Will car batteries work?

[alabamafrog]

So, all 4 batteries appear to be bad in both my new 5ton trucks and the new 31' man lift came without batteries. Looks like I got to buy 8-12v batteries and 6-6v batteries next week. So what is the smallest (least expensive) battery that will reliably crank the big diesels?
Of course I am in the deep south so cold weather starting is not nearly as big of an issues as it is with some folks.

 

[sandcobra164]

I've got an M818 with the NHC-250 Cummins in my yard right now that cranks fine on 2 Hawker's. They are the same size as the 6TL's from Interstate but they hold about 1400 CCA's each. They are expensive but compared to buying 4 batteries, they save a little money and do the same job down here where it doesn't get that cold.

 

[wreckerman893]

I had two high CCA batteries from Tractor Supply (Boss Lady works there) in my M915 and never had an issue cranking the 400 Cummins even when it was cold here.

You can take 2x4's and crib them up to keep them from sliding around.....if you are going to off road I would secure them in case of a roll over.

 

[Tow4]

I put two group 31 batteries from Advanced Auto Parts in the M818 and it starts fine. They are 1185 CCA each. I think the 6TLs are 800 CCA each so you are looking at 1600CCA with 4 of the 6TLs.

 

[Beerslayer]

When I read the title of your post I was thinking "well they will work fine for a while if it isn't cold".

There's a couple of factors in play to consider. When the military puts in 4 BIG batteries, they are counting on the fact that the truck NEEDS to START wherever it ends up. Ship the truck to Iceland or Alaska? That Cummins will have enough battery to eventually start. If you live on the equator, well, that's overkill.

Another factor to consider is what if you run out of fuel? Need to bleed the injectors? Forgot to turn off the lights for a while? Want it to still start after the batteries are four years old?

Really? The answer to your question depends on just how important it is that your truck will ALWAYS START under a variety of ADVERSE conditions.

So if it is a playtoy that you can afford to fool with in a nice warm climate, a couple of good car batteries will start the Cummins just fine, most of the time.

If this is a tactical tool that your life may depend on, well it would be best if you put in four new mil-spec batteries.

 

[quickfarms]

I run two group 31's

 

[Bill W]

Group 24's would be the smallet I'd use ( had them in my first deuce ). My current deuce now has a pair of Group 65's in it and they spin the LTD ( 22 to1 compression ratio ) over with power to spare. My friend in Fla has several dozen MV's and he uses 2 lawn mower Batts ( in series ) setup on a hand truck as a jumper setup to get any of his vehicles started.

 

[M35A2-AZ]

Two group 31's or 27's will work fine.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Two auto battries in mine. Starts fine.

 

[sigo]

I've got two group 31s in one box, and two 6TLs on the other box. It'll crank just fine with only the two gp31s.

 

[bbf]

i run 2 group 31 as well in my 813 and a 928 and they work well

 

[alabamafrog]

Wow, thanks for all the replies, I was just hoping 4 big 1000cca car batteries like the ones I run in my powerstroke trucks and tractors would work. But from what yall are saying I may could even get by with just 2 batts.
Eventually I might upgrade to 4 but for now I just need to get the 2 trucks to where they will start so that I can begin figuring out what all needs to be fixed or if they are even fixable.
Heck I might just go out and pull the batts out of 2 of my tractors and give it a try.
Thanks for all the help.

 

[rlwm211]

I use two 1000 CCA Optima yellow tops in my deuce with the LDS. Always starts.

The coldest I ever fired it up was 7 below and without a block heater it fired up.

I think the 6TLs are designed with a lot of shock absorption in mind and that is why they are so big. I say this as the CCA they have is not really that much higher than other truck batteries, or if anything, they are lower. Durability as opposed to how many CCAs.

Summer's coming so put two new ones in the truck for now and add two more when you have the money and the time to install them.

Just my two cents and a little change thrown in for good luck

 

[Stalwart]

I use 2 group 31 marine batteries for the HEMTT, that is after one of the Optama yellow tops took a crap after just over 1 year.

 

[rlwm211]

I have had very good luck with the optimas.

The trick is to trickle charge them if you run them all the way down before you put the amperage to them.

 

[Jared]

I have 2 908Ds in my M813. They're big batteries.

 

[supermechanic]

For the manlift I would search your local golfcar shop.
Forklifts and floor scrubbers also use deep-discharge batteries.

 

[cbvet]

Two Wal Mart group 31s have cranked my M813 for over 5 years now.

 

[alabamafrog]

Looks like I need 4 new truck batteries, 2 for each truck and 6 manlift batts.
I took the 6-6v batteries out of my golf cart to make sure the man lift works good. I got a couple bugs to work out of it. The cart batteries are several years old and not in the best of shape so I will put them back in the cart and buy new ones for the man lift. There is a local battery wholesaler that specializes in golf cart and industrial batteries. He wants $90 each for the cart batts but there is a $25 each core charge that I will have to pay since DRMO or the government removed the batts from the man lift before I “recovered” it. He also sales the 1,000 cca heavy duty batts I run in my trucks and tractors for like $90. So I think I will take him the 8 big batts from the 2 5 tons and see if I can buy 6+4 batts and maybe the core charge will balance out since the 8 miltarty batteries are so big and heavy. So IF no core then I'm looking at just under a grand out the door to get all 3 of my new military machines powered up.

This is going to put my total battery count up over 30 batts that I got to maintain!

 

[supermechanic]

At 30 batteries, you have quite an investment.
My battery maintenance log shows 42 group 31, 12 group 8d, 16 group 4d, 51 group 24, and 12 group 65, plus a few others.
The truck from Deka comes around about 4 times a year. It helps to know the route driver and area manager by name.