much more compact than the older style jump packs. If you're heading out in the middle of nowhere it's easy to take one with you.

https://amzn.to/3CXqA3H

View attachment 279543

I’ve got a nearly identical little booster. It want jump the F-550 from a completely dead battery, but it’ll do the job if it’s just too weak to hold voltage for the computers.

Definitely worth having in every vehicle being so small and easy to find room for.


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We have one simply to be able to recharge the phones from the USB port in the event of a power outage Plus it has a really bright LED light on the end of it.

 

[Sasquatch]

I’m a bit hesitant of jump packs, lots of fires have been reported and many have been recalled due to fire risk.


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Amazon product ASIN B000JFJLP6
Get one of these. This is what we used with my roadside assistance business. Two of these per truck, plus cables for the random diesel. We'd get 20-40 jumps per box before they had to be recharged, depending on how dead the customer's battery was. We would get a year to year and a half per box before they had to be rebuilt, and that was running an average of ten jump starts per day per driver.

 

[pronstar]

Amazon product ASIN B000JFJLP6
Get one of these. This is what we used with my roadside assistance business. Two of these per truck, plus cables for the random diesel. We'd get 20-40 jumps per box before they had to be recharged, depending on how dead the customer's battery was. We would get a year to year and a half per box before they had to be rebuilt, and that was running an average of ten jump starts per day per driver.

Nice, I didn’t know they still made the old-school lead acid models


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[Tex929rr]

I’m a bit hesitant of jump packs, lots of fires have been reported and many have been recalled due to fire risk.


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I have a half dozen of them. None have ever had a problem. I’ve also lithium batteries in all of my motorcycles for over 5 years with no problems. They are also deep discharge so a total discharge doesn’t shorten their life. Some companies make them for cars now but they are crazy expensive.

 

[AR1911]

Sasquatch has it covered. I've also sold batteries most of my adult life.

A few years ago the batteries failed in two of my cars the same week. They happened to take the exact same battery For the Mustang I wanted to keep it OE so I went to the Ford dealer.
Turned out they had just restructured their Motorcraft battery program:

- They only sell the best quality - no more good-better-best
- All are warranted 120 months - 10 years. First 3 years no-charge.
- All are straight pro-rated replacement. If a new battery is $150, you can divided that by 120 to get the cost of replacement per month.

That's the most straight-forward warranty program I've ever seen. The price was about the same as the aftermarket Deka at wholesale price. Specs were a little better on the Motorcraft.

 

[pronstar]

Sasquatch has it covered. I've also sold batteries most of my adult life.

A few years ago the batteries failed in two of my cars the same week. They happened to take the exact same battery For the Mustang I wanted to keep it OE so I went to the Ford dealer.
Turned out they had just restructured their Motorcraft battery program:

- They only sell the best quality - no more good-better-best
- All are warranted 120 months - 10 years. First 3 years no-charge.
- All are straight pro-rated replacement. If a new battery is $150, you can divided that by 120 to get the cost of replacement per month.

That's the most straight-forward warranty program I've ever seen. The price was about the same as the aftermarket Deka at wholesale price. Specs were a little better on the Motorcraft.

Does the battery have to be in a Ford to be eligible for the warranty?


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[AR1911]

Does the battery have to be in a Ford to be eligible for the warranty?


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I don't know. All my vehicles are Fords. But I suspect it doesn't matter.

 

[Grumps21]

We have one simply to be able to recharge the phones from the USB port in the event of a power outage Plus it has a really bright LED light on the end of it.

Got one of those too. I bought to keep it in my bike for trips but when not in use it pulls duty as a portable cell phone charger. It’s about the size of a cell phone so wife keeps in her purse when we travel.

 

[HKSig]

I use to stick Optimas in everything. Still have a red top in my Frontier going strong since 2016. Not sure if they are still as good as they use to be, but for years everyone swore by them.

I had two of them; they died instantly, no notice (not even slow cranking). The place I bought them wanted to charge me more to test them than I'd get back from the bit of remaining warranty.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

As far as I know, the "slow cranking" of a dying battery has been history for years.
New batteries just work, until they don't.

 

[HKSig]

I used to sell batteries - you have to look at the manufacturer, more so than the brand label.

Do you have any experience with World SourceOne batteries?