Battery Upgrades

Installing anything beyond a standard replacement battery can be tricky.

Your truck’s battery cables may only be long enough to reach positive and negative posts located where they are on the OEM battery and installing a non-OEM model may call for modifying the cable connections.

Speaking as an former fireman, never install a battery tall enough for its positive post’s terminal hardware to touch the underside of the hood when you close it. And, tie all batteries down securely so they can’t bounce up and touch the hood.

If your truck is still under warranty, it’s also a good idea to talk to your dealer’s service manager to make sure nothing you plan to do impacts your warranty coverage.

Battery SUnderstanding peak

The main capacity rating for OEM batteries is cold cranking amps (CCA). The CCA number indicates how many amps a new, fully charged battery at zero degrees Fahrenheit (F) can deliver for 30 seconds without falling below 7.2 volts.

The plates in Optima’s “six-pack” AGM batteries can be made of purer lead because their tightly packed, spiral-wrapped design eliminates the need to add alloys for strength.

The bigger the number, the longer the battery will crank your engine and the longer you can run a few accessories with the engine off before you risk starting problems.

You may also be able to find a deep-cycle or dual-purpose (cranking and deep-cycle) battery from our battery chart (see page 39) that fits in your truck – but first you need to know a few things about batteries.

The plates in Optima’s “six-pack” AGM batteries can be made of purer lead because their tightly packed, spiral-wrapped design eliminates the need to add alloys for strength.

Lead-acid batteries deliver power as the acid in their electrolyte combines with the lead in their plates. Turning over a cold engine calls for producing a lot of battery power quickly cranking batteries are built with a large number of thin plates in order to expose a maximum amount of plate surface area to the electrolyte.

Each engine start causes a relatively shallow depth of discharge in the battery followed by an immediate recharge by the engine’s alternator.

Dual-purpose batteries like this marine/RV model from Crown Battery are designed to handle both engine starting and moderate deep cycling in cases where one battery has to do both jobs.