Okee doke. Thanks Tedster9

 

The first hard cold snap, batteries sometimes get short on supply, because everybody and their brother in law is at the auto parts store all at once trying to get what they need.

Sometimes, inventory is severely depleted and that really isn't a good time to be shopping or scheduling an appointment and all this lockdown jiggery-pokery and supply chain issues with product delivery probably hasn't improved matters.

 

Agreed.

1) The battery was a curve ball I was able to take care of. Could I have saved a few more dollars and did myself? Yes. Did I need to? No. Honestly, it was my birthday yesterday. It was the first nice day we had for me to handle fall clean up of the yard. I had other tasks to handle. To me my time was more valuable for other tasks at the time and I knew I didn't need the truck for a few hours.

2) Right now I am planning for replacing the tires. They are getting down there and should be replaced before Winter comes roaring in. I really haven't paid more attention to the tires as I have been keeping up with air pressure but not tread wear. The MPI from the dealer was correct. The tires are going to be needing replacement sooner than later. They are down to 5-6/32, I might be able to get a few thousand more miles on them which will give some time to plan for the expense. In December 2019, my wife's car needed tires. It turned out now not planned was the experience. Luckily I was able to get them replaced on a Sunday and the cost was livable. However, we were planning on replacing the tires in the spring. We all saw what happened. So maybe it was a good thing. Right now, I know I will need to replace the tires on the truck. I know I need to budget for the replacements since these tires are much more expensive than her car's. If I needed to, I could go out today and do it but I rather have some time to cover the expense. However, I know as soon as the first snow hits, tire centers get hit. Everyone and their brother needs to replace tires once they feel their tires slipping all over the place.

 

As you know it isn't just the tread depth alone at work here, aged tires get hard and don't grip as well. New shoes are safer on wet roadway. A few well placed tire burnouts help, but as tires age they just don't work as well.

 

Agreed. The tires are only 2 years old and have 24,000 miles since install. I am not a fan of Nitto. I thought the Cooper Discoverers A/T 3 were bad at 33-34,000 miles shot completely when I had them on my F250 years ago. Oh well. At least I have some time to research and plan my purchase. I really do not want to run out and spend 1100 on tires right now. Trying to get the check book in a good place before Christmas if you know what I mean. LOL Besides there should be Black Friday deals around for tires. There is always a $75-150 offer for some major brand of the tire to help alleviate some cost.

 

I just bought two upgraded factory batteries from the dealer for just over $300. If I remember right they are 850cca Motorcraft batteries.

 

My original Motorcraft battery was the best. I got 13 freaking years out of it in my '03 F250. They don't make 'em like they used to.

 

I got 5 out of mine. I run an aftermarket sound system the whole time as well

 

I got 12 years out of the 2 in my diesel and they were still good but I replaced them with Walmart batteries just to be safe and they last less than 2 years and they were replaced free of charge. The new Walmart batteries lasted 25 months. I call to price check 2 more new Walmart batteries and then called the Ford dealer and they matched the price. They will be 2 years old in January and still perform like new. Only time will tell.

 

I decided to check Walmart prices and I found two group 65 batteries one for $79.87 with a two year replacement 750 CCA and one for $88.76 with 3 year replacement 850 CCA. I think I did the two year one going on 4 years now and still going strong. I just drive to the store go in and make sure they have one check the voltage to make sure it's at least 12.6 volts the resting voltage of a wet cell 12V battery get a cart and use a 5/16 socket and remove my old battery and take it in and exchange them. Install the new one and life goes on.

Denny

 

Sealed "maintenance free" batteries are fully charged at 12.80 volts OCV at 77° F. The principle is the same though, buy the freshest dated batt with the highest voltage. The old school conventional batteries with filler caps to add water, those are 12.65 volts.

 

My truck came with a new Motorcraft battery. I got it in December 2017. So far, so good. Mine sees every temperature extreme, hot and cold (not cold compared to Alaska). It also backs up my dump trailer battery.