Cascade Crew

Xophertony · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 11:22 am Post subject: battery opinions wanted

so the battery in the v6 car has gone tits up. it will no longer hold a charge. when i replaced the alternator about 5 months ago i gave the six the GTAs battery and put a new battery in the GTA. so i was thinking i would do the same agian and convert the GTA to a post style battery. like an optima or somthing. i just like the conveniance of posts. and i wanted to know what you all thought. if i do decide to replace it with a posts battery i will replace/upgrade the battery cables as well. do the "big three" as it is called.

anyway what are you all running battery wise?

blue89 · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 11:51 am Post subject:

I'm running the smallest CarQuest battery I could find! And its in the trunk. I'd like to run the new dry cell's that I see around now. Cool stuff.

Real Chevy vehicles have side posts.....

Al Hasse · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 12:01 pm Post subject:

It's easy enough to make your own cables and put the style ends you want on them. I did it that way on my 92 when I installed the dual battery setup. Any car audio store might have the size cable you're looking for (got mine with the audio system) and the ends for them too, depending on how fancy you want to go.

Xophertony · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 12:09 pm Post subject:

i will probably just go one guage down. and i just want the usual clamp style kind. unless there are some spiffy neato ones i should look into.

the main thing is right now i have about 5 washers ontop of the stock plug so that i can fit a ring termianl on there before the bolt head (using longer bolt) so i can get power to my amplifier. kind of silly, and gets that bolt a little close to the fender for my liking. if i make my own cables with my own ends i can include that wire in the crimp and then it will be "permant" and everything. of course i supose i could always do that with my current battery and just buy new ends for my stock wires... and save a bunch of money. hmmm... might be somthing to look into.

blue89 · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 12:18 pm Post subject:

If you need an extra wire for you amplifier on your sidepost. All stereo shops have a sidepost adapter that gives you a 1/4" bolt hole. ? ? ? I like the sideposts because they always look cleaner than the top posts.

rjmcgee · The Hammer Joined: 08 Jan 2004 Posts: 2328

I don't like side posts much, but they work fine on my car. I believe they are better for corosion too. I have the red top Optima dry cell in the car and it is nice cause it's pretty light and very powerful for the size. Another nice thing about the dry cell is that they don't seem to have corosion issues at all, which is nice if you switch to top cables. I used the stock side mount cables and then a top post clamp with a stud on it like the RV's use for my amp cable. Also is nice for hooking up the timing light or jump starting something. I'll grab a picture for you in a little bit.

Xophertony · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 12:34 pm Post subject:

thats what i would probably do. use the stock side posts with an optima.

Quasi-Traction · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 12:44 pm Post subject:

Xophertony · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 12:47 pm Post subject:

so you have a screw-stud (stock style) battery with post style clamps? interesting.

blue89 · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 12:48 pm Post subject:

Monster cable also sells those adapters so you could get them from any shop.

Quasi-Traction · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 12:57 pm Post subject:

yeah, I got mine from Autozone for like 2 bucks.........I figure most auto parts stores probably sell them...you can have mine.....I'll never use em...

Xophertony · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 1:00 pm Post subject:

thanks, but with what i am planning on doing i will not need them. if i buy a redtop it has both studs and holes, so it will accept both, so whichever style termination i go with i am set.

QwkTrip · Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 2:56 pm Post subject:

Most batteries are made by 2 manufacturers. Brand name just doesn't matter much. Go for low price.

Batteries are made to specific outer dimensions, referred to as "Group Size." They like to use the CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) as a marketing gimmick but that doesn't mean a lot. What you really want is a good discharge curve and a large reserve capacity. You might see the reserve capacity on the label.

If you shop by CCA ratings then avoid the largest CCA batteries in a particular size battery (group size). To get those large CCA ratings they stuff a bunch of thin plates inside the battery making it less reliable and more susceptible to damage from vibration. Choose a battery with a CCA rating somewhere in the midrange of offerings.