Best Battery for a drag car only? And maintenance?

So I've been chasing around an electrical gremlin. After cutting off all my solder joints and crimping them I still have the issue. Even just when cranking it seems the ground is weak. Is it possible the battery is bad? It is 8 years old. Holds 12.6 charge when not in use. I'm guessing this is probably my culprit. Now I'm not sure that this is entirely possible but it's all thats left.

So what are the best 12v batteries out there? I'd like it to have lots of CCA as well, because I plan to hit up the ice drags again and I need to start a 13.8 engine in -5 to 20 degrees. I'd also like to know what you guys do to maintain your drag car only batteries.

Thanks!

If it is still working after 8 years I would say your taking care of it just fine. I have been pleased with my Optima Yellow Top, its 6 years old now and I just tested it a month or two ago and it still passes a load test at full CCA with no problem at all.

Been running 2 Orbital gels for many years and they rock and last years as long as you keep em somewhat charged up.........

Odyssey by miles and miles and miles.
Yes they are expensive but they kick optimas butt!

I've run Optima and Odyssey (Sears Platinum were relabeled Odyssey, but they discontinued them.)

X2 on what Thumperdart said...keep them charged. I charge them as much as I can before loading up after the races, then periodically top them off between events at home.

Have someone check the cranking voltage drop on the battery when cranking it Let us know what the drop is
Are you running a alternator or charging the battery after each run?

Can I just watch the battery read out on my Racepak? That should be a real time voltage drop right? Or is that not accurate enough.

I really don't know Do you turn the racepak on after staring it or before? I see a lot of racers that have someone turn the Racepak on just before the run and the diver shuts it off with a master kill switch at the end of the runs

My Racepak is on with my ignition. It doesn't start recording until it sees 6500 RPMs during the burnout.

When cranking the battery drops from 12.6 to 7.8-8.1

That's what my Racepak dash reads.

I have head of optima batteries causing electrical glitches, never used them my self. Worth a try if you ask me. Take the battery out of the daily driver and try that.

Min. should be 12.4 while cranking. Battery needs replacing.

A dip to 10v during crank isn't uncommon at all. I've seen as low as 6v when the starter initially engages. I'd take yours to Autozone/OReilleys/NAPA and have them load test it for certain.

Let me get this straight. Your battery lasted 8 years and you're asking us what kind of battery to buy? I think you should be telling us what battery to buy. I've almost never had a battery in anything last over a couple of years. Me and batterys have bad mojo.

If that is the case, the battery is junk or something in the starting circuit is drawing crazy amps

My opinion if it is a race car is go 16 volt and NEVER look back..

Then I have to buy a generator and a charger right? Or can you go a day without charging?

I'm still running the original battery in my 2004 Dodge Ram truck. So whatever battery the factory put in that truck was a good one. I don't think I've ever had a battery go 12 years before. The 8 years that you got is really good, usually they seem to last about 5 years.

OK I lied. It's 11 years old. Wow, time flies. It has started leaking in the last year or so. The stain on the top is from me topping off the distilled water. So for you guys wondering, here is a battery that lasts i guess.



Yes that's October of 2005 lol

No alternator? I would put one on now and never look back, use a 65 amp or bigger one so the alternator will carry the electrical load and put some voltage back into the battery while racing it
Every drag car that I have tested with and without a alternator ran faster and quicker with the alternator working properly
Todays electronics ignitions and all the other electrically driven race parts we use need a good supply of voltage to work properly

If your fully charged battery drops below 10.8 volts while cranking replace it. Fully charge your battery, put a load test on it, if it drops below 10.8 volts the battery is junk. For racing if it dropped below 11.4 volts I would replace it.

Cab, I have a self exciting 60 amp Bosch alternator. Battery stayed charged just fine street driving with lights on. Now the only lights I have are tail lights. All other wiring has been removed.

My Ram's battery made it from 2005 until earlier this year, couldn't really complain as it didn't owe me anything at that point.

I also have an old prototype red top Optima that was made in the fall of 2001. It will still start a car, and has been in about 10 different vehicles.

Must be nice to have batteries last as long as some of you guys. They really don't like the heat out here in the desert at all. We are lucky to get three years out of batteries a lot of the time

And trailer tires too. Lol. I just changed the battery in my 2003 Chevy Malibu that still had the stock on in it. I figured I was pushing my luck and would get caught some cold winter day

Have you thought about the 16 volt battery? I switched to it this season and am very happy with it, no alternator and we hot lap once past second round, its held up so far, we run ethanol and when it got cold out would be difficult to start first fire up in the morning , with the 16 volt it fires right up , turns the motor over like the plugs are pulled out

I've thought about it many times. I just don't know if I'm ready to buy a generator and take it to the track. If I do buy one, it's gonna be an inverter style, I don't need that loud annoying engine blasting when I'm working on the car.

Or can you run a whole day on single charge?

I also will be racing in the dead of winter so it has to be able to start the car in -5°-20° weather, with 13.8:1 compression.

Put a 16V battery in it and go buy a 2000watt Predator brand inverter from Harbor Freight. It's only $449 and the guy there says same people make them that make the Hondas. Don't know if that's true, but I have one and it has been great. VERY quiet, like a Honda and uses little fuel. I would think you need a generator anyway to keep a pad on the pan for some heat. I know I wouldn't be firing my engine in temps that cold with the oil and water that cold as well

As far as your battery, if it is pulling that much now, it likely has no chance of cranking the car in cold weather

What's a good 16v battery? What should I look for? What should I stay away from?

I too had my '04 Ram diesel batteries last until two years ago! I went to Seattle for two weeks and left my trailer hooked to the pickup with the trailer interior lights on. If you have a slanted parking spot, make sure that you alternate between pulling in and backing in as the constant lean will sulfate that high side of the battery. I use XS Power 16 volt in the race car and they have been good since 2012. They are actually stamped with a 2011 date. The first time I hit the starter button when going from 12 volt to 16 volt, it scared the crap outta me! Never heard a starter run so fast! I actually replaced one (the car has two for the weight) in early 2015 when I was chasing an electrical gremlin. Turns out that it wasn't the battery. I keep them fully charged at all times. I would replace that crusty old Duralast that has done you well with an XS Power 16 volt from FigSpeed!

Use a high amp, constant duty solenoid, wired to be on only with the ignition on, in the trailer battery charge line. Shut the truck off and it isolates the trailer battery from the truck.

Don't even get me started on tires out here..Holy crap I have never bought so many tires in a short time as I have had to here in 4 years..

Like a 30amp relay? Amazing that they would probably still be in service to this day. The parking on a slant thing is a real battery killer, 99 Durango taught me that lesson the hard way...

Read this and rock on! I agree with Cab 110% If you don't run an alternator you are crazy--the Winners run one!!

Diving on those hot roads wear 'em out quick huh?

Which winners would that be? Aside from a Stocker, don't think I ever saw a class car with an alternator on it. If you are talking about bracket cars, sure it's likely a good idea if you get where you can't charge the batt fully between rounds. But my own experience doesn't reflect Cabs at all. It takes power to turn the alternator while it's charging. In every instance we have tested on the dyno or the track, the alt cost you power and ET. If it helped even one tiny iota or anybody THOUGHT it would, every Pro-Stock car on the planet would have one. These are the same guys who think throwing the chute a little early helps "push" the car at the stripe. Ever seen a pro stocker with an alternator?

Good HD 80amp (or higher) to carry the charge current from the truck charging system.

I would bet that 95% or more on this site are bracket racers
Bracket racers can give up that 1/2% to make damn sure they make call in the 7th round and are the same from round to round--now if they are racing Pro Stock they were not checking this thread
and on that....after very day on here since this site opened --and after aiming to help my fellow Mopar guys I see they are in good hands I sign off Ya'll have a good time!

Crabman! Dude! you ok? I think Monte said that if you are bracket racing it's fine. I don't run one and I've never had an issue. Although, I intend to do more bracket stuff next year and less division stuff. I've always thought about running one, just never got around to actually doing it. I have a very close friend that runs one on a bracket '69 Dart. He actually went some rounds one day and when he went to start going to the water box in the 4th round the car wouldn't start. He depended solely on the Alt. to charge the car which is virtually impossible if you are constantly running the starter moving up through the lanes. It only charges going down the track and what little idle time it is to and from the pit spot. You probably run the starter 4-5 times just making 1 run! Any alt. is going to need some help trying to recover the amps lost in the short time that the car runs. Guys that run an alt. and go rounds still use a generator and batt. charger.

If you don't run an alternator you are crazy--the Winners run one!!

I questioned this pretty blunt, bold and blanket statement and he seemed to not agree with my question.

As to solely relying on an alternator, I would have a hard time trusting that. It would take a monster alternator to put out enough amps at low rpm to cover the ignition, fuel pump, water pump, fans, etc. Plus as mentioned, starting the thing 10 times in the lanes to pull it up will zap the battery for sure. Car only sees enough rpm to truly charge the battery for a few seconds during a run. The rest of the time is idle or a little off idle. So hardly seems worth the effort to me on a track only car, since alternator or not, I would personally be running the batt charger after every pass

I've NEVER had an issue due to no alt. It goes on the charger when coming back from the run. 1st thing! Sometimes I'll even bypass the time slip booth to save myself from running the starter again, go put the car on charge then run back on the scooter for the info. My buddy Tom learned the lesson for me, run an alt., still have a generator and charger handy, you're going to need it!

You shut your car off at the ET shack??? I open the door stick my arm out and grab the slip. Our staging lanes are pretty flat, so I'm able to push my car by myself to move ahead. I'm sure not all tracks are as flat.

I guess I've been lucky and never worried about battery charge. Now I'll be thinking about it all the time.

Time to buy a generator and a smart charger.

Even if you have an alternator you should be charging between race days for a strip only car. The alternator never runs enough to keep up with the starting and running fans to cool down etc.

My car is a street car but I use my electric pump and fans to cool the car down after every pass. I also do not push it in the lanes I just start it to pull forward. Even though it gets driven to and from the track I always try to put my charger on it when I get home.

My current bracket car has two group 24 marine/RV deep cycle batteries in it, I charge them for two to three days at 2 to 6 amps before going to the track to race, I don't charge them between time runs or between races but I do charge them during the lunch break I don't start and shut the car off to move it up in the lanes to move up for one or two spaces either, I'll wait for 5 or more spaces before starting the car to move it up

11 year old battery? If it drops to 7ishV on the starter the chances are excellent it's the battery but it wouldn't hurt to put an inductive ammeter on the starter cable just to see what it draws. It would suck to put in a new battery and find out it was really the starter. DAMHIK...

If you're looking for a big CCA battery they are as close as your nearest Kenworth type dealer. 1000ish CCA batteries are about 55 lbs so heavier than what you are running but they should be coming on sale for the winter season, $70-$90.

Kevin

I actually click it at the stripe. Finish line, neutral, click it. I'm lucky at Sonoma and Vegas because the return road is down hill and I can coast all the way to my pit spot. At Sacramento, I pull off to the side and cool it down while I get out of my safety stuff then fire up and drive to the pit stopping for the time slip. Same as Sac. with Phoenix, Fontana, Seattle, Woodburn and RMR. Hope to do more Sonoma and Sac. this next year. I won't be making the final divisional in Vegas in two weeks due to some health issues.

Been running 2 delco voyager deep cycle
for 14years.Still going strong with no alternator.