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Originally Posted by HemiChallenger71
I put replacement batteries in my 12v last year and wish I had done things differently.
If you have a Fleet pride or truck parts store that sells new semi batteries, this is the route I wish I had gone. My price on them at fleet pride is $90 a piece. They will sell to walk-in customers as well. They are 1000cca screw on top deep cycle big truck (industrial) batteries and they have the same foot print and overall size of the factory 12v cummins dodge batteries. They last longer and are deep cycle. For your application size may not be a huge issue.
They also can be taken out in the field to power up a piece of equipment with dead batteries. I work on equipment, so that would be a big plus for me.
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i dont have a local heavy truck supply store, outside of the section of napa that caters to medium and heavy duty. i think the dodge is group 27, and they are longer and taller than a 34. they wont fit in my allowed space. i am fairly sure i will be stuck in the weeny pick up truck sized battery aisle. thanks for the idea though. i may see what i can find.
Quote:
Originally Posted by burnin oil
unless it is really cold a single battery will start your Cummins. I had an electrical draw on my 12v that I couldn't find. I just unhooked the second battery. If the primary got drained I just rehooked the second battery. I have also started the same truck in 17* weather without the grid heaters. Idled rough for a minute but pretty much fired right off. One good battery will get you what you need. When I replaced the batteries in my 5500 she got Ford batteries from Napa. Cheaper and larger than what was called for in the Dodge. 1000CCA for under $100. Those were lead acid though.
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the truck is built for two and will get two. i know i can usually survive on one, but that is asking for trouble. it can get well into the negative here for temps and while the truck may get a cushy inside spot at home, it will be outside all day at work. ive been around a fair share of cummins trucks in the middle winter and know that two is better. keep in mind, this is an overfueled truck that will be up timed for performance. increased timing is harder to start(damn ppump). hopefully it will fire up easy, but it may need some crank time in cold weather. i am restricted to a 34/78 in size, so i cant use much of the bigger batteries from the larger trucks. 1000 CCA sounds tasty though... i think the odyessy was 950/unit. while i dont have any real gripe with lead acid, the batteries will be buried under the truck so i want to be able to stuff em in and forget them. i know myself, if it is easy to ignore, i will... ha
Quote:
Originally Posted by 6BT 56
We go thru batts in the new boats like you can't imagine. Owners are afraid to shut anything off so they constantly leave chargers on and boil em dry . I say no to optima . Have never seen one go more than 2 years . Most faults are batts with internal dead shorts . I say yes to agm for sure . Don't want any stray acid after you have done as much work as you have . We have had our service calls drop by 60 percent since switch to agm. We use east penn batts which are a deka product I believe . Looks to me like you are on the right track. Carry on.
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i believe the east penn's are deka. i know they are sold under several names, but the batteries are all the same as far as i know. optimas used to be da bomb. johnson controls bought the company when it was owned and operated here in colorado probably 10 ish years ago. after that happened the quality took a digger. i have a friend with two blue tops from before the buy out that still work. one of them is in a truck that only gets sporadic use, and sits most of the winter. the other one was in several years of derby cars and when it wasnt doing that, it was the start battery for his boat... now you cant get two years out of them. crap