Picking up some interstate blems tonight, but the guy doesn't have any group 27's. I think I've heard a group 34 will go, but what other sizes will? I wanna see some of these first hand and figure out which ones fit best and their varying CCA's. I'd like to get the most CCA possible while still getting a battery that requires little modification.

I wouldn't mind buying and making whatever fit, but mine are garbage and I'm just gonna swap them in the parking lot and avoid the core charge (since he's about 45 mins away to begin with).

What group sizes should I ask about while I'm there?

 

you can also use group 78. go to interstate battery's website- search by vehicle and they'll list 27 and 78, not 34.

I think I went with 78's- bigger physical size means more plates which means more reserve capacity. You get either higher CCA or higher reserve capacity as the strong point of the group design.

 

Well,

I stopped by the interstate place and they had DOZENS of skids of blems. Didn't have any group 27's like I wanted, but he did have Group 34's and Group 65's. For the sake of not stepping backwards in CCA (34~700CCA , 27~750CCA ,65~850CCA), I decided to pick up some 65's. They took some finesse to make fit uncluding cutting the tabs off the underside of the battery clamp but they're in and start great. Carry the same warranty as new interstates, etc... Tomorrow morning I'll know for sure whether or not they were worth it since this morning unplugged my truck barely wanted to turn over.

Shawn

 

Cool. As long as the warranty is the same, who cares what the case looks like. In the past I've bought blemished tires - a bit of dirt & a couple of scuffs (not by me of course ) and all tires start to look the same.