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good place to get batteries?

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 11:51 am
by ttocs
My truck needs a new battery, anyplace you guys would recomend either online or in person?

Re: good place to get batteries?

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 12:11 pm
by tonym
ttocs wrote:My truck needs a new battery, anyplace you guys would recomend either online or in person?
what class size is it?

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 12:49 pm
by jbob0124
Walmart :lol: Are you looking for a regular battery or something better like a yellow top?

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 12:49 pm
by ttocs
ah damn, not sure, 97 ranger with a 3.0...

What site can I find that stuff?

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 12:53 pm
by tonym
group d34...I use interstate myself...I never worry about my car not starting...I have use of about 500 tow trucks in the area if it dont.. :)

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 12:56 pm
by ttocs
I am replacing a walmart battery, not going down that road again.....

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 1:02 pm
by jbob0124
My battery died in my truck a few weeks ago, I took it back to walmart, without a receipt and it was a year past the warranty, they gave me about half off of a new one.

You could check out autozone.com or something similar.

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 1:33 pm
by ttocs
I have exchanged this batter 2 different times at wallmart, never had an issue before I got thier brand. I could exchange it there but I am tired of going out to start it and finding it dead for no reason. I hooked an amp meter up to it and there is no abnormal draw, just shitty batts from what I can tell.

Not sure if I want to step up to an optima. The only amp in the truck is my octane LE but that is not to say that it can't kill that electrical system.

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 4:29 pm
by oldschoolfan
I had an optima red top in my nissan for 13 years and sold the car. Never an issue. Could still be working for all I know. I think it was worth the money.

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 4:37 pm
by ttocs
wow that is impressive.......

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 5:11 pm
by gridracer
My yellow top was over 10 years old in my truck before it started giving me problems.
Why don't you buy a stinger battery for your mustang and put the battery from it in your truck.

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 5:11 pm
by dvnt88
oldschoolfan wrote:I had an optima red top in my nissan for 13 years and sold the car. Never an issue. Could still be working for all I know. I think it was worth the money.
I've had nothing but the red tops in my cars since day one and have never had an issue with them, ya get what ya pay for. Also chack out Kinetik, supposed to be 1 of the best batteries on the market an I run an HC800 with my red top.

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 5:23 pm
by gridracer
dvnt88 wrote:
oldschoolfan wrote:I had an optima red top in my nissan for 13 years and sold the car. Never an issue. Could still be working for all I know. I think it was worth the money.
I've had nothing but the red tops in my cars since day one and have never had an issue with them, ya get what ya pay for. Also chack out Kinetik, supposed to be 1 of the best batteries on the market an I run an HC800 with my red top.
Actually if you read the review on the AAMP website kinetics are not really that great and don't do what they claim too. Not sure if it was an independant study or a paid info-mercial type study by AAMP .

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 5:56 pm
by ttocs
the mustang has a HO alt, while my octane is still in the process of killing my trucks stock alt. The mustang has no power issues at all and when the stock alt dies in the truck then I will upgrade it.


After living in the desert of phoenix for the last 10 yrs it will be nice to have a batter last longer then 2-3 yrs. The heat of the summer just cooks them infact if you leave a car all summer and not run it, it will kill the battery.

optima is not sounding too bad, wonder if zac has some stingers in the warehouse?

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:24 pm
by dedlyjedly
You took a good step by checking for parasitic current draw. What was the draw on your battery at rest? Assuming the draw was within reason, I would double check your charging system. Autozone and Checker will do a load test free of charge. You can run into a dummy at those parts stores though so it never hurts to get a second opinion!

There are a lot of good batteries out there. I too have had good luck with red top Optimas. What's most important is getting your new battery from a place you know will stand behind it. I've seen countless "new" batteries die prematurely, both cheapies and premium brands. Its fairly common to find no fault in the electrical system when this happens too. Keep in mind that you never know how long that new battery has been sitting on the shelf at the store you bought it, let alone in the distribution channels before the store. Sometimes you just get a lemon!

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 10:13 pm
by ttocs
I have a digital voltage gauge that I monitor and I have not seen any voltage drops to assume the alt was going bad. Now even after putting it on a 6amp charger all day it still will not hold a charge. The only reason I bought it from walmart was that I found the first dead one at 5:30 in the morning and they were the only store open, next time I will wait 4 hrs before I buy one from wally world.

Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 3:31 am
by tonym
ttocs wrote:I have a digital voltage gauge that I monitor and I have not seen any voltage drops to assume the alt was going bad. Now even after putting it on a 6amp charger all day it still will not hold a charge. The only reason I bought it from walmart was that I found the first dead one at 5:30 in the morning and they were the only store open, next time I will wait 4 hrs before I buy one from wally world.
check the cells....or if you have a multimeter start it and take a reading ....if under 12 volts alt is bad...

Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 3:37 am
by mhyde71
i have a stinger spv1700 (think so anyways) removed it from my truck when i got the red top... why did i remove it... well i really dont remember... but do know a buddy of mine used the battery to test some amps of his and mine in his basement for a couple months until he got a PS set up... BUT i have the stinger back now.

want me to send it to you? it is a biggy and a heavy bastard too! cover the shipping and you can have it! maybe try that out first- i dunno... might beat having to buy a new battery though... or maybe there was a reason for my removal of it.. i truly cant remember... but lmk wyt if anything- if anything maybe it would prolong your battery purchase anyways...?

m

Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 6:18 am
by stipud
You replaced a Stinger with a red top?? :P

Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 6:49 am
by AAMP217
Hopefully he means he replaced the stinger yellow Stinger battery with a red Stinger battery. Just as an FYI the Stinger yellow have a 1 year OTC warranty and the reds have a 3 year OTC (we don't screw around with pro-rating)

Also the battery test we did was done by a independent lab, JBI, which is all they do, test batteries. We honestly need to know if the blue battery makers knew something we didn't about making batteries we didn't. Come to find out the blue natts are just oversized UPS batteries

Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 10:14 am
by The Golden One
duralast autozone battery's are some of the best standard battery's around on my mercedes diesel one has survived majorly brutal winter punishment. when it gets below 32 out my car is very hard to start even with new glowplugs it can take over 30 minutes to get it started and i have to crank on it for long duration's. even after all that punishment it can still power my big boy amps and deliver some window flexin bass. mind you it is a 1000 amp battery but that's what the car call's for ive even left a zx450 on all nite with the fan running and the car still started the next day all in all i got my money's worth many times over.

Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 10:21 am
by stipud
32 degrees, eh?

I expect my batteries to work at -40! ;)

Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 10:31 am
by The Golden One
it's not the battery it's that diesel fuel gels up below 32 degrees and wont flow right and is almost imposable to start.

Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 2:39 pm
by tonym
The Golden One wrote:it's not the battery it's that diesel fuel gels up below 32 degrees and wont flow right and is almost imposable to start.
fuel bowl should have some sort of heater in it...

try a dash of starting fluid...

Have you owned this car since new??

Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 2:57 pm
by gbody805
tonym wrote:
The Golden One wrote:it's not the battery it's that diesel fuel gels up below 32 degrees and wont flow right and is almost imposable to start.
fuel bowl should have some sort of heater in it...

try a dash of starting fluid...

Have you owned this car since new??
Fuel lines and tank won't have a heater in it.
Stop by a diesel shop and try to find conditioner or anti-gel for the winter months.