Going to get a battery for my '86 1/2 ton truck. I'm thinking Diehard from Sears... the Diehard Gold. Anyone have any other recommendations. Probably leaving in under an hour.

 

I love my interstate batteries. Have one in my F150 and one in my sisters explorer and my other sisters Taurus. We are all in minnesota and even in the negative temperatures they always start and never have a problem. It was negative 30 windchill and negative 15 real temp the other day and all three started no problems.

 

Seems you might be gone but C&D technology batts at Costco are amazing. We use them in the Audio world for our high demands and they dont let us down. 1 of those should be exactly what you need if you want a long lasting battery.

 

Well, I am a procrastinator, lol. Haven't left, yet.

My wife has an Interstate battery on her Eclipse at the moment. It has been a good battery, just had a light left on about 100 times over the last 4 or 5 years and it won't hold a charge over 3 days now, just like my truck. She has a 15" sub in the back, too. Want a good battery for her car, and my truck.

How do I go about getting a bigger battery? I guess I have to go find the size on my battery, then just get the next size up? I'm a believer in bigger is better when it comes to batteries.

 

Honestly, the battery in my truck now is 82 pounds and is 13ish long x 7ish wide by 9ish tall. Its a sealed AGM battery with a 10 year lifespan and 5 year warranty. I never go by the "sizes" that should be in it. If i can fit, ill use it. I do audio systems which is why my battery is so big and i have another one on the way.

 

I myself personally, really like Motorcraft Batteries.

Just got a 8 year battery not long ago for around $90.

 

I'm a diehard Optima guy. I got one in like 2005 for my truck, and it's still working today. Been through the ringer (several charging system issues, including a dead alternator and a 17v overcharge when the headlight switch blew out), but it's come out working perfectly. Shoot, it's sat since July of '09 with two charges and barely any use, and it's still working like the day I bought it. I've got one in my Cherokee too, and it's been just as reliable.

They are on the expensive side (RedTops are around $130 unless you have a battery you can trade in to put toward the price), but you get what you pay for. They're very solid, very dependable, and I highly recommend them.

 

Optimas are nice and use the sealed AGM technology as well, as most know, but you are paying for the name. MY batts are Powertech which im sure most of you have never heard of. I pay $200 a piece for them shipped to me. Optimas dont carry a high a/h number which car audio guys look for but they are great in the cca area.

 

I'd like an Optima, and have had one on a twin turbo Stealth I used to have, and I agree, they are great batteries. But the price is a little out of my range this time around.

I guess I'm thinking Sears Diehard or Interstate, now. Anyone not like the Diehards? I've always had good experiences with them.

 

I'm on my second Optima Red Top in 21 months and would highly advise you stay away from them. There's a lot of web chatter that Optimas manufactured within the last several years develop problems where they won't hold a charge. That's exactly what happened with mine....if it wasn't still under warranty I would have replaced it with something different. I put highly recommended AutoCraft Platinum batteries from Advance Auto in both my V and Mountaineer. I don't know who makes them, but I've been very happy with them.

 

Well, my "group size" is 56, as far as I can tell. Should I just stick with that or go with a bigger battery?

Diehards cost more than I thought. I only wanted to go with Diehard Gold. I didn't even see a group size 56 in the Diehard Gold or Diehard regular on the Sears website.

So, looks like I will be looking elsewhere, and I won't be going Optima mainly for the price. Was hoping to get the best battery that $80 would buy.

 

Again, look at the AutoCraft units.

 

I would see what sorta battery will fit in the space you have and get the biggest one you can afford. Can't ever have to many CCA's especially when its negative 20 and no one is around to give you a hand. I've had good luck with those yellow batteries that farm and fleet sell, can't think of the name off the top of my head but the one in the truck is three years old and has taken some bad deep cycles and is still in great shape. As a bonus they are pretty cheap for the CCA's

 

Only yellow ones i know of, other than optima, are the Deka Intimidators.

 

They just carry the Blains farm and fleet name, not sure who really makes them but they are the commercial line. I really like them though. Cheap, powerful and reliable.