Gas Chassis battery

[mikim]

Our chassis battery is dead....what battery do you all think is best? I am looking at either Les Schwab or Interstate from Costco.

[Gjac]

As Ron and Dutch already said I buy Walmart batteries for the MH and Tow car because they are all over the US. Twice I replaced my starting battery for free under a 5 year warranty, once I replaced it in a Walmart parking lot while overnighting there. Having said that when I replaced the battery in my wife's car I found that Costco was $69 for the battery and Walmart was $101 so I bought Costco. I don't think it makes any difference as far as quality only convenience to stores when under warranty.

[pianotuna]

MrWizard,

I got nine years out of my Everstart Marine jars. I was part time then at about 90 nights a year.

[MrWizard]

i had everstart batteries in my second class
i had terrible luck with them, always failing

but everybody has different experiences

[wa8yxm]

From my point of view there are 3 battery brands or groups

M/K and Deka are East Pen Battery.. MADE 100% in the USA and what starts my motor home

EXCIDE is the battery both I and my friends have had the worst expierences with, they make batteries sold under many labels. Like the ones Batteries Plus sells

And the rest. Including Interstate, Johnson, US Battery (Most of "The others" are actually either Johnson or US battery).

I bought Deka mostly because it's MADE IN THE USA.. So far I've not been dissappointed with it.

[John_Wayne]

Costco all all over when you need it replaced just take it back to Costco

[Dutch_12078]

I buy the Walmart EverStart batteries previously mentioned for the reasons listed. They're made by Johnson Controls, as are many Interstate batteries, and seem to hold up just as well. The mentioned Trik-L-Start or its big brother the Amp-L-Start is also a good investment if your RV doesn't already have an engine battery charging system other than the engine alternator.

[mikim]

Thank you for all the input....

[dougrainer]

1. Do NOT buy a Deep Cycle battery for the chassis.
2. Les Schwab is just the western USA. Interstate is Nationwide. So, in an RV world, I would want a battery that could be serviced/warrantied Nationwide as I will be traveling. There are a LOT more Interstate Battery centers than Les Schwab centers. If you are traveling and are not near a Les Schwab center and you do have a problem, what good is a warranty if they are not where you are? Interstate has almost 200,000 dealers. We have sold Interstate for almost 30 years and ALL my vehicles have always had Interstate Batteries. NEVER had a problem during the expected life of the battery. My Dealership only puts Interstate batteries in motorhomes and trailers and we have excellent results. We do have a few that fail but odds are the customer caused the failure but Interstate has a 12/18 month no questions ask warranty. Interstate also will replace a complete battery bank if just one battery fails under warranty. Doug

[MrWizard]

midnightsadie wrote:
some where theres a post that theres only four battery makers in the U.S.A only thing different is the sticker on the side.true? don,t know just here say.

yes there are a limited number of MFGs

but they make cheap batteries and excellent batteries depends on what the resellers/brands want to pay for the quality

an $80 battery is an $80 battery

but a $300 battery is consistently better

[pianotuna]

Hi,

After you have that nice new battery add a Trik-L-Start to prevent it dying again.

[time2roll]

http://www.odysseybattery.com/

What group size?

[Ductape]

Best? AGM.

[rgatijnet1]

I have had decent service from the Walmart EVERSTART batteries for my chassis. I use Deka(East Penn) AGM batteries for my house. The reason why I chose the Walmart battery is because Walmart has stores everywhere and in an instant any store can look up when the battery was purchased and issue a prorated credit on the purchase of a new battery. I can't say that the Everstart battery is any better than any other battery, but there are certainly more Walmart stores around the country to get a replacement if needed.

[Chum_lee]

In general, buy a name brand battery from a national distributor with the highest CCA (cold cranking amp) rating with the longest 100% free replacement warranty you can afford. Make sure it will fit in the space you have and the terminals are in the correct location.

Most batteries are made to order by only a few manufacturers and then rebranded so you can't be sure who manufactured the battery you decide to buy.

In general, (not always, sometimes you just get lucky) you get what you pay for. Well, . . . . . do you feel lucky?

Chum lee