Well folks, it is battery time. My truck was in the garage and had been on block heater for about 5 hrs. The garage isn't heated but it is usually about 10 degrees warmer than outside. So it was probably only about -10C in the garage. Truck hadn't been touched since Tuesday. When 'wait to start' light clicked off I hit the starter. On the second compression even the starter stalled for a second and then kicked over and truck started. That was close!! The batteries were starting to act sea at the end of last winter, so I am not surprised. So, without getting crazy and having to mess with battery trays, hood height etc. what is a good battery to get in Calgary and where is a good place to get them? I know that asking about best batteries is like acting about best oil, so I will undoubtedly get a few answers, that is ok, I can take it. I did try to search our forum but i can't figure out how to limit search results to a single jforum.
Thanks for help folks.

 

Find the ones with the best warranty

 

Group 27 is the stock size. ( because dodge needed to be different )

Group 60 / 65 should fit, and are available at NAPA up to 880 cca.

I went with group 31 commercial, with standard posts, 1150cca.

Took a bit of trimming on the front end of the battery trays to get them in there, but they have been good so far.

 

I generally do what pind did: try to get the biggest honking batteries I can into the tray. You can never have too much cranking/staying power when the wind blows cold. I like Interstates myself - they seem to last. Good warranty too.

 

Dr Evil started a thread last year that contains some excellent information.
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...hlight=battery

Just changed mine today, after 5 years it was time.

 

in that thread i had the pow-r-surge batts at the time. well, they are no longer in the truck. they ended up going south in a hurry. who knows, maybe it was the poor output of my dying alternator at the time that did them in.

i have since switched both out with new ones of a different brand - but the name escapes me right now.

stand by - i'll get back to you with the name and place . . .

 

i think the place i got them from is called 'affordable battery specialists' in calgary on manitou road just off blackfoot at the bottom of the hill.

i still can't think of the brand of batteries though - haha, not even on the tip of my tongue yet! i know they are orange though . . .

on edit -
ok figured out the name. odyssey. they have been awesome, a bit more spendy than most others, but at the time they had the best CCA without going to a group 31 and they dropped right in, in fact they seem a touch smaller than stock. i think these batteries are pure virgin lead as opposed to some which use alloys. hence they are heavy as hell and cost more money. this allows them to take abuse with various cycling and deep cycling though. reason i went this route is because of the espar sometimes draining them down . . .

 

odyssey is a premium battery for sure. they've got a couple in a large frame, which you could relocate a big single under the truck and get rid of both small batteries from the engine bay all together.

 

Thanks everyone. I have a choice to make now. Some kind of premium CanTire battery for convenience or the Odyssies for quality. This will also be a good time to fix the tie-down bar that is mising a nut and install the battery blankets. Yeah - I know some people advise against battery blankets. I have used them on almost all of my vehicles for years and have never had any issues. I will take my chances and if I have probs, I have only myself to blame.

 

I buy all my batteries at Costco, they are low priced and you can't beat the warranty, they will take almost anything back.

 

I have to say that I really hate the Mopar replacements, they are really gassy and like to corrode the battery terminals. I've seen that too with Cdn. Tire barreries. I've had really good luck with Battery Direct. Have their Platinum series in my truck now and have never had to clean my battery connections. Free replacement warranty for the full 84 months too. Their head office is in Calgary, and several jobbers around here seem to carry them.
http://www.batterydirect.com/

 

The place I bought my odyssey batteries from isn't (wasn't) afraid to deal either … just have to ask - worst they say is no!

On the other hand - battery direct from the last post might be worth looking into …

 

I just got 2 from Costco

1000amps

$90 each

Work good

 

If you are looking for oddyssey batteries, the Sears Die Hard Platinum Batteries are oddyssey batteries in a sears wrapper and a good $50 cheaper.

I just Bought 2 Duralast platinum AGM batteries for my truck, They were about $100 cheaper a piece then the oddyssey batteries.

 

Uh no...thats because Deka/East Penn Power Surge batteries are junk. They are the same ones that I had and they gave me nothing but trouble. I switched to Optima Red Tops and havent had a single battery issue since.

If you do go with Group 31's you usually have to cut one side out of the battery trays and lengthen the battery hold down bolts. But generally not a big deal.

Optima makes a group 31 yellow top (Im not talking about the regular yellow top) that is similar in capacity to the Oddyessys...