Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives whats a good battery

my 15 f250 is due. it doesn't get run much, less than 5k/yr.

or does it not really matter? walmart, etc? thats kind of been what i have done in the past.

Walmart batteries have worked fine for me. The only negative experience I ever had with any battery was a Duracell that I bought at Sams club. It went bad at about 1 year. I could not find the receipt, but wrote the date I installed it on the battery. The folks at Sams COULD have looked up the sales history, but gave me the a story that it would take 2-3 days to verify when I bought it. I just walked out and bought another battery elsewhere. Needed the truck today, and didn't really want another Duracell anyway.

There are only something like 3 battery makers in the US. All the rest contract to have their names put on them. It's very difficult sometimes to find out who's battery you're buying. I've had good luck with Walmart's version but I don't know who makes them.

Walmart batteries are produced by Deka. My brother in law works there. My quad battery is a Duracell and is also produced by Deka in Topton Pa.

Not everywhere. Around here they come from Johnson Controls.

It must be a regional supply chain then. I know Deka goes all over the US.

Diehards are the only ones I used that seemed to last and last. Interstate batteries (Mexican made) seem to go bad with the changing of the weather. I replaced 3 sets for my tractor in 3 years. Luckily they were all under warranty, but all were tested and were bad. The last set seems to be working longer. I hear the Optima batteries are now made in Mexico too and are not as good either.

An aside.

I have been to Deka's factory.
There was a place where they handled batteries for recycling.
It was a sort of pit to check leaking acid.
There was a dip, where it drained to, a a forklift was driving through it.
You could smell the acid, and that forklift wasn't real pretty.


Just a quick observation as I drove around to the dock,
so I could be mistaken in what I saw. But it looked real nasty,
made me glad to be a truck driver.


Not a slam at Deka, I use their batteries, sure thats normal for the business.

Deka has a store on site. You can buy batteries there. I always buy blems. They are a fraction of the cost just cosmetic not up to par. On occasion my brother in law get me his free battery as an employee. You are spot on in that you would not want to work there. It's a great place to work but the work itself is dangerous and dirty.

In my experience, Interstate, NAPA Legend Premium, and Exide batteries are the best. If you don;t drive your truck often, you should consider using a battery tender to maintain the battery.

I have used Optima's for the last 10 years and have had really good luck with them

The two Odyssey batteries in my diesel truck are 11 years old with around 140,000 miles on them. Other batteries say they are sealed, but they're not - you still get off-gassing and battery terminal corrosion. Yes, they cost more than a regular battery but in the long run they're more than worth it. I run Odyssey batteries in everything - truck, boats and ATV's. Never a problem - ever.

I haven't had the best of luck with Interstate Batteries even in mild conditions.

I have had good luck with Odyssey thus far.

I use Interstate with good results.

Try the Ford dealership. Last battery's i bought for the diesel I had their warranty (I'm almost positive it was 7 years but its been a while) was far longer than any other battery dealer. They were in the same price range as everyone else.

I have a 7.5 yo NAPA Gold? battery in wife’s van. Motorcraft (original) batteries* in the


Edit:
*Powerstroke batteries are 7+ years old.

I have had the best luck with Deka batteries over the years. If I recall correctly, lead acid Super Start batteries from Oreilly Auto, NAPA brand batteries, and recent Duracell batteries found at Sams and Batteries Plus are all made by Deka. The part numbers were nearly identical the last time I checked. I replaced the battery in my Tundra a couple years ago with one from Interstate......kind of hesitant to do that but so far so good. I know several people and have read on various forums that quite a few people have had great results with the cheap batteries from Wal Mart. Excellent availability for the majority of vehicles and easy to find a Wal Mart should you need warranty assistance.

The best are Odyssey or XS. If you look at how they are built, they will put out cca at a high rate than similarly sized batteries. That said I run Napa premium because I can get the through work for free, well work pays.

Another vote for Deka/west penn battery.Napa store batteries are also deka made.

I ran across this about Walmart batteries but I don't know if it's accurate.

Good? Lots.

Best? Odyssey is where my money goes.

Supposed list of who makes what: http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/batbrand.htm

Key messages from the link: Lead-acid battery manufacturers, distributors, exporters/importers, large chain/auto parts stores, or major dealers will often private label their batteries, for example in the North America, EverStart is private label for Walmart and DieHard for Sears and Kmart. These stores might have these private labeled batteries made by several manufacturers depending on the location to reduce shipping costs or to provide different types or sizes of batteries. Contracts with manufacturers might change.

That's why you see so many differing answers regarding who makes what. Retailers go with what gives them the largest margin, which inevitably changes over time and space. In the link you'll see same brands listed under different manufacturers.

I have a 99 dodge diesel that gets run very little any more. It's not parked in a place where I can get electricity to it to run a battery tender so I had a solar tender on it but that only lasted a couple of years before it crapped out. I got some battery disconnect terminals and simply turn them to disconnect the batteries when it's going to sit for a while, that's done a lot better at keeping the batteries from discharging.

Find out who made the battery in my 2007 TC30 new holland tractor. The damn thing has never been stored inside, temp ranges from low 100's above to -50. Never had a charger on it or a tender, damn thing won't quit. 12 yrs old now.

Does the Dodge have a single battery? My '08 has 2. When did they make the switch?

probably head to wally this week to see what they got. when it rains it pours. fridge crapped out right in the middle of a kitchen remodel which is over budget. and now i got a nasty red oak leaning over my bunk house at camp that makes me not want to have anybody sleep there and its over my chainsaw skill level. i am spending money like congress these days.

well...............

what did ya buy ?????????????

Been buying Interstate blend for passenger cars with some success from my mechanic. Replaced the 12 year old batteries in the duramax with Chevy batteries just because they performed so well.

Used to think Optima were great but was disappointed- not much help about a sure thing battery mostly choose by convenience.