I've always had really good luck with Die Hard

 

if napa carries them that would be great!

i didnt get out of work till 5:30 so no time to get a battery. tomorrow I am skiiing so we will see what sunday brings... I am prolly pushing my luck

 

walmart is your friend.

 

suck it up and get the optima. they are also a gel filled battery instead of the regular liquid acid. so you can mount it sideways upside down how ever you want. and you get the regular frankenstein terminals and the gm terminals on it. so you can run the stock electrical off of the frankenstein terminals and the aftermarket off of the gm post. or get one of these http://www.kinetikaudio.com/hc1800.asp awsome batterys my buddy is running 4 2400's in the back and a 600 up front. he has a about 8000watts of stereo, offroad lights, alarm, underbody, strobes.

 

Deka batteries are very good. And interstate.

 

optima

 

ive always been a fan of optimas but never have personally owned one. alot of my friends run them for the added stress of the car audio system that they run.

 

yeah i just dont know if its worth it. i think i would rather spend my spare cash on my D44/D60 project.

 

I have that Duralast battery after mine randomly took a crap on a trip a month ago. Works great for me, cranks well in the cold, runs everything fine. I don't know how well it will handle a big stereo or a lot of offroad lights but I think for your application it should be fine.

 

good to know. prolly just get an average priced one

 

Actually, Optimas are not "gel cells" -- the electrolyte is not gelled at all.

They are AGM batteries which stands for "absorbed glass mat" which contains a liquid electrolyte in a glass fiber mesh.

Gel cell batteries are a different technology entirely and not particularly suited to automotive use.

A long time ago I did a thread explaining the difference in batteries and it's still here on the board: https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ad.php?t=12360

 

I've had the same Optima in my race car since 01'. It only got a charge before a weekend race (once a month) for the first four years and always left it in the car over the winter w/o a charger on it. Now it's in my Ranger after sitting in the Mustang (not running) for the last three years. So, I'd say it was a good purchase

 

Im gonna say get the optima. heres my story. I had a 99 dodge ram 1500 and i put two 12" p2's with a 1200 watt amp in it. They killed the stock battery in about 1 minute (literaly) . I went out and bought an optima red top, threw it in and the battery lasted longer than i would blast the subs with the engine off, (around an hour or so). About 8 months later i bought an 03 dodge ram 1500 with a hemi, and threw it in, (even though it was a smaller group size) and the battery ran the system and the same as the old dodge. I wish that i would have kept the battery b4 i traded in the truck, it was the most reliable battery i have ever owned, and it stood up to alot of abuse.

 

I love mine Zach...I run my leds and radio forever and the thing starts like nothing...it really is worth it

 

I suggest the red top if you are in cold climates.

 

Since you really arent running any heavy auxiliary stuff, i would say go with a motorcraft battery or interstate. I have been replacing the original batteries with motorcraft ones for a while now. They last just as long if not longer than any other.... Interstate is a very fine battery as well. Im really not that impressed with my red top... It corrodes the negative terminal about once every 3 months......

 

Same here. Well worth the money. Fiberglass wrap can take whatever you throw at it.

Hmm. Mine look brand new and I've had it for 3 years now.

 

now with statements like that how are you suppose to go wheeling out here so you can bring me some sliders?

 

duralast golds were rated like number 1 by consumer reports lol


i would say optima but do you really need it right now?

 

N3elz, or others, has there ever been a shake test on all the top line batteries with the Optima to compair the life expectancy?

It is true that a stationary battery lasts longer than a battery that is shaken and jared. I find it hard to believe they would last twice as long as the other top line batteries. I buy the top line Wally batteries and they last 4 to 5 years. Been doing that for about 25 years now with at least two vehicles in the stable at all times.

My son is running an Optima in his 914 with a Ford V6 conversion. It's in the rear with the engine and he did it for the weight mostly. His other three vehicles have standard batteries.

 

gel cells are supposed to hold up the the abuses of offroading a lot better than a conventional battery..

 

apy for my gas and parts ill drive down!

 

There have been tests done for commercial offroad vehicles, marine applications, and other specialty stuff. In addition, if you buy some industrial batteries you can get g-ratings and vibration and the AGM batteries have better specs. As far as I know there's been no tests of the "consumer" type batteries so the claims made for them one way or the other could be unsubstantiated.

But, why do you find it hard to believe they wouldn't last longer in harsh vibrational conditions? You're saying that long plates of lead with liquid between them wouldn't have modes of vibration that might bend or damage them? Envision in your mind the construction of a conventional battery and AGM construction and it should be obvious to you that the compact and rigid construction of the AGM cells -- flat or spiral -- eliminates a major cause of failure and shortened life due to vibration.

I will tell you that from an electrical standpoint, the AGM still shine for high current apps. My winch draws over 300 amps at full load and I used to have 90 and then 130 amp alternators. My "standard" flat-plate non-AGM battery (which was a replacement for stock and only 6 months old when I got the winch) was rated about the same as the Optima, but with my old alternators it would go flat and the winch would slow down rather quickly.

When I put the Optima in and started winching my anecdotal evidence of the value of the lower internal resistance is the fact that the winch stayed up in speed longer and pulled stronger. When you are pulling those current levels, any series resistance causes pretty dramatic results. No doubt the battery self-heats more with the older conventional electrolyte design as well -- which would kill life.

I'm basically sold on them. I have my old battery in a box in the toolbox kept charged by solar panels on the top of the toolbox, and disconnects to throw it in-circuit when needed. I can "self-jump-start" (sounds kinky...) or throw it in parallel with the Optima when doing long or very hard pulls.

But, I don't like stressing ANY battery more than I have to, so now I have a 200 amp alternator in place -- a large-case 3G type. It barely fits on the 3.0, lol -- but it does. With this setup, I've got plenty of power from the engine for normal pulls, and plenty of reserve if the alternator heats up and reduces output (which they do -- it's a function of the regulator electronics to do so).

So, with the above statements, I'm firmly in the AGM camp. But, keep in mind that I'm a "specialty" user. If all you do is start your truck with one, then of course it will last 5 years. I doubt very seriously you'll get that kind of life doing what I do to my batteries. For me, having the power available when I really need it is more important than the economics at the relatively small cost a battery represents.

 

It would be interesting to know the shake tests of standard batteries. My son used to work at the Exide factory in Johnson Tn. I'll contact him and see if he knows of any such tests. I'm sure they do some kind of tests but they may be hard to get. As you said, there are industrial grade batteries that would excell over any standard battery or Optima but the cost would be much higher than even the Altima.


The regular batteries have spacer pads between the plates to help hold everything together just as the round ones would. While the flat plates may be more vibration prone than a round set of plates I don't think the vibration is the problem, it would be the pounding up and down and side to side that would destroy any battery.

I really don't know the ability of either battery to withstand off road use than anyone else. I guess I am just skeptical of claims that are not proven.

I guess since you have both batteries in your truck you should find out how long they last. By the way, that's a creative way to have a standby battery in your trk. You could even use a heavy duty relay to connect the spare battery in the circuit without getting out of the trk. You could have even used a relay they use in motor homes for the standby battery to keep it charged and then disconnect it when the engine is off so it won't discharge the vehicle battery when the motor home battery is used for lighting.

Just looked at your site. My Oxford White 2003 Ranger Edge extended cab 4 dr, 3.0L, automatic, 2 whl dr., factory tow package 4:10 L/S rear end, remote locks, 6 CD player, tilt wheel, sliding rear window, bed liner, rubber floors, factory aluminum spoke wheels, was decked out new much like yours.

They must have made a lot of white Ranger trks as I have seen a load of them on the road.

 

You're right. I read and article somewhere which said white was the single most popular color for trucks. I suspect that the stat's are skewed by all the commercial ones bought in white for adding company logo's and special packages and what not.

Yeah, it's sometimes hard to evaluate claims. I had heard enough about the AGM's and we've used them in some applications at the plant to give them a try.

You may be right about the up and down. Maybe it breaks connections internally or something. I know there are spacers on the flat plates, but I still see them as more prone since there are large gaps in the spacing framework (and would have to be to allow the battery to work).

The AGM system is inherently self supporting and that's why they can use pure lead rather than a mix of metals since the plates can't buckle as easily.

It's like anything else, Carl: you pays your money and you takes your chances, lol!