What batteries do you buy? - General Ranger Discussion - Welcome To Our Ford Ranger Forum

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Hails from the land of rust!

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I'm after the brand more than anything, i know there are only a few actual cell manufacturers and it's a case of picking the best brand using the current in flavour cell.

This isn't specifically for the Ranger as my other vehicles need new batteries too, but basically, what is a good solid brand for OE-like balanced price and performance?

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 07:19 am

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Ordinary Biker
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I put an Optima red top in my truck when the original equipment failed. And I put an EarthX in my Honda.

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 10:11 am

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Dusten
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If you do some reading you'll see there are actually only a handful of battery manufacturers. Find what's got the best warranty and the best cost.

Example. Johnson controls produces 1/3 off all batteries

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 10:11 am

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Tsquare
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I have a 9 year old Motorcraft. It was put in right before I got the truck.

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 10:30 am

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Hails from the land of rust!

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Dusten wrote:
If you do some reading you'll see there are actually only a handful of battery manufacturers. Find what's got the best warranty and the best cost.

Example. Johnson controls produces 1/3 off all batteries
That's what I said :)
I just don't have the current data, any experience?

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 10:34 am

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Dusten
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My bmw had a battery from wal mart, zero issues.
The old super duty has a motorcraft x2
My ranger runs a battery from oreillys.

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 10:36 am

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Hails from the land of rust!

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Interstate?

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 10:36 am

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CBB9M
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Last edited on Tue Feb 20th, 2018 10:38 am by CBB9M

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 10:38 am

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CBB9M
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It's worth realizing and accepting the fact that although it's true there are only a few battery manufacturers, that what exactly they produce (ie, what's inside the case) and for who (ie, the label on the case) isn't automatically the same across the board.

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 10:39 am

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Right, Joe Blogs battery company likely have several quality/ratings they build to a price.

What I'm after is who has the better batteries/warranty for the money?

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 10:46 am

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CBB9M
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^^^ Opinions and experiences will be just like human "o-rings" for that one. If the need is immediate, you probably won't be disappointed with a Motorcraft

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 10:54 am

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aroundincircles
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I've used walmart batterires in my last few cars. AZ heat chews through batteries like candy, so I went cheap... and they have been some of the best batteries I've bought over the years, most have lasted longer than the typical 3 years I've gotten from autozone/partstore batteries for less money. So I cannot complain at all.

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 11:00 am

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Dang, 3 or 4 years is crazy, our somewhat temperate climate gets nearly ten here!

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 01:14 pm

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buggman

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I used to run walmart maxx batteries, first one lasted 9 years. after that one they'd be lucky to last 2-3 years.
i recently got an agm from advance auto (not an optima) and i've been very impressed with it so far, in fact i upgraded my ranger & explorer batteries with them.

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 02:17 pm

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Mike69

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My Ranger, my wife's Explorer Sport, & our Escape all have batteries from Advance Auto Parts.

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 02:22 pm

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Hails from the land of rust!

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I'd completely forgotten about AGM stuff until you mentioned it - i always thought it was funny that when i moved here, people were still using non sealed batteries :(

Anyway, you both say from AAP, are they AAP branded?

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 02:34 pm

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buggman

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My agm is an advance house brand. i found you can signup online for their emails & you'll get coupons... i saved like $50 on the battery, ordered online picked up in store an hour later.

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 02:47 pm

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I just checked and they don't have an AGM for my Wife's Acura TSX :(

Looks like Odyssey do one, but it seems to only be 300CCA Vs the factory spec of 500.

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 02:56 pm

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aroundincircles
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MaDMaXX wrote: Dang, 3 or 4 years is crazy, our somewhat temperate climate gets nearly ten here!

Depends on the cars and how they are driven.

I drive a lot of turbo cars, and they dump a lot of heat under the hood... cooks batteries. My wife does a lot of short drives, and some weeks her car gets used only once or twice a week, so a lot of cold starts, without a lot of driving charge time. (one or two miles to the store, and then back again.)

pack that into 4+ months of over 100 degrees and often 1-2 months over 110, yeah, batteries don't last long.

My sister had a saturn with a battery in the trunk, and it lasted from the time she bought it new, till the car was side swiped by a drunk driver totaling it, which was over 8 years. battery probably could have lasted a lot longer if the car hand't have been totaled.

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 03:00 pm

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When your car sits a lot, a battery tender is never a bad thing

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 03:39 pm

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Dusten wrote:
When your car sits a lot, a battery tender is never a bad thing

Absolutely, upgrading my current charger, got one of these coming on Thursday.

https://smartercharger.com/products/batterychargers/ctek-multi-us-7002/

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The thing to remember about batteries is that it is not unusual to get a much better battery aftermarket that what comes in the vehicle. Factor in the 'manufactured' date will always be older than the vehicle, and the fact that is is not uncommon to put slight blemishes into new vehicles it is easy to see why they fail what may be considered 'early'. I happen to know as a fact that Mercedes spends around $11 million a year replacing batteries in vehicles, that haven't even been sold yet.

Last edited on Tue Feb 20th, 2018 03:47 pm by Ordinary Biker

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 09:15 pm

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Tsquare wrote: I have a 9 year old Motorcraft. It was put in right before I got the truck.To put things more in perspective I have a '12 Mini Cooper S and '13 Ford Fusion. This past summer both needed a new battery. The Mini got an Interstate from Costco and the Fusion got a O'riellys battery. For both of those I shopped for the cheapest price. I do not plan on owning either of these cars a year from now.

I am living on borrowed time with my battery in the Ranger. When it dies I will probably drop an Optima in it.

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Posted: Tue Feb 20th, 2018 10:15 pm

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Dollar for Dollar the Sears Die Hard Battery is the best value.
Change it every three years and you will have no problems.

Or do as I do, keep them until I have to jump the truck for a start and then replace it; I get five years out of mine without any problem... most of the time !

I would go Interstate for a general purpose battery.
If I wanted to impress people I would use Optima !

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Posted: Wed Feb 21st, 2018 12:36 am

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Was a die hard Optima fan back in the late 80's and into the early 90's.. All my vehicles afterwards had and remained factory Batteries from Ford and Toyota with additional upgrades in wiring and heat rejection.

Somewhere, some reason Optima changed their batteries, maybe realized they worked too good and then built in some failure compliance's in order to get people to replace more (often?) ?

Fast forward today.. Last 8 Year I haven't bought anything but Exide AGM batteries and some AGM deep cycles that I sometimes cringe at the additional weight/size penalties the Deep cycles offer at times.

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