Jump starter for Dodge Diesel truck 2012

[MarkTwain]

Any recommendations for a "Truck jump Starter" for an emergency when dead batteries are dead. Looking for some name brands. Would like a good quality one.

[wa8yxm]

I have jumped exactly one diesel. It was a 24 volt model and we used multiple devices to get 24 volt.. the jump pack was a 1000 amp peak.

My suggestion is an echo of what is above if your system is a 12 volt go with a 2000 or bigger. NOTE one that size is going to be a bit like the radio to my right.

When I bought it I had them ship it to me "Want to avoid the sales tax" ask the sales person.. "No, want to keep my arms the same length, that sucker is heavy) 100 watt HF/VHF/UHF transmitter/with Dual receiver on U/Vhf.. Yes it is heavy.> Works well too).

Even the 900 amp I have now is not something to be carried lightly.

I do have a light weight one in the car (LI battery)

[time2roll]

Some do gain comfort with having a spare tire, serpentine belt, maybe wheel bearings for the trailer, warm blanket, emergency food and water, spare batteries for the flashlight or walkie-talkies, and plenty of other random stuff. Maybe if they get in a jam or maybe to help someone else.

I give credit to those that are prepared.

[Gdetrailer]

NRALIFR wrote:
Yes, they’re excellent points. Right up until you hear yourself saying “Uh, it shouldn’t have done that”.

I had a long career working on computers myself. I only put my full trust in automotive control modules when the vehicle is sitting at home in my garage.

:):)

Buying a "jump box" for a "just incase" is of zero help when you FORGOT to CONTINUALLY RECHARGE said jump box.

You VEHICLE automatically recharges it's own battery(ies) once you start it. MUCH more "dependable" than remembering some jump box tossed under a seat for a few yrs.

Ignoring the SIGNs of your starting battery going south is also not all that smart. They DO give plenty of warnings that they have lost capacity and one CHOOSES to ignore it just because they have that partially discharged or completely dead jump box tossed under a seat that they forgot about for several yrs.

You are also not thinking of a secondary issue with newer lithium jumpboxes.. Lithium battery tech does not like to be charged or discharged in very cold weather.. The BMS on the internal battery will refuse to allow the jumpbox to start your now dead vehicle in sub zero weather.. Now just how good is that?

Your standard off the shelf auto starting batteries have no such restrictions..

Perhaps it makes you feel warm and fuzzy to think a little $80 jump box is going to start a diesel engine which is equipped with not one but TWO mammoth sized FLA batteries.. But that is nothing more than folly and you won't realize it until you accidentally find yourself with a totally dead useless jumpbox.

The BEST plan is to plan ahead with KNOWN GOOD batteries and never, ever use the starting battery as additional capacity for your TC or trailer..

If you have a TC, there ARE plenty of available places to stash extra batteries on the truck, between the wheel wells is a vast space of wasted area that can hold quite a lot of batteries.. There is a lot of space under the truck on the outside of the frame rails which lots of batteries can be stashed..

You really don't want to mess with a jumpbox when it comes to Diesels, not enough juice to light the glow plugs enough or spin it fast enough and you can find yourself in a world of hurt when it hydrolocks.. Heck even too low of battery voltage on some Ford Diesels can prove disastrous to the FICM adding more insult to injury.

Go ahead and feel warm and fuzzy with that jumpbox as your protector.

[NRALIFR]

Yes, they’re excellent points. Right up until you hear yourself saying “Uh, it shouldn’t have done that”.

I had a long career working on computers myself. I only put my full trust in automotive control modules when the vehicle is sitting at home in my garage.

:):)

[MEXICOWANDERER]

GDtrailer makes some excellent points. Here are some more...

Check with a flashlight into a cell to make sure the battery has not frozen. Jumping a frozen battery invites an explosion.

Jumper cables for a diesel should be a dead minimum of FOUR AWG solid copper. And even then, a solid TEN MINUTES of charging should be the minimum time to allow the batteries to charge. Ponder the point. Twenty feet or more of four gauge starter cable cannot support cold weather engine cranking. Let the engine batteries charge up enough to carry the majority of the cranking load.

Cranking the other guy's engine with yours risks blowing the hell out of your nightmare to replace ECU. I have serviced far too many no start or limp home misfits that reportedly had jumped started another vehicle the week prior. Jump to charge a battery, disconnect the cables then crank the affected vehicle. Insist the other driver exit his vehicle before jumping his vehicle. Too many prove to be utterly stupid and despite clear instructions go against your wishes.

I made a fortune in the seventies and eighties jump-starting notoriously hard to jump start vehicles at high altitudes and bitter cold temperatures. I used a series paired 8-D and 7-D batteries 300 pounds of fully charged 14 volts plus 2/0 jumper cables. It all cranked early Ford 6.9 Ford diesels with 17MT Delco non gear reduction starter motors. Plus a glow plug override. I had a Cole Hersee inline lever switch rated 1,000 amps in line. With the advent of ULSD gelled diesel today is less of a problem.

My toad has a gear reduction ND starter so 80 amps boost is all it needs to crank when it's 70F. Cold weather cranking will forever remain unknown on purpose.

[NRALIFR]

I know how they work. I leave the doors and hood open in my garage all the time. It’s still not stupid to be prepared. I’m also aware of how large and expensive a jump starter has to be to start a Diesel engine. That’s why I said I sized mine so it would start my built-in generator that’s always with me. That way I can use it to charge USB devices and still have enough “ummp” to start the generator if it’s needed. Things with batteries that aren’t used occasionally tend to be useless when you need them.

Insinuating someone is stupid and deserves to have something bad happen to them is quite the reflection on you. It’s what I’ve come to expect though.

:):)

[Gdetrailer]

NRALIFR wrote:
Did anyone say they were jump starting their trucks routinely? This is planning for an emergency so you can take care of yourself. Even a brand new battery can be run down unintentionally.

As for long heavy cables, for me a small jump starter is a heck of a lot easier to store, and has other uses besides just jump starting the truck.

:):)

You HAVE to go way out of your way to run down a battery in vehicles now days and that IS a fact. The body control monitors EVERYTHING and it shuts down everything after a predetermined time has elapsed.

Been that way for yrs, our 2013 Ford shuts down the lighter ports after you turn off the key.

Ram and Ford BOTH use a relay to turn off the charge line on the trailer connection immediately after the key is turned off.

The only way you can accidentally flatten a battery now days is if you did something stupid like completely bypassing all the electrical nanny stuff by connecting direct to the battery. If you do that, you pretty much DESERVE to be stranded.

Camping with trailer or TC connected AND depending on your vehicle battery to run your trailer or TC is not smart in any way, shape or form.

In the case of a battery "just failing", I find that most times the battery HAS given you plenty of warnings and signs that it is time to change.

You are going to find very few jump boxes that will have enough ummp to turn over a diesel with a 100% flat starting battery.

[NRALIFR]

Did anyone say they were jump starting their trucks routinely? This is planning for an emergency so you can take care of yourself. Even a brand new battery can be run down unintentionally.

As for long heavy cables, for me a small jump starter is a heck of a lot easier to store, and has other uses besides just jump starting the truck.

:):)

[Gdetrailer]

MarkTwain wrote:
Any recommendations for a "Truck jump Starter" for an emergency when dead batteries are dead. Looking for some name brands. Would like a good quality one.

Replace the truck batteries.

If you feel you are needing to have some sort of small battery pack to start your vehicle, you HAVE exceeded the life of the vehicle batteries.

Now days unlike the days in the past vehicles have all kinds of electrical "nannies" which are there to prevent you from running down the batteries by accident (like leaving the lights or radio on too long) and will turn off the offending loads..

Vehicle batteries are a "consumable" wear item, replace them as soon as you notice any slow turnover, slight hesitation before starting and you will never need those jump boxes.

Cold weather tends to show weak/worn batteries faster and as soon as I notice the engine turning over more sluggish than I have normally seen in the past I REPLACE the batteries.

And yet, I typically can get 8 or more years out of a starting battery.

Nearly 40 yrs of driving and I have never been caught with a dead battery needing a jump.

The jump boxes are very limited power capability and you HAVE to REMEMBER to periodically RECHARGE them and 9 chances out of 10 you will have forgotten to recharge it.

I had several portable battery powered air compressors and while the batteries could hold a charge for a yr or so, I still had to remember to recharge it as part of maintenance and over time the internal battery would still cease to function rendering it junk if your life depended on it.

You have a 2012, 8 yrs on the battery, replace the battery now and go for another 8 yrs and don't worry about it.

[Yeti_plus]

The batteries on my previous truck died when my wife had the truck. The booster service only had one booster pack, that wasn't enough to start the Duramax. I got there shortly after he tried and it took his booster pack on one battery and my booster pack on the other battery to start the truck.
I now carry two booster packs in the truck , just in case. Haven't used them on the truck, but have used one on the lawn tractor, and a strangers truck in campground in Newfoundland.
I bought them from Amazon, Gooloo was the brand name. only downfall that I have found is there is no cigarette lighter outlet which would be handy for accessory use.

[Veebyes]

Carry a set of long heavy gauge jumper cables. 12' long minimum. 18' better. The cheapy auto ones will not do.

[agesilaus]

That's basically what I did a week ago, except I used my Honda EU2200i and a battery charger.

[NRALIFR]

Rather than buying a NOCO jump starter big enough to start my truck, I bought one more than big enough to start the generator on its own in my camper. If I can get that started, I can get the truck started with my portable charger.

The smaller jump starter can also be used for other things, where the bigger one would have likely been a closet queen.

:):)

[time2roll]

My 10 year old jump box was recently found to be worthless, I bought this one to replace:

NOCO GB 70 2000 amps