Batteries?

[Crumm]

I think I'm just going to eat the $ and replace both now,

Good idea, changing one never works out. The old one takes the life out of the new one. It is a much better idea to change in pairs..

 

[DaveBen]

Change both batteries at the same time or you will kill the good one by getting it dragged down by the lesser one. What you have is one battery in two places.

Dave

 

[Vindicator]

I agree, change them out in pairs...I learned the hard way lol

 

[Maintain]

I changed mine out this weekend, both of them. 160bucks and they work great... Gold Top Duralasts... 875 CCA 1000 CA

 

[Djracer]

I prefer AGM Active Gas Matt batteries like the optima's. Exide has some real nice ones! I usually change all my vehicles to those!

 

[iracemine]

welp thanks again people for all the great info!!!

It was a pretty cold winter here in chicago and I had a few real hard starts. Then the truck wold not start with out the truck being pluged in even in 20F nights. I rememberd a few years ago that it would start even down in the single digits. But now durring the day it would start all the time. Soooo I figured on it being a draw or batteries. Looking on here I was convinced it was the batteries. Not only on that but on which batteries to buy! Motorcraft! Well one trip to the ford sterlign store sent me laughing all the way to autozone and got two 875 CCA gold tops for 75.99 each. I figured 8 years on the last pair combined with 125 more CCA these should last plenty. Then had the stockers tested and they failed terribly. thanks again guys.

 

[Red Monkey]

I went with the Gold Duralast 1000 cca from AutoZone. I know several SD drivers that have been using them for years with no problems and they have served me well so far.
I have read sevral places that it isn't a good idea to replace just one batttery on a dual setup. The reason being the stronger battery will be constantly trying to charge the weaker battery. Which will pull BOTH batteries down...not kill'em just pull them down.
That may be why your truck needs a jump every know and then, it only has an average of 44% or lower battery life.
Replacing both and using your old 54% battery with the trolling motor sounds like a good idea to me.
Get a can of 'battery terminal protector spray' for your terminals after you clean them, it will keep terminals corrosion down in the long run and your battries will love you for it.

 

[Wingdog]

I prefer AGM Active Gas Matt batteries like the optima's. Exide has some real nice ones! I usually change all my vehicles to those!

I agree, get a set of glass matt batteries like an optima I love my batteries I had one tested and it came out to put out 950 cca's ( rated for 850cca) and it needed a charge. They crank the duty over like nothin. Don't buy a motorcraft they are garbage, 3 years and mine were shot. My buddy has had an optima for 6 years and no troubles yet. They are a bit expensive but are worth it.

 

[Wingdog]

Well I approached a buddy of mine that does the AAA battery service today in the work parking lot. I asked him if he could do a load test since Autozone couldn't. He said sure and went and tested my batteries. We d/c one of them and then tested each individually 2 times. One came up with 54% life left (passed) and the other had %34% life left (in lingo). He said my problem might be the 34% one, and that all I really need to do is change that one and see what happens. He also did a running charge test, and my alternator came back fine.

I think I'm just going to eat the $ and replace both now, and use the one with the 54% as like a backup, or run my trolling motor on it lol. I am going to clean the terminals well and run it like that for a while, maybe 2 weeks until next pay check so I got a bit more cash available.

What kind of tester did he use cause the one's I've seen show you what percentage of power the battery is puting out compared to what it is supposed to. So if your battery is a 750cca and it is 34% good then it would only be putting out approx. 265cca and the one 54% good would put out 405cca. I'm pretty sure that is how they work anyways cause I don't think you would be able to tell how much life is left in a battery only power output.

 

[Race22]

I found out that I could just clean the battery posts and lugs and it would start right up real good. After 5 years, one of my factory batteries showed the little red ball in the sight gauge. I replaced both of my batteries with the Auto Zone gold batteries. I have had no problems with them so far. This has been about a year ago.