New Battery

[Doofy]

Ha, ha - Doofy. I remember that one winter we spent in Glennallen. Around Halloween they started packing up and heading south. Quit a few more of the "California Younguns" out in the bush than we ever thought.

I often wondered if they ever made it all the way home. 1965 - the AlCan was a tough route in those days. Especially around Halloween or later.

Hahahaha! Yes, that first -30 would hit around Halloween and about a 25% of the newly hired Teachers would resign and head south! I still Love it here though!

 

[Doofy]

I use group 31 and 4D batteries at the shop.

The 4D's suck. They weigh about 80lbs. The last time I had to replace 1. I had to lug it 700ft through mud, and then down a hill to the equipment

Then haul the bad one back to the truck.

I got my cardio in that day

I doubt if I could even lift an 80 pound battery these days much less carry it any distance.

 

[Doofy]

I doubt if I could even lift an 80 pound battery these days much less carry it any distance.

We have a Company burying fiber optic cable here. This Spring they dropped off all their heavy equipment for the project a 1/4 mile up the road at a pull out. We still had 4 feet of snow on the ground and the ground was still frozen. All the Equipment was parked under the power lines down a steep embankment. Someone stole every battery and every drop of fuel from all 4 pieces of equipment.

 

[KennyG]

I had to replace the AGM battery on my 2020 F150 today. It had a motorcraft agm factory battery that crapped out at 4 years old. They wanted $285 for new one. Thae agm is supposed to be this great long lasting battery…..ya right.

But, i thought i best stick with an agm so i got one from Autozone. Its a duralast battery made by east penn (deka) supposedly. But only has 36 month warranty. $245.00 and 36 months. Rediculous.

But the last interstate i got for my tractor barely made it past 12 months. Was at least replaced under warranty. Im staying away from interstate now.

I ran my midtronics tester on the old battery, 350 CCA on a 760 cca battery. I tested the new 770 cca battery. 1010 CCA. Amazing.

And another reason i hate new fancy vehicles. Who knew that you have to hook the truck up to Forscan to tell the computer you replaced the battery……otherwise it may not know that it was replaced and still shut down things to conserve battery life. Or the fact that now my tire pressure sensors arnt working…..man, i really miss my 1975 F350

We all wish there was some consistency in batteries. The AGM in my 2017 F-150 is original and going strong. I may replace it next year at 8 years old just on principle. You can get cheaper non-AGM batteries that will fit the F-150 but if the truck has start/stop technology, they will have zero warranty.

 

[ultrarunner]

Ha, ha - Doofy. I remember that one winter we spent in Glennallen. Around Halloween they started packing up and heading south. Quit a few more of the "California Younguns" out in the bush than we ever thought.

I often wondered if they ever made it all the way home. 1965 - the AlCan was a tough route in those days. Especially around Halloween or later.

Back in the 60's my friend bought a brand new Chevrolet sedan and took his family on the AlCan.

After a new windshield arriving home in California he took the car in under warranty saying this is the worst car ever owned as it's all over the road.

Dealer said the entire suspension on the new car was shot... totally worn out and with in the 12 month 12 thousand mile new car warranty.

Chevrolet made good and replaced it all... and then he traded his low mileage car in for next year's model.

That said the Model A Club has had runs on the AlCan with Plexi headlight and windshield screens and the 1928-31 cars did well.

 

[Doofy]

Back in the 60's my friend bought a brand new Chevrolet sedan and took his family on the AlCan.

After a new windshield arriving home in California he took the car in under warranty saying this is the worst car ever owned as it's all over the road.

Dealer said the entire suspension on the new car was shot... totally worn out and with in the 12 month 12 thousand mile new car warranty.

Chevrolet made good and replaced it all... and then he traded his low mileage car in for next year's model.

That said the Model A Club has had runs on the AlCan with Plexi headlight and windshield screens and the 1928-31 cars did well.

Oh yes, the Al-Can was a bugger in its early days. I still see and enjoy those old cars passing by from time to time.

 

[Doofy]

18+ year old Group 31 Commercial Batteries still both test Good! CCA of both batteries is still around 755 Cold Cranking Amps! I'm guessing I'm good to go for another year, at least!

 

[ponytug]

18+ year old Group 31 Commercial Batteries still both test Good! CCA of both batteries is still around 755 Cold Cranking Amps! I'm guessing I'm good to go for another year, at least!

Sounds like you have great batteries and that you are treating them right!
I just replaced some that were 23 years old; the cases were starting to swell and the capacity was finally dropping.

And, yes, they weigh a ton.

All the best,

Peter

 

[ultrarunner]

18+ year old Group 31 Commercial Batteries still both test Good! CCA of both batteries is still around 755 Cold Cranking Amps! I'm guessing I'm good to go for another year, at least!

We have a winner

 

[grsthegreat]

Group 31s are used in most semis, so there is a large and cost sensitive market. I also think more of the market are repeat customers like you, who keep detailed notes on performance, lifetime costs, and buy accordingly, unaffected by marketing.


You might try a battery blanket on your F-150, if it doesn't already have one. AGMs are generally more resistant to cold and vibration, but heat, and deep discharging them does eat into lifetimes. Is your engine able to charge the battery at idle? We've got one vehicle that I learned the hard way can't actually keep the lights on and charge the battery at idle. (Also a pricey little AGM replacement battery in an obscure group size.)

All the best,

Peter

It has a blanket, came with it. The factory battery was the same sized agm.