Bigger battery for your truck

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4xdad

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As anyone put a larger battery in their truck when I killed my battery I wanted a larger one after looking at the battery box I saw small plastic devider I pulled it out = more room for a bigger battery I would think it’s for a diesel. More cca but it is good for a pw to help with winching
 

MantaRay67

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Any recommendations on size and type? I'm around the Mid-Atlantic in Northern Virginia, so I don't suffer the frigid cold that some of our Alaskan and Canadian brothers do. When I do have it all apart, I'll add a battery tender dongle to ward off the parasitic drain some others are experiencing in different threads. I've only used my winch twice in the 10 months I've had the truck (one to tension the line and the other for a snow recovery of a friend's jeep). While I have it all apart, I'll be adding a heavy gauge jumper cable with a quick disconnect
 

JHoward

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Interstate Batteries MTX-49 H8/group AGM cca@900 for about $259.00
 

62Blazer

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Not arguing about putting a bigger battery in or anything, just clarifying what this does. A "bigger" battery, in regards to cold cranking amps (CCA) that everybody looks at, does not make the winch work better or have more power. You need to also look at the reserve capacity, and an increased reserve capacity and higher CCA will simply allow you to run the winch longer before draining the battery. Even with the engine running and alternator working the winch can easily draw more power than what the alternator can produce and thus is pulling reserve capacity from the battery and will drain it. A Warn 12,000 winch is rated to pull up to 440 amp at maximum load which is at least double the maximum output the alternator is capable of producing. Keep in mind the alternator output is dependent on how high you are revving the engine. Even a 220 amp alternator is probably only producing 100 amps at idle.
Overall, my point is that upgrading from the factory battery to a little bit bigger battery has very minimal advantages in regards to winching. And that advantage is maybe an extra 30 seconds of running the winch at a very high load before draining the battery.
 

bcbouy

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why i have the dual alternators.i'd never run my winch without the truck running if i can help it.and agm batteries don't like the cold.i took too long pulling my agm's out of my truck camper for the winter a couple years ago.that little mistake cost me $2200.
 

Atcer2018

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Not arguing about putting a bigger battery in or anything, just clarifying what this does. A "bigger" battery, in regards to cold cranking amps (CCA) that everybody looks at, does not make the winch work better or have more power. You need to also look at the reserve capacity, and an increased reserve capacity and higher CCA will simply allow you to run the winch longer before draining the battery. Even with the engine running and alternator working the winch can easily draw more power than what the alternator can produce and thus is pulling reserve capacity from the battery and will drain it. A Warn 12,000 winch is rated to pull up to 440 amp at maximum load which is at least double the maximum output the alternator is capable of producing. Keep in mind the alternator output is dependent on how high you are revving the engine. Even a 220 amp alternator is probably only producing 100 amps at idle.
Overall, my point is that upgrading from the factory battery to a little bit bigger battery has very minimal advantages in regards to winching. And that advantage is maybe an extra 30 seconds of running the winch at a very high load before draining the battery.
Overall, my point is that upgrading from the factory battery to a little bit bigger battery has very minimal advantages in regards to winching. And that advantage is maybe an extra 30 seconds of running the winch at a very high load before draining the battery.
Well put! I have a friend that is an Interstate rep and he told me off the record buy the cheapest battery with the best warranty. The battery will fail, when it does a longer warranty will replace it no matter if it’s a AGM, flooded, oversized or the standard battery for the vehicle. You can buy a $500 battery or a $150 battery, when they fail the best battery is the one that is replaced under warranty.
 

pacofortacos

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AGM batteries do not like sitting either - even with a battery tender on 24/7.
Just replaced my H8 AGM battery at 15 months old - going back to flooded lead acid.

Hard to get a bad battery to fail for warranty purposes also, the new testers they use don't put a real load on the battery. So if a cell is marginal it will still pass.

Mine passed 2 tests in a row, I went home turned on the low beams and 4 ways (FOR about 4 minutes) and battery voltage dropped to 9-10 volts - no way a huge H8 AGM battery should do that if it is good.
Back down, it passed again, since it got a surface charge from driving the truck there.
Said hold on, turned on the low beams and 4 ways, watched with a voltmeter - as soon as it hit under 12 volts (about 2 minutes) I said test it. He did and it came up bad cell. Nice Warranty covered - swapped for a flooded standard battery.
 

Atcer2018

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Any recommendations on size and type? I'm around the Mid-Atlantic in Northern Virginia, so I don't suffer the frigid cold that some of our Alaskan and Canadian brothers do. When I do have it all apart, I'll add a battery tender dongle to ward off the parasitic drain some others are experiencing in different threads. I've only used my winch twice in the 10 months I've had the truck (one to tension the line and the other for a snow recovery of a friend's jeep). While I have it all apart, I'll be adding a heavy gauge jumper cable with a quick disconnect
The Everstart H7 AGM battery from Walmart. It’s made by Johnson Controls and has a 4 year warranty, $165 and you can get it at thousands of Wally Worlds.
 
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