Big 3 Upgrade

Panik · October 17, 2016

So after 2 years and ~55,000 miles I broke down and replaced the battery. It had gotten to the point that just about every other week I was having to jump start my truck. It is a daily driver during the week and rarely every sits unused for both days on the weekend. The only electrical mods on the truck are 35w Morimoto Elite HID's, a Range AFM plug in and regularly charging a iphone. I have been in the habit of leaving the range AFM plugged in unless the truck was going to sit for more than two days.

I would've have really liked to replace the battery with a Sears Platinum Diehard (re-branded Odyssey) but apparently they are no longer available. I ended up going with an Autocraft Platinum AGM (840CCA, 1000CA, ~150hr reserve). Hopefully with the upgraded reserve this battery will function better.

Prior to swapping the battery I had the original checked several times and was told that the battery was "good" but was not being charged more than 80%. All of this got me to wondering if doing the big 3 upgrade might be beneficial in that it might allow the existing alternator to more efficiently charge the battery.

I had hoped to eventually add some led amber fog cubes as well as a wireless compressor to maintain the airbags I had installed. I suppose a better way of wording my question would be: Would it be worth the time and money to do the big 3 upgrade with the mods I have planned, or am I just p$%@ing in the wind with my cash?

DaveH71 · October 17, 2016

2 years and 55,000 miles should be nothing for any battery let alone the stock ac delco. I'm still on my original Delco from 2011 at 60,000 miles.

You may want to do a better look over of your charging system before you start putting money into cables.

Have your alternator checked and look for any possible parasitic draws on the truck.

It's possible you did get a dud battery from factory, have you every discharged it by accident?

Panik · October 17, 2016

I agree about the battery life. The last several vehicles I have owned I haven't had to change the battery during the entire time they were in my possession (7+ years). Given the number of people I had seen on the forum with 2014+ trucks complaining about batteries I had figured it was a combination of increased electronic load in combination with a low quality and/or older/dud battery.

I suppose it is possible that it might be the alternator, I've got a good mechanic that would be willing to do me a favor in checking the alternator and may swing by when I have a free moment. As for parasitic draws I had kinda figured that the Range AFM might be largest culprit in that category although I wouldn't rule out any other gremlins. To the best of my knowledge the battery was never discharged by accident. I say to the best of my knowledge because I do have three little ones running loose and there is no telling if one of the times the battery ran down that they weren't playing in the vehicle.

Nasty · October 18, 2016

All,of my vehicles have xs power batteries. I won't use anything else.

As for the big 3. I have a 16 and I haven't looked yet but 05 and up have a battery current sensor. And on nnbs trucks the battery current sensor isn't big enough for any bigger cable so it's kind of pointless to do

You have to run the ground through the sensor or else you will high charge the time and that burns batteries

seansharley · October 19, 2016

Mine went at less than 2 years, the heat in Florida is tough on batteries. I went for a second, and did the dual setup seeing as the provisions are already in place

Panik · October 19, 2016

All,of my vehicles have xs power batteries. I won't use anything else.

As for the big 3. I have a 16 and I haven't looked yet but 05 and up have a battery current sensor. And on nnbs trucks the battery current sensor isn't big enough for any bigger cable so it's kind of pointless to do

You have to run the ground through the sensor or else you will high charge the time and that burns batteries

Good to know! Thank you, I had not realized that there was a current sensor to contend with.

Mine went at less than 2 years, the heat in Florida is tough on batteries. I went for a second, and did the dual setup seeing as the provisions are already in place

Unfortunately that's out for me. I have a Mann-Hummel Provent (oil seperator) mounted there and it takes up the majority of the space. As well if I ever get around to getting a compressor for the air bags I had thought to try and shoe horn it in under the Provent on the 2nd battery tray. At the moment I'm trying to be diligent about making sure that I'm not doing things like leaving a usb charger plugged into the constant hot plug in the dash and turning off the HID lights so that they don't in DRL mode during the day.

Doing a couple of searches on the forum shows that there are plenty of other folks that have experienced the same issue with these trucks and the battery that was in the truck at the time of purchase. I'm 90% sure that my issue was a crappy OEM battery combined with poor habitats with accessory electrical devices.

For piece of mind I am giving serious consideration to buying a good quality battery maintainer for some piece of mind and plugging it in on the weekend.

slj2008 · October 19, 2016

BATTERY LIFE Span - 3 - 5 years (google) . load test your battery , check your cables (clean / tight) check elec. system for voltage drop

Nasty · October 19, 2016

I have 3 xs 3400 batteries that are all 6 years old and still perfect.

krzyd · October 24, 2016

2 years and 55,000 miles should be nothing for any battery let alone the stock ac delco. I'm still on my original Delco from 2011 at 60,000 miles.

You may want to do a better look over of your charging system before you start putting money into cables.

Have your alternator checked and look for any possible parasitic draws on the truck.

It's possible you did get a dud battery from factory, have you every discharged it by accident?

Stock batteries in FL last two years max, this has proven true with over 25 vehicles I've owned.

Nasty · October 25, 2016

That is from having a garbage battery. I have 8 batteries in my truck for audio use. They get abused to shit and are 3 years old. And they are just fine

You.need a quality battery