New truck batteries

Groover wrote:

I can't tell you how good it is yet but I found out that the local Kenworth dealer sells commercial truck batteries for $75 after exchange. That is what is going into my diesel next.

Don't expect those batteries to last long. We sell the exact same group 31 batteries that we get from PACCAR(the parent company of Peterbilt and Kenworth). The group 31 batteries on those trucks are made to have high cold cranking amps so they have much larger internal plates. Generally the larger the plates are the more cold cranking amps it can output, but you cannot fit as many plates so the battery life is shorter.

If you are going to go this route, then get a 6XX or 7XX instead of the 950 CCA battery. They have more plates and will last longer. They are also a little less expensive. We have the TRP(PACCAR's branded battery made by East Penn) 760 CCA for $73 and the 950 CCA for $75.

I wall also add that if I had to rate each manufacturer's battery based on consistent battery quality and what I have seen in the factory, it would be Odyssey followed by Clarios and East Penn tide in Second and Exide a distant third. The only reason why I would choose Clarios and East Penn over Exide is because they don't let their batteries sit in warehouses for long periods of time filled with acid. Once you fill then with acid, the charge life starts degrading. Clarios and East Penn both acid filling factories across the US while Exide does not as many. This means that they can ship just the cases with the lead to these facilities and fill them when a customer like Autozone orders them so you know they are fresh. Since Exide does not have as many of these type of facilities throughout the US, they have to fill them with acid and store them in a warehouse even before they are ordered just to keep up with demand. East Pen and Clarios batteries or no more than 10 days old once they hit our dealerships while Exides can be anywhere from a month to two months old.