Best place to buy car battery?

[KEW]

I'm biased toward Interstate batteries. One for my truck was about double the price from whatever Walmart had and about twice the size. My nearly antique fofo recently got it's 2nd battery from an upper crust parts store called Napa. The last one lasted 10 years from a similarly well regarded parts store. I'm biased against Auto Zone and Walmart. That's all I got.

I really don't think a car battery would survive 10 summers out here. I used to think the cold was bad for batteries, but the heat out here kills everything. I've never bought a super battery tho, so maybe?

I don't think you've met Alex, but fofo stands for FordFocus (I think maybe 1994?) and crust refers to the layer of residual crud deposits you have to break through to get into the store! (probably not a "super" battery!)

PS: I don't mean to disparage the fofo, I had one of the German built ones and it was one of my all time favorite cars! No power, but that is not such a big problem if you don't have to brake for corners! Light and nimble can be lots of fun, but it could get down right comical if you were at speed on a bridge or interstate sections where each of the concrete pads had its own hump along with a good crosswind!

 

[Alex2507]

I don't think you've met Alex, but fofo stands for FordFocus (I think maybe 1994?) and crust refers to the layer of residual crud deposits you have to break through to get into the store! (probably not a "super" battery!)

PS: I don't mean to disparage the fofo, I had one of the German built ones and it was one of my all time favorite cars! No power, but that is not such a big problem if you don't have to brake for corners! Light and nimble can be lots of fun, but it could get down right comical if you were at speed on a bridge or interstate sections where each of the concrete pads had its own hump along with a good crosswind!

I think the fofo actually replaced the escort or something in Y2k. Mine's a Y2k. Upper crust is an idiom used to describe the top level of society: not low rent. The damn battery is a 'Euro Design' that seems to mean expensive, the last one was like $130. I buy good car parts: Moog and the like. You should see this thing handle now that I've replaced tie rod ends and stabilizer bar linkages. The draw back on fofos is that steering geometry changes as the ride height changes so a bump in a high speed curve will cause you to sh!t your pants.

I avoid cheap parts stores like Auto Zone even though they have that life time warranties. I'd rather pay extra and have the part last.

 

[KEW]

I think the fofo actually replaced the escort or something in Y2k. Mine's a Y2k. Upper crust is an idiom used to describe the top level of society: not low rent. The damn battery is a 'Euro Design' that seems to mean expensive, the last one was like $130. I buy good car parts: Moog and the like. You should see this thing handle now that I've replaced tie rod ends and stabilizer bar linkages. The draw back on fofos is that steering geometry changes as the ride height changes so a bump in a high speed curve will cause you to sh!t your pants.

I avoid cheap parts stores like Auto Zone even though they have that life time warranties. I'd rather pay extra and have the part last.

LOL!
I mistook your truths for low-key sarcasm, imagine that!
So how soon can you start using antique plates in Mass?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Ah, the straight line racing. Always wanted to try that. Nice cars. 716 cu in BB? Wow. I bet that sucker was fun to build.

I think that's where it is. I never got to go before I moved. It's one of my good friends best friend so a friend of a friend sort of things. I'll find out where it is.

We were out gunned most of the time in Pro Mod racing. We had about $150,000 in the entire car and a lot of the competition had that on the motor. The link below is the place that builds a lot of the Pro Mod motors.

http://www.sonnysracingengines.com/engines/drag-racing-engines

 

[panteragstk]

We were out gunned most of the time in Pro Mod racing. We had about $150,000 in the entire car and a lot of the competition had that on the motor. The link below is the place that builds a lot of the Pro Mod motors.

http://www.sonnysracingengines.com/engines/drag-racing-engines

Wow. Those are some insane engines. I can see why they're so expensive. Not easy to have that large of an engine be reliable. Very impressive.

I think the most unique car I saw at the strip when I was young (west TX so nothing that exotic) was a mid 80's SVO mustang. The guy was mechanical engineer and built his own intake and exhaust manifolds. Also a custom water to air intercooler for the giant turbo he put on that 4 banger. Fastest I saw him run was a 9.3. Impressive for a car he drove to the track and makes hardly any noise until he got on it. Then the turbo screamed to life and it was obvious it was a different kind of mustang.

 

[Alex2507]

LOL!
I mistook your truths for low-key sarcasm, imagine that!
So how soon can you start using antique plates in Mass?

I'm in RI actually. You calling me a masshole?
I work in Mass but my girl is from RI so RI is where I hang my hat.

I was kidding about the car being nearly an antique. That might take 30 years or maybe that's the requirement for 'Classic'. A friend of mine has a Buick Grand National that sports one of those plates but my vehicles will succumb to rust before I make it to that point. The girl has an '08 Malibu that we bought new (original battery) and it might get one of those plates one day. I do a pretty good job of keeping up with incidental repairs in order to keep it in 'like new' condition. I just want to avoid another car payment. Hell, I didn't want that car payment but the salesman was better at selling than I was at not buying: may he rot in hell ... but I'm not bitter.

 

[Pogre]

I'm sure this isn't the exact car...

But it sure looks a lot like it. A friend of mine was on the team that built one of these and broke the land speed record at the Bonneville salt flats in Death Valley some years back. It was well over 400mph if memory serves me correctly.

 

[KEW]

I'm in RI actually. You calling me a masshole?
I work in Mass but my girl is from RI so RI is where I hang my hat.

I was kidding about the car being nearly an antique. That might take 30 years or maybe that's the requirement for 'Classic'. A friend of mine has a Buick Grand National that sports one of those plates but my vehicles will succumb to rust before I make it to that point. The girl has an '08 Malibu that we bought new (original battery) and it might get one of those plates one day. I do a pretty good job of keeping up with incidental repairs in order to keep it in 'like new' condition. I just want to avoid another car payment. Hell, I didn't want that car payment but the salesman was better at selling than I was at not buying: may he rot in hell ... but I'm not bitter.

I think it is only 25 years to make antique status here. Given that rust is not much of a thing, there are lots of cars that would qualify but the owners don't think to do it. I think it'd save them $10-15 a year so not a big deal, but I'd do it if my car was old enough. I have a 2000 Explorer with 148,000 on it that stands a good chance of being there in 8 years.

 

[slipperybidness]

I think the fofo actually replaced the escort or something in Y2k. Mine's a Y2k. Upper crust is an idiom used to describe the top level of society: not low rent. The damn battery is a 'Euro Design' that seems to mean expensive, the last one was like $130. I buy good car parts: Moog and the like. You should see this thing handle now that I've replaced tie rod ends and stabilizer bar linkages. The draw back on fofos is that steering geometry changes as the ride height changes so a bump in a high speed curve will cause you to sh!t your pants.

I avoid cheap parts stores like Auto Zone even though they have that life time warranties. I'd rather pay extra and have the part last.

I really like rockauto.com for my car parts, assuming that I have the luxury to wait for them to arrive in the mail.

BTW, I call that car the "Ford Fuc-us"

Which is actually waaaaayyyy better than the "Ford Fester" (i.e. Fiesta).

I'm in a 2002 Mustang myself.

 

[highfigh]

I'm biased toward Interstate batteries. One for my truck was about double the price from whatever Walmart had and about twice the size. My nearly antique fofo recently got it's 2nd battery from an upper crust parts store called Napa. The last one lasted 10 years from a similarly well regarded parts store. I'm biased against Auto Zone and Walmart. That's all I got.

Twice the size means it's not the same battery class.

 

[highfigh]

I really don't think a car battery would survive 10 summers out here. I used to think the cold was bad for batteries, but the heat out here kills everything. I've never bought a super battery tho, so maybe?

I bought my van from someone in PHX and it came with an Optima Red Top. I don't know how long it was in there before it changed hands, but it's still in there, 6-1/2 years after I brought it to the Milwaukee area. Never died, cranks strong. In my pickup, I had a battery from Walmart- my renter (I own a duplex) had the same kind in her last car and she asked if I could look at it- turns out, the threaded insert for the stud that holds the cable came right out when I tried to loosen it and it happened on her car AND my truck. Good thing the warranty was still in effect.

 

[Alex2507]

I really like rockauto.com for my car parts.

Aside from the no waiting part of it, my parts guy has known me for over a decade which affords me the no receipt/no hassle returns with a gracious leeway on items beyond the warranty period. It's a relationship that I have fostered over the years and it's also my way of supporting a local business. Sometimes I order stuff on line but it makes me feel like I'm chintzing him. I feel like he has earned my business by directing me to good mechanics when I need them and pointing me in the direction of cheaper alternators/starters from local re-builders than his shop would be able to sell them for.

Twice the size means it's not the same battery class.

No sh!t.

The point is that Walmart only offered the half a$$ed battery which became suspect in a few short years and then due to Walmart no longer carrying the same battery a full refund was issued which coupled with more of my money resulted in a primo Interstate battery that will last forever.

The End.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Wow. Those are some insane engines. I can see why they're so expensive. Not easy to have that large of an engine be reliable. Very impressive.

.

Reliable? We blew them up a lot. That's just part of racing, you crash, you blow up engines, you catch on fire...

Man, I miss that.

Here is a couple of pictures of my Lumina and Camaro. Most of my pictures are real hard copies of pictures so I just snapped a picture of a picture as we didn't really have call phones back then. I need to find some good ones of my Vega.

 

[Pogre]

3 pages on car batteries and somehow still entertaining... lol

 

[panteragstk]

Reliable? We blew them up a lot. That's just part of racing, you crash, you blow up engines, you catch on fire...

Man, I miss that.

Here is a couple of pictures of my Lumina and Camaro. Most of my pictures are real hard copies of pictures so I just snapped a picture of a picture as we didn't really have call phones back then. I need to find some good ones of my Vega.

Lol. Guess I should be clear. Reliable as in doesn't explode when you start it. Can make more than one pass.

Awesome pics.

 

[panteragstk]

3 pages on car batteries and somehow still entertaining... lol

Any conversation is fun when you've got the right people involved.

 

[highfigh]

Reliable? We blew them up a lot. That's just part of racing, you crash, you blow up engines, you catch on fire...

Man, I miss that.

Here is a couple of pictures of my Lumina and Camaro. Most of my pictures are real hard copies of pictures so I just snapped a picture of a picture as we didn't really have call phones back then. I need to find some good ones of my Vega.

I was watching NHRA one time and someone (former driver) who was speaking after a crash said "If you go straight, it's fun and if you don't, it's exciting".

The engine in the photo- it's one of two, in a boat.

 

[highfigh]

Lol. Guess I should be clear. Reliable as in doesn't explode when you start it. Can make more than one pass.

Awesome pics.

Oh, so now you want fast AND reliable.

 

[slipperybidness]

3 pages on car batteries and somehow still entertaining... lol

@Pogre
@panteragstk

I'm a chemist by profession, spent some time characterizing the reactions for Li Ion batteries as an undergrad in one of the research labs at college. That was about 15 years ago, where the mechanisms were not as well understood as they are today.

I was running an Electrochemical-Quartz Crystal Microbalance. Performing Cyclic Voltametry, monitoring current flow as the voltage cycles (i.e. charge/discharge cycling) while taking in-situ mass measurements with the micro-balance.

Long story to say--a chemist could talk about batteries for hours, and spend years studying and improving the mechanics!

The latest work coming out of that lab involves super capacitors! Cutting edge stuff!

 

[ParadigmDawg]

@Pogre
@panteragstk

I'm a chemist by profession, spent some time characterizing the reactions for Li Ion batteries as an undergrad in one of the research labs at college. That was about 15 years ago, where the mechanisms were not as well understood as they are today.

I was running an Electrochemical-Quartz Crystal Microbalance. Performing Cyclic Voltametry, monitoring current flow as the voltage cycles (i.e. charge/discharge cycling) while taking in-situ mass measurements with the micro-balance.

Long story to say--a chemist could talk about batteries for hours, and spend years studying and improving the mechanics!

The latest work coming out of that lab involves super capacitors! Cutting edge stuff!

You do understand that there is a difference between being a Chemist and making Meth in a bathtub....