Had to buy a battery for a daily driver. As I had done in the past, I bought a Die Hard AGM thinking it would again be a rebranded Deka from PA. Got it home and saw it had a little "made in china" sticker. UGH!
It's getting really bad.
Bad for the quality of products
Bad for our country
For a time we were moving away from the "Made in China" pitfall but I have a sneaking suspicion we are moving back to it all over again...
After not being able to export toys in many other items with lead content, China find a better way to deal with the inventory.
Correction,
Communist China
I guess I am lucky. I drive by the Deka factory and the warehouse every day. I can drive right into the plant to the little factory store they have and buy direct from them. They are even still warm when you get them. lol.
Question:
My repop Autolite which is 12 yrs old, yes 12 yrs, and I'm going to have to replace soon. Not looking to replace with the $500 repop todays Autolite, just a regular name battery.
So is AGM the way to go for these older vehicles that sits more than drove?
Thanks for any advice,
Rich
I just bought 2 batteries from Costco(Interstate). A 24F for my GT350 and a 27F for my SCJ Mach1. My last Costco battery which is just old in the Shelby has a 9 09 date on it. Time will tell if it was the right choice. A friend paid around 50 bucks for one from Rural King(Excide rebranded) for his 71 Boss 351.
The last 2 batteries I have purchased came from my local Home Depot.... great prices on standard Exide batteries and both have done very well in non-regular drivers. I like the fact that I can peel off one decal, and its a plain black battery suitable for your favorite topper. I have one in the GT350 and another in my 1966 Alfa Romeo boat tail convertible. Of course I do have a cut off switch on the Alfa, but not the Shelby.
Two words:
BATTERY TENDER
Un-used car batteries will last. The only car battery I had to replace in years was on my Toyota FJ Cruiser which sat for 2 months, thus dead battery. (2013 Original Battery). Tender on everything.
AGM batteries need a special AGM battery tender, if you use a normal acid battery tender it will kill it.
Battery tenders are also capable of killing batteries. They are not smart chargers.
Look at CTek or Optima.
Quote from: 2112 on June 21, 2021, 03:52:59 PM
Battery tenders are also capable of killing batteries. They are not smart chargers.
Look at CTek or Optima.
I put my Mach1 battery on my battery tender and had it on for a few years and the battery was dead when I decided to use it last winter. No charger on my Shelby for a few years now and would use the tender periodically over the years and at 12 years old replaced it a few weeks ago.
Quote from: 427hunter on June 21, 2021, 11:34:11 AM
AGM batteries need a special AGM battery tender, if you use a normal acid battery tender it will kill it.
Ok, going back to my reply #6, My repop Autolite DID last 12 years but the place I bought it from(And I cannot remember who it was), told me to charge every 3 months for 1 hour with my Diehard charger set to AGM and 10 Amps.
That has to be the reason I got 12 yrs out of it.
Quote from: shelbymann1970 on June 21, 2021, 07:44:47 AM
I just bought 2 batteries from Costco(Interstate). A 24F for my GT350 and a 27F for my SCJ Mach1. My last Costco battery which is just old in the Shelby has a 9 09 date on it. Time will tell if it was the right choice. A friend paid around 50 bucks for one from Rural King(Excide rebranded) for his 71 Boss 351.
Was your batteries AGM batteries? How about the Rural King?
I found an Interstate battery distribution center that sells perfectly good "Blemished" batteries for about $50. Use them in my daily drivers and my Meyers Manx which gets stored all winter (here in WA that's about 7 months).
Easy to rattle can the green top black, and good to go.
Quote from: 69mach351w on June 24, 2021, 04:28:26 PM
Quote from: shelbymann1970 on June 21, 2021, 07:44:47 AM
I just bought 2 batteries from Costco(Interstate). A 24F for my GT350 and a 27F for my SCJ Mach1. My last Costco battery which is just old in the Shelby has a 9 09 date on it. Time will tell if it was the right choice. A friend paid around 50 bucks for one from Rural King(Excide rebranded) for his 71 Boss 351.
Was your batteries AGM batteries? How about the Rural King?
At Rural King I waited 30 minutes while the guy tried to find 1 of 2 Group 27 batteries he had in stock. Never found them. First time in Rural king. Only one I know about here in MI and it is right on my way home from work. They were not AGM batteries I bought for either car(group 24 for Shelby and group 27 for Mach1). Looking at Costco's site their batteries went up a LOT in the last couple of months. I paid 84 and 92 for my batteries. Rural King would have been much less but I didn't find out about the store(its 25 miles at least from my house) until a friend told me he paid 50-60 bucks for his battery for his Boss 351 and I had already bought my 24 for my Shelby. Gary