I bought my '99 4x4 5.4 F-150 in June 1999, and am still running the original battery in it with no problems ever, so far. However, I am currently deployed, and the truck has been sitting in the shed for about 2 1/2 months without being cranked. I am having my lawn guy crank it the next time he's at the house. I have hauled cattle across the state of Tennesee a few times with it, and done some other heavy duty work with it, and nary a problem ever. I will definitely get another Motorcraft. I have had similar good service in a Motorcraft in my '95 Thunderbird Supercoupe. Granted, they may be more expensive up front than most after-market batteries, but factoring in the cost/year/life, that's probably not true in the long haul. My 2 cents.

 

I just replaced my battery in my 1997 F-150. I had the motorcraft battery (750 CCA) in my truck for just over 12 years. Yes, 12 years!

 

I buy the Yellow $59-$69 dollar batterys at wall mart. I know what most of you guys are thinking but they are here in the states and they are relaiable.
I've never gotten a bad one, but i did boil one dry and kill it with a overcharging alt. Took it back at midnight. Told them "It died" It had a year left on it 3 year replacment warrenty, I was told "get you another one"
No hassel returns 24 hrs a day!
No other parts store can match that.

 

I buy the walmart yellow tops because they are cheap and easy to replace when they go bad, but they aren't the best by far. I've never had luck with motorcraft batts. My 01 had it's replaced after 4 years and my 02 has both of em swapped out already, so none of em made it to 5 years from an 8 year warranty battery. I'd rather save myself the trouble and buy diehard from. The lawn battery in my mower is going on 6 years, only warranteed for 1 year. I have a diehard in my mud truck, they are tough SOBs.

 

I had an Interate Megatron in my '94 Explorer that was great and lasted forever....

 

Does it transform??

Sorry know it was cheesy, but I couldn't resist.

 

Can anyone tell me how there aftermarket battery fits in the tray? I'm fussy about fitment and I want to use the oem battery cover.

 

I'm sure there's a transformer somewhere in the electrical system...

 

The battery has a little edge, or tab on the very bottom - there is a wedge that screws down on top of it to hold the battery in place. the top cover does nothing to hold the battery in there. I recently had my alternator go and went ahead and changed my battery about a week later even though it never skipped a beat. When the alternator went my battery still had enough reserve to get me to work, then to a parts store to pull the alternator and have it tested and never got low enough that my truck wouldn't crank just fine but I figured after almost 10 years it was only a matter of time - I was VERY impressed with my motorcraft battery considering in 10 years it NEVER EVER died on me or required a jump. even through 8 north dakota and montana winters and -45 below cold starts!! That being said I ended up buying an Exide Marathon battery to replace it. It was the best one the local parts store sold (other than the yellow optima type) and has a 108 month warranty. Its supposed to be designed for long life and tough use so I guess I'll let you know whether or not its any good in about 9 years??? (hopefully not any sooner! )

 

the HD Interstate i purchased is bigger than the OEM MC i had in my 2001. battery cover doesn't fit.

 

That is what I was afraid of. I have looked in some auto part stores and took some measurements and they all seem a bit smaller or bigger. My battery cover hides some of my aftermarket wiring such as inline fuses for my efan and I want to keep that stuff hidden as well as stck fitment for the battery itself.....I'll keep looking but I might just go with an upgraded Motorcraft battery.

Thanks for your responses everyone.....keep them coming.