Ok I drove to checker this morning and bought some new silverstar headlights and foglights. Disconnected the battery and installed them. I open my truck door and hear this rapid fire ticking sound....i press my foot on the brake and it goes away but as soon as i let off it ticks again....then the door bell sounds like its in sloooowwww moooo and dying.

So I disconnected the battery again...put on all the stock bulbs...connnected the battery and the entire truck was dead.

Went to checker, tested my battery, and it was completely wasted. Got a new one...put new bulbs in..connected new battery and everything is peachy king now.

Is it possible the new bulbs caused this, or do you think it was just time for the original battery to go...I had about 64K miles on it. And for the past 2.5 years I had a system hooked up to it as well.

 

i have an 02 with 60k and i just replaced mine last month

 

hmm, i wonder if thats as far as it goes on average

 

I think it's more "age" dependant than "mileage". Of course, any extra strain (ie-- your system, off-road lights, etc) MAY decrease the life expectancy.

My 03 has 86,000 on it.

 

Definatly the battery was shot. The bulbs wouldn't kill it, it was just on its way out.

 

well thats good to know, but I'm wondering why it decided to die now...i mean i had just driven 10 minutes before and everything was fine

hmm oh well

my dads 91 ranger had the original battery up to 110,000 miles

 

the national average for battery life is 3-5 years. adding accessories directly to the battery can decrease the life expectancy of the battery.

 

The OEM battery is a 3 year rated battery. Add a sound system and maybe some additional shock of any off road driving and it's life can be even reduced even farther. I would guess that your battery was already on it's way out, and all it took was you leaving the door open for a while to finish it off. Battery life can also be shortened by repeatedly discharging the battery beyond it's intended cycle as well.

 

my 97 still has the original motorcraft battery also, pushing 134K.
i had a scare with it last winter but it has been fine since then.
i know it will probably crap out sooner or later but oh well, thats why i have jumper cables.
some battery's just last longer then others, but did you make sure all of the connections where clean and tight?

 

what he said!!