I went to start the Jeep this evening to make sure it was ready for a trip tomorrow, but the battery didn't have enough voltage to even click the solenoid. After having the battery charger tell me after a couple minutes that the battery was fully charged, and cleaning the posts, I decided that maybe I should look at that little date sticker on the battery. It seems that 11 years and 2 months was just a little longer than this battery could survive.
So what do you guys think about battery brands these days? This one is an Interstate.
I have a 1984 CJ7 258ci without a winch or extra lights. I like lots of battery power so I always buy the largest that will fit. I do a lot of engine cranking because the carburetor dries out between trips. My Jeep is for trails, so everything gets bounced around a lot. When not doing trail trips my Jeep gets to lounge around in the garage, so it does not get a lot of cold time in the winter.
Unfortunately they're also very pricey. I just put a set of three into my motor home as house batteries and they were almost a grand. I justified the expense because I count on them to keep the house going for days at a time. Losing everything in the fridge is a nasty and expensive proposition. I know from past experience.
For the use your Jeep gets you might be better off going cheap; spend as little as possible and figure on replacing it every few years. My Jeep gets similar use to yours - garaged, mostly trail ridden in nice weather, not relied on as every day transportation - and I just went slightly over cheap with an $85 sealed shooter from Rural King. The one it replaced lasted seven years. A $300 battery would have to last 25 years to equal the value. Since I don't venture into the wilderness alone, failure is an inconvenience at worst.
i have had real good luck with the auto zone duralast red top also. Had to put a new one in the CJ this year. It was 8 years old and still actually started it, but it was tired and asking to leave me stranded. I also have learned to disconnect the battery when i pull the cj in the garage. When its parked for the winter, ill stick a trickle charger on the battery once a month to top it back off. I do that to the lawn mowers and tractors also. Get much better life out of them. When i replaced the battery this summer is was way out of warranty, but they still gave me a discount for coming back for another one. Not sure if that was just a store thing or something they all do.
Jim
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