Battery size????

Anyone know what the stock battery size is for a 97 5.0 XLT? I have a 875 CCA...... doesn't that seems a bit oversized.

The stock battery size is group 65. I just replaced mine last week with a duralast gold with 875 cca, I wanted the most cold crank amps because when it gets cold, it will start the truck easier.

875 CCA is not your battery size, its the "cold cranking amps" rating of it. Batteries are sized by series: 24, 35, 72, etc. Explorers all have 65 series batteries, regardless of engine, at least the 1st/2nd gens do. 875 CCA is a lot, but its nice to have for those cold winter mornings, which I assume you have in Pareesville. A normal 65 series battery probably has around 600. If you're going to get it replaced, many of us have gone with Optima batteries. They're expensive (a little over $100) and you have to modify the battery box a bit to make them stay in place, but they're awesome batteries too.

jayhawkexplorer said:

If you're going to get it replaced, many of us have gone with Optima batteries. They're expensive (a little over $100) and you have to modify the battery box a bit to make them stay in place, but they're awesome batteries too.

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What sort of mods to the battery box?

celly said:

What sort of mods to the battery box?

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The newer Optima batteries come with the plate on the bottom, but on older ones, you needed to secure the battery with a generic clamp, as the Optima had a rounder bottom that was smaller than the Group 65 battery.

The battery tray has a clamp that locks onto the bottom lip of the proper battery, Optimas never had that. Make sure you get one with that thing on it.


As for myself, I used to have a 1000 CCA battery in there. It lasted 8 years. Since then I have gone with Dual Motorcraft 800 CCA's. The Optima is only like 650 or 700.

Crankcase said:

As for myself, I used to have a 1000 CCA battery in there. It lasted 8 years. Since then I have gone with Dual Motorcraft 800 CCA's. The Optima is only like 650 or 700.

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I've seen some discussions on Canuck websites about a battery that Crappy Tire has that's a lot better than any Optima offering for around the same price. Some gel cell something or other.

Not sure I need a battery yet, but mine's around 4-5 years old and I drained it once this year. We just had a mini cold snap (around -18C during the day) and it started fine. Just keeping an eye on what's out there.

Thanks for the reply.

Hi You guys...for my side I use 1100 New batt...the best at -25 degrees !!

I am a bit off topic here but How long did your batteries last. I am at 79k on my origional bat. with my 98 Ex. Thats 7 years old!

When did you folks start replacing these?

my orogianl battery was replaced last year when it showed signs of weakening...so it was 7-8 years old wiht 118k on it aprox

Crankcase said:

The newer Optima batteries come with the plate on the bottom, but on older ones, you needed to secure the battery with a generic clamp, as the Optima had a rounder bottom that was smaller than the Group 65 battery.

The battery tray has a clamp that locks onto the bottom lip of the proper battery, Optimas never had that. Make sure you get one with that thing on it.
.

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Yeah, I guess I got an older style one then. I bought it last April. The guy at AutoZone tried to tell me it was fine with just that little plastic wedge and a screw holding it in place, but I ended up taking the battery box out, cutting holes in it, and running nylon straps in both directions around the battery. Its been 7 months and the thing's never budged. But if it ever has to come out, its quick, easy, and I won't need tools.

i buy the most cold cranking amp battery i can... it helps in the winter when starting is usually a little slower... plus with as much electric crap as our trucks have on them i think it would help smooth out the power a little better

all depends on your wethear...the colder it is the harder it is for your batt. Thats why I only use 1000 and more amps.

Thanks guys, Smiley it was replaced for free when I purchased it in 00 with 36K (the existing one croaked two days later) I'm now at 91K.

I will expect to replace mine soon then.

jimeeh1 said:

Anyone know what the stock battery size is for a 97 5.0 XLT? I have a 875 CCA...... doesn't that seems a bit oversized.

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Almost all ford trucks and vans use the 65 series batteries. While these batteries do seem to have the most CCAs, they are also the heaviest. Its not to fun stocking the battery shelf at work when we get a lot of ford batteries in. But they seem to be the best built batteries, besides optimas that I sell. I believe other fords use either 65, 58 or 24 series batteries. The 65s are the biggest and are almost the size of some deep cylce marine and RV batteries.

Dan

celly said:

I've seen some discussions on Canuck websites about a battery that Crappy Tire has that's a lot better than any Optima offering for around the same price. Some gel cell something or other.

Not sure I need a battery yet, but mine's around 4-5 years old and I drained it once this year. We just had a mini cold snap (around -18C during the day) and it started fine. Just keeping an eye on what's out there.

Thanks for the reply.

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I think they might be talking about the Motomaster Eliminator.....

I personally haven't seen any Motomaster battery last....

Costco has the 900 CCA group 65 battery for 71.99 ....that is the cheapest for that size/power.

walmart has the yellow extreme batterys which are 980cca for 58.91 with a three year warranty and free installation if you need it u cant go wrong.

I was talking in Canadian dollars LOL.....