My first '99 started cranking slower (the wife said she couldn't hear it but we all know they only hear what they want ) so I replaced it...that was right at 4 yrs old.

I went with an Autozone Gold battery. I switched from Diehard Gold to the Autozone Gold a few years back just because a) they are almost all made by the same company and b) Autozone is usually closer to the house.

I did buy an Optima yellow top for our 105kw emergency generator at work. Got it at Sam's for about $110 I think. Seems like a good battery.

Considering the small price of a battery I usually never go more than 4 years either...seems like a small price to pay for something so important...

 

Wow....I just replaced my oem battery (5.4L, 99, 84k) with a red top Optima and I can't believe how fast it spins over. I've had the truck for 2 years and I didn't know it could spin over so fast. With the old battery, it would turn over really slow and my gauges would peg out.

I got the battery(34/78) at Batteries plus for $120 and didn't even have to get my hands dirty (they switched it for me in the parking lot).

philip

 

I like this. The guys in Alabama and North Carolina are saying they can get over 10 years on a battery. The guys from New York and Wisconsin (me) are saying they won’t go over 5. What does that tell you? I wouldn’t go into a winter (-20F) with a 5-year-old battery. How cold does it get in Connecticut? Now…ask yourself, isn’t it worth paying a little more for an extra 200 cranking amps.

 

Mr. Expy,
How do you think we find our batteries are over 5 years old????
The December cold snap when the temp drops to 35 (above) will usually get an old battery. That's when the guys in the shop come and get me to show me a 10 to 12 year old battery. They can't read the date code. I have to interpret and do the math.
I agree with all though, ain't no fun finding a dead battery in your ride!!!
Big Les

 

I moved from MA about11 yrs ago. I now reside in NC. I could barely get 5 yrs out of a battery up there. Down here the vehicles stay in a garage yr round and although it gets cold (sometimes as low as 14 degrees) You can get alot more life out of a battery. On the same note.... how many days over 100 degrees do you see...... we see at least 2/wk in july and august and sometimes in Sept and Oct. Heat kills a battery almost as fast as cold does. We just don't have the extreme cold like up north.

 

Be glad you don't live in the desert Southwest. In Phoenix, we are lucky to get 2-3 years out of a battery do to the extreme heat.
Here is a link to detailed battery info.
www.uuhome.de/william.darden/carfaq7.htm#multi