To be honest, the Duralast Gold that Autozone sells has been a REALLY good battery for me. One lasted nearly 10 years in my Dakota.

I've listened in on posts on a Cummins site and basically all batteries are made by two or three manufacturers. Age has set in on my brain. I know that Johnson Controls is one of them. Each vendor orders batteries to their specs. The more cold cranking amps, the more plates in the battery. The battery last longer. I need two for my truck and I will probably go to Autozone. Good warranty on the Golds.

Walmart sux.

thanks.. i've run a couple of duralast golds in the past with very good results. was just wondering if anything has changed.

Changed?
1. Used Optima until 2008, when I got tired of their newer batts crapping out.
2. Switched to Sears Platiumun, last month I took one in for warranty, they no longer offered a 4 year AGM, so they replaced batt with another brand AGM 3 yr, and bought out remainder of the warranty with a store credit.
3. A Lot of my batteries sit for 4-6 months a year idle, and that seems to take a toll, not sure if they really worth the extar cost for top of the line agm's, other then bragging rights when it comes down to it. In vehicles used weekly, I have much better results.

Last couple of chry products have had great luck with factory batteries, 10 years or more. That used to not happen years ago. Other than that, I have had good luck with Interstate and even Delco batts.

FWIW, I recently pulled a wal-mart energizer battery out of a car I had sitting in storage, threw it on the trickle charger for a couple days and it's been doing great. Bought the battery at least 10 years ago, it's been sitting unused since 2007.

I second that!

I have at least ten running, drive tagged and insured Mopar cars/trucks and all of them have Interstate batteries. I have had two die in 15 years and they were warrantied.

For comparison a 67 Impala came in with a brand new Walmart battery and the next day when I tried to pull it in the shop is had a shorted cell. Maybe others have good luck but we surely have not.

I Go to the junk yards(used auto parts) $30 a battery 90 days warranty, take a tester, it will tell if it's good or not. I needed 7, you do the math.

I have had good luck with Walmart and NAPA premium in DD's. I run an Optima on the hot rod. First one before they had quality difficulties, second one apparently after they were fixed. Both have been fine. With battery in trunk, I do not want acid leaks. I also have had really good luck with OE batteries as posted.

As far as the off road part, depends on how hard you are pushing it. If moderate, a DD battery should be fine. If racing, jumping ect then agree an AGM battery would be better.

ok so i have it narrowed down to two..

never had am interstate before but a lot of people seem to really like them.. my jeep calls for the MT34 (Mega-Tron 34 Automotive Battery Five-Year Performance 700 CCA) is this a decent battery?

5 year warranty with 24 month free replacement. 700 cca come in at $119 plus tax...



or the dura last gold. i have used these in the past with good results. this one has a 5 year warranty and 3 year free replacement. and has 800 cca but is a little more expensive at 138.00 plus tax.

I had a smaller size Interstate in my TA. It could sit for weeks to a couple months and cranked away. Duralast Gold sounds like an interesting alternative. will see if there is a sale on them when time comes to buy another.

I have had good luck with Duralast Gold also. I replaced the original batteries in my 03 CTD with Diehard Platinum about four years ago with no problem.

Tough to beat price and warranty with Costco or Walmart. My record with either has been excellent over the years. Oft times I have seen Consumer Reports rate either highly,,,if this means anything to you.

Same here...

Disconnect ground cable whenever car will be parked for a week or more. Will improve battery longevity substantially. Not to mention decreased fire hazard. Even a clock, alarm system, radio memory, air ride suspension and general ECU parasitic draws can run a battery down. Miliamps do add up over time. The fewer discharge/recharge cycles the better for life expectancy.

I have a Ride Tech air ride system in a car which has a Optima yellow top battery. If I disconnect battery and check it 2 weeks later, still at 95 percent or better charge.

If I do not disconnect battery will be at less than 12 volts when measured, verses at 13 plus if disconnected. The Ride Tech ECU is an energy pig even with ignition switch turned off. Which suggests that a 1 month parking, car would likely fail to start.

Once a battery is completely discharged, even if you are able to recharge, it will never be the same. Most consumer battery chargers in fact will not be able to recharge the battery.

If you should experience this phenomon, there are methods to recover the battery. If interested enter a posting.

cheapest battery around here is AC Delco.
Works good BTW which I wouldn't have expected

Ever since I've bought a few USED Exide/Optima batteries for my cars I'll never buy a regular lead-acid battery again.
The 4 gel-batteries I've got with one of them in my daily Dart are nearing or are over 10 years old with no sign of getting weak.

Original battery in our 2002 Quad Cab I calculated had to be over 12 years old based upon the build date of the truck and the presumed time the battery was made before that when it got replaced earlier this year. Would love to know who made that one, I would buy another one. I don't expect the walmart everstart maxx will even come close to that lifespan.

I'm running a couple delcos, an International and a Ford battery all seem to be OK if you drive the cars regularely but two of the delcos go dead over time when you don't.



I ran costco batteries in my daily drivers for several years and while the warranty was great every battery lasted about year before they had to be replaced. After a few years of that it wasn't worth the hassle anymore and I switched to other brands and haven't had the same problems since.

I been getting 7 years out of the cheaper Walmart 1 year warranty batteries. The Walmart Maxx batteries with 3 year free replacement have only lasted me 4-5 years.