i work on the river, and my truck will be sitting for 28 days at a time. and since i get back on the boat on the 3rd, this truck will be sitting out side, in the dead of winter. is there any thing i should do/be worryed about? think the stock batterys are strong enough to fire it after sitting in the cold for 4 weeks with out being pluged in?

 

I do mine like that all the time, it works just fine. I did have to replace both batteries recently, but it was time for them to go as they were around 5 years old.

I have a 12 volt solar cell that lays on the dash and trickle charges the batteries to keep them fully charged. It just plugs into the cig lighter, works pretty well for storage.

 

If your batteries are good you should have no problem. My farm equipment can set for months,and I very seldom have any trouble geting them to start.

 

I have a question about the solar panel. How can it charge your battery if you plug it into the cig. lighter? When you shut the key off the lighter does not work. I have thought about getting one for the rock crawler because it sits for a month or two during the winter and I disconnect the batteries so they do not go dead. I run dual Odyssey batteries, which are very expensive, and I want to keep them charged up.

 

I think the actual Cigar lighter stays on with the key off, the power outlet goes off with the key. At least on my 2006.

 

This depends on the year model of course as they seem to change from year to year. Obviously the solar charger has to be hooked up to a hot plug or it will not work.

On my camper there was a diode inline with the power outlet, it would not charge the battery using that outlet. I had to hardwire it direct to the battery in order for it to work properly.

 

If the outside temps will be at or below 10 above zero then switch to 5w40 synthetic oil as this will aid in easier start up in the cold weather. FYI, 5w40 synthetic oil is approved for use in your 2006 and use it in mine. If you want to be sure just look in your owners manual on page 373 and on 374 is the chart with 5w40 listed.