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Battery Woes

ARMYMAN30YearsPlus

In Memorial
In Memorial
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Location
Parkville, MD
I Love my M35A2 and it starts up better than any other vehicle in my fleet when the batteries are cooperating. I have two square original equipment batteries in there and they worked fine and tested OK on the load test but when I drove to Aberdeen to pick up the M1009 last week the things went dead and I had to jump start it. Now I have the M1009 to use the slave cable but if anyone has had luck putting in large pickup truck batteries I am willing to shove the original look since new ones are not available per the battery warehouse guy since we are using them all in Iraq. ( I can say having just gotten back from there that there are a ton of piles of those batteries over there) If there is a thread that deals with this please let me know where to find it since I am just a stinkin private...I haven't really been one of those for 29 years. :D

God bless America

Very Respectfully,

David
 

mangus580

New member
6,010
282
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Location
Western NY
I have had standard civvy batteries in mine for 3 years now. I bought them from Tractor Supply, and they are the biggest ones they had. No problems at all :) (well other than the melted post, but that was a bad connection....)
 

bear76

New member
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0
I'm in Mont. Co. MD. and have OE batteries out of my 09. You can come get them and make any kind of donation you feel like.
 

jasonjc

Well-known member
5,326
290
83
Location
Gravette Ar.
I got a pair of cheapy from wal-mart I have 2 truck whit out bat so these are lighter to carey back and foth but they start them just fine.the military uses those big bats for the res amps something like 200+ min at 25 amps for useing radios and stuff not just starting
 

emmado22

Moderator
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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147
63
Location
Mid Hudson Valley NY
The DOD batts are far from garbage. When they are well maintained and are used in a vehicle with a working charging system, you can get many years out of them, worry free.
 

marksgarage2

New member
216
0
0
Location
Southampton, NJ
My shop is a interstate battery dealer.I bought 2 heavyduty ones for my deuce to replace the ones I bought from walmart when I bought the truck. 2 Years later the walmart batterys are still going strong. Guess what I am going run them till they die!
 

Recovry4x4

LLM/Member 785
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Location
GA Mountains
RE: Re: RE: Battery Woes

My opinion varies
Correct but you know what they say about opinions.
Facts are different. 6TLs are a specific design and for a reason. They are a hearty battery that in civllian hands will outlast any cheapy (which I use). Ya can't ford the truck for any length of time with the Sams's Club specials, you sure can with the 6TLs. The DOD is hell on batteries so there's no wonder that there are tons of them in piles in the sand box. With proper treatment they can last lots of years and when they fail, the plates are hearty enough to take a desulfation treatment. Comparing them to the Sams Club batts is comparing apples to oranges.
Hey Bomar, you say you run these semi batts in your DoD milspec garbage truck? Say, are any of those guns DoD milspec garbage?
Livin with it Bro!
 

OPCOM

Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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48
Location
Dallas, Texas
RE: Re: RE: Battery Woes

When putting 'little' car batteries in, an easy way to keep them from sliding around is to cut some PVC pipe and lay it in the bottom of the box. The batteries tend to slide from side to side, and the pipe will reduce that. It's better than wood since it won't absorb moisture.
 

WillWagner

The Person You Were Warned About As A Child
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
8,539
2,758
113
Location
Monrovia, Ca.
RE: Re: RE: Battery Woes

See if you can find a local battery place. The one by me is Liberty Battery. They have a contract with all the local NG, Army, Navy etc. depot to supply batteries. meaning, they P/U old batteries and supply new ones. The guy there savs 90% of the batteries discarded by these places are serviceable. Se if he/they will exchange them for you. Libetry had 25 or so 6TLs when I asked them about mine.
 

m35a2cowner

Member
369
2
16
Location
Columbus, Ohio
Battery

3 years ago I purchased a set of NAPA batteries. I don't use the truck for long periods of time, but it always starts up even in cold weather. I think its because all the terminals were well cleaned when installed and are treated periodically with Permatex Battery Terminal Protectant (sprays on). Do yourself a favor and install a battery cut out switch as well. Yes its a bit of money up front but every time it starts without a problem it is a justification of the expense.
 

Djfreema

In Memorial
In Memorial
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Location
Santa Clarita, Ca
RE: Battery

I just bought a solargizer yesterdeay to hopefully extend the life of my 6TL's which are already 3 years old. I had one drop down to 9 volts and the truck wouldnt start a few weeks ago, got a pull start from a 1/2 ton Chevy and havent had a problem since. Anybody else install the solargizer yet?
 

hndrsonj

Senior Chief/Moderator
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
7,584
363
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Location
Cheyenne, WY
You can still get 6tl's from interstate for less than 100 each. If they have blems they are almost free. :wink:
 

ARMYMAN30YearsPlus

In Memorial
In Memorial
3,585
7
0
Location
Parkville, MD
I just picked up two 1010 cranking amp batteries with a three year replacement and 10 year warranty for $67 each. I am quite sure the PVC pipe suggestion will work and I am hoping to get them installed this weekend.

In regards to a Solarizer, I did install one last year and although it has been working I think my batteries were just at the end of their life so I can not catagorically state the effectiveness of the device. I mounted it on an aluminum angle bolted to the stack mounting bracket. I am trying to find out ways to post pictures here but will post one of the Solarizer mount and how the batteries work out when I get the process down.

God bless America
Very Respectfully,
David
 

NEIOWA

Well-known member
1,195
127
63
Location
NE IOWA
Re: RE: Re: RE: Battery Woes

Recovry4x4 said:
My opinion varies
Correct but you know what they say about opinions.
Facts are different. 6TLs are a specific design and for a reason. Livin with it Bro!
Correct. A hell of good battery. You get what you pay for.
 

alphadeltaromeo

Active member
1,901
3
38
Location
Alto, GA
ARMYMAN30YearsPlus said:
I just picked up two 1010 cranking amp batteries with a three year replacement and 10 year warranty for $67 each. I am quite sure the PVC pipe suggestion will work and I am hoping to get them installed this weekend.

In regards to a Solarizer, I did install one last year and although it has been working I think my batteries were just at the end of their life so I can not catagorically state the effectiveness of the device. I mounted it on an aluminum angle bolted to the stack mounting bracket. I am trying to find out ways to post pictures here but will post one of the Solarizer mount and how the batteries work out when I get the process down.

God bless America
Very Respectfully,
David
Where from? I need some new batts for my CAT.
 

ken

Active member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
2,479
25
38
Location
Houston Texas
I installed 2 red optima's in mine it 1998. The higher amp ones with the side post close together. They still work great with out any trouble. I got them because they end up under water/ mud alot. I know $250 is a lot for both batteries, but after 8years i figure i got my moneys worth.
 
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