17TF battery alternative?

pugslyyy

Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
I'm looking at alternatives to the 17TF battery that is stock for my Fuso. Why? These are a fairly old/low performance battery model, which makes them expensive and not broadly stocked.

Group 85R or Group 49 seem the most likely candidates, with Group 49 the least expensive. Any thoughts?

As an example, I can get a 75 month group 49 (1080 CCA, 185 minute reserve)

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/C...y-NAPA-Legend-75-Month/_/R-NBP7549_0006529972

For $30 less than a 24 month group 17TF (630 CCA, 140 minute reserve)

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/C...CI-17TF-NAPA-Batteries/_/R-NBP7253_0006559779
 

dlh62c

Explorer
If it fits the battery tray using your current hold down hardware and has the correct post orientation, why not.
 

pugslyyy

Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
installed two AutoCraft Gold 49H8 batteries from Advance Auto today. 760 CCA and 160 min reserve (both better than stock).

2130012_gol_49H8_pri_detl.jpg
2130012_gol_49H8_alt1_detl.jpg


$152.99 list - $40 online order discount - $25 coupon = $88. You have to order online and pickup at the store to get the best price. So I just ordered and then drove to the store and picked it up. The discount is $40 per order, so I had to get each battery on a separate order.

Stock batteries have 6 months free replacement, these ones 36 month.

49's are shorter that the 17TF, so I put a piece of 4x4 behind them and they fit perfectly in the box.
 

kerry

Expedition Leader
I learned a lesseon about dual batteries on my Fuso a few years ago. When they're tied together and one goes bad, it will take the the other one out. Also it can cause a serious overcharging problem. After that I installed a battery switch which allows me to run it on one or other of the batteries, or both, or none. I keep it on 0 when stored and alternate between one battery and other other when driving. If it gets real cold, I use both.
 

pugslyyy

Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
I learned a lesseon about dual batteries on my Fuso a few years ago. When they're tied together and one goes bad, it will take the the other one out. Also it can cause a serious overcharging problem. After that I installed a battery switch which allows me to run it on one or other of the batteries, or both, or none. I keep it on 0 when stored and alternate between one battery and other other when driving. If it gets real cold, I use both.

2 same brand / date code batteries are going to run in parallel side-by-side pretty reliably. 12V batteries are 6 2V batteries in series anyways, having 2 in parallel doesn't make it that much more complicated.
 

kerry

Expedition Leader
It was the two batteries with the same date code in parallel which gave me problems. No problems since I installed the switch.
 

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