I am in need of a new battery for my truck. Doing some research I found for the same price there are 2 batteries of the same series that will fit . Both are the same price. However one is a size 35 and the other is a 24F. The 35 is rated for 640 cca and 100 minutes reserve weight of about 40 pounds. The 24F is rated for 750 cca and 120 minutes reserve and 45 pounds.
It just seems to me that there would be a price difference especially as one weighs about 5 pounds more than the other and has a higher rating.
It is that way for two different brands at two different chanins , Autozone and Advance Auto.
I did a little more looking and found another odd thing. There is a 3rd battery that fits from the web page. it is a # 27F.
The 27 weighs about 5 lb more than the 24 and 10 lb more than the other one. It has less CCA but more reserve than the 24. Must be something in the way it is made.
I will have to take the dementions out to my truck and see if the larger one will fit.
If lead is a dollar a pound it looks like there should be a difference in the prices of the 3 batteries, but there is not.
They all have the same 3 year replacement warrenty .
Guess that I will go with the the 27 as it is heavier and I live in the south where the CCA is not all that important and it is only a 4 cylinder engine.
The USD5-10 cost of that additional Pb is in the noise for a USD300+ battery. It's more important for the manufacturer to compete on price - it's not like they're taking a loss on the battery, just not as much profit.
As for Frank's advice to buy the heavier battery, that's also iffy - additional weight adversely affects fuel milage of the vehicle, which costs more in the long run.
No more than I drive the truck the extra 5 to 10 pounds is not an issue. I put less than 5,000 per year on the truck. I even started using the ethanol free in one of the cars and truck because they sit a long time before fillups.
I want to get the longest life out of a battery as it would cost more in gas just to go and get one plus the inconvience of doing it.
1 I've always had good luck with car batteries. For my old riding mower I had a WalMart battery fail after just 2-3 years but the TSC battery lasted many years. ... rough use construction perhaps ? John T.
Best riding mower battery I had was a John Deere lawn tractor origional battery. I usually have good luck with car batteries, but did have one to fail in about 2 years but only cost me a few dollars for a replacement due to the warrenty.
About 50 years ago I worked at a Sears store changing tires and batteries. Fellow came in and had a bad battery . It had 2 months left on the warrenty. He was all smiles because he thought he would get a new one free. Being prorated he got less than a dollar off on a new one. No smiles after that.
With these two batteries, the difference in size is relatively minute. Group 24F batteries measure 10.3 x 6.8 x 8.9, whereas the Group 35 batteries measure 9.1 x 6.9 x 8.9. Immediately you can see that the
24F battery is that bit longer than the Group 35 battery. Which is specified? Will the other actually fit properly?
One is likely more common than the other - The 24F has been a "standard" for decades, as the reverse terminal (Ford) version of the original "standard" 24 series battery - The original "small" battery was the 22 and the original "large" battery was the 27. Looking at a
24F battery with the terminals away from you the positive terminal was to the left, while a 24 (or 24R) the positive was on the right. The same distinction holds for the 22 and 27 series batteries.
There is a difference in the "hold downs" between a 24F and a 35 as well. The 24 used a hold-down that we t over the battery or a clamp that gripped the l,ong side of the battery IIRC, while the 37 has notches on ther short end of the battery for hold-downs. I have been away from everyday contact with car batteriesfor a couple decades so my recollection may not be 100% - so CHECK!!! IF the 24F will fit properly, and the hold-downs will hold it securely without damage, I would install the 24F
I will go with the 24F and save my .001mpg as the price of gas is going up.
I looked in the truck and the one in there now is a 24F. It just fits in the tray. I could put in the 27 but one end or maybe both ends would hang out over the tray that has about a 1/4 inch lip around it.
The web page said the 27 would fit. It would if I did not mind it hanging out about an inch on each end of the battery tray.
I always buy the biggest battery that will fit in the hole. There usually isn't much price difference if any between batteries of the same series (trade name, warranty etc) no matter what size they are. The "F" stands for Ford but it really just means which side the plus and minus terminals are on. Ford isn't the only one to do it "backward" (or correctly).
My suspicion is the difference between Walmart batteries is just how long the replacement warranty lasts. I just had a cheap one go 7 years in my boat (the "one year" $54) and the Maxx 3 year in my wife's Lincoln went bad in a year. (open cell). Walmart is good about the warranty tho. I think you could take one in with a bullet hole in it and they would replace it no questions asked. The one in my boat probably would start a car but a Yamaha needs the full voltage for the electronics or it won't go.
If the 24F was original equipment and the tray doesn't fit a 27, definitely go with the 24F. On some vehicles a 27 tray can be fitted as an "option" - on some it can't.
Johnson Controls makes most of the car batteries sold in the US. More often than you'd think, the only differences among the different retail brands are the labels and the price.
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