Good info thanks......Priced it and its $189.00, so its up there pretty good. The interstate list for $105.00 and retail for $125.00. As I said earlier I dont mind spending extra if its worth it....so its around a $65 spread, what do you think?
Simply looking at the Specs the DIE-HARD wins.

 

I hope Autozone batteries have improved. Fifteen years ago I AutoZone batteries in both of my vehicles and both died. The one in the truck just went dead without notice after about a year. Autozone put it on their machine which puts a fast charge on it. It lasted two weeks and died again. They replaced it this time. When it died a year later, I went elsewhere.

The one in the Dodge Fart (I hated that car!) actually blew up one day while trying to start the car. The hood was closed and the battery wasn't being jumped. The parts guy was convinced I had been jumping it and wouldn't believe me when I told him I wasn't. He replaced it anyway (probably because I looked like I was ready to go over that counter and claw his eyes out...actually, I was). It would be over 10 years before I went into another Autozone.

 

Apparently Ford is using better batteries than they used to. The batteries in both of my Rangers died in one year. The battery in my '08 screw is over a year and a half old and is going strong.

That said, Wally World (Walmart) batteries have a fair to bad reputation but I have never had one fail. I put one in both of my Rangers and ran them for three years. They were going strong when I traded them in. I ran one in my Isuzu Rodeo after the factory battery failed after three years. I replaced it with a Wally World battery (I always get the biggest, baddest battery that will fit in my vehicles; I wasn't afraid to modify or replace the battery box and hold downs if necessary) and it was still going strong when I traded her in on my screw.

For me, the biggest advantage to a Wally World battery is they have 24 hour stores all over the US. Even the smallest towns big enough to have a traffic light usually have a Wally World. This could be handy if the thing dies while I'm traveling.

 

The Wally World battery in my stepdaughter's minivan lasted less than 3 years. "Everstart" my *** - should be called Neverstart.

 

I've still got the original battery, 2004, 74k on the clock. But will be changing before winter.

 

I have over 4 years on the 4 or 5 EverStarts I have bought for various cars/toys. I can't say anything bad about them since I've never had one give up on me. Optimas have a terrible reputation as far as I'm concerned. I have heard nothing but bad stuff from people who ever had the battery discharged once. They never seem to recover. For a $180 battery, I can buy 2-3 EverStarts.

 

That crossed my mind too, but I like the reliability side as well. Thats why I am thining about the DIE-HARD Platinum or the Interstate Mega-Tron.....leaning toward the platinum due to its AGM based construction.

Plan on going to a lakehouse this Wednesday - Sunday and dont plan on driving once I get there. So I will be changing out my battery before I go. Dont want to go start up the truck every day and let idle for 15 minutes.

 

Anyone else? Any additional input would be good as I will be purchasing tomorrow. Thanks for all the info thus far.

 

I would say for the best value drop one of these in:



for the best battery regardless of price: DIE-HARD Platinum

 

^^ Thanks, I guess I will sleep on it and see if I want to spend the extra cash for the DIE-HARD.

 

Ended up holding off on the battery purchase for a while, but after this weekend it died twice just to the dome lite cycling a couple times. I got it jumped off and was able to go get a new battery and looking at the readings on my Gryphon, I think the alternator was screaming at me.

Anyways I ended up getting the DieHard Platinum, pleased so far.

 

Go to Advance Auto Part web site
Select Autocraft Gold Battery Size 65, 850 CC amps $104.99 add to cart
Select Pick-up in store
Apply Coupon/Discount code BIG40 for $40 off $100
Check out.
Print receipt and take ID & Credit card used for purchase to verify purchase when you pick up the battery.
Drop off old battery to receive $12.00 core charge refund.
Enjoy saving $40 bucks and a new battery.

I don't know when the coupon/discount expires. Probably end of Oct.

 

Sears Platinum

 

Working on the farm, it seems like the OEM batteries last the longest. Usually get 5 or 6 years out of a battery. After that it seems that the replacements are a crap shoot. I removed a couple of Exides out of a '91 L-8000 last year that were 11 years old. They had the 8's punched out of them, and I know I didn't change them in '08 otherwise they would have only been a year old at the time. I've also had Exides that lasted 3 or 4 years, same with all other brands. Seems like you sometimes get lucky and get a good one, or you get a bad one that just makes it out of warranty regardless of brand.

 

Interstate megatron plus