Time for a new battery

[wardy]

Seasons greatings guys.
As the title says its time for a new battery, after measuring my current battery i see that it is an odd size (175H 270L 170W) my question is can you fit a standard N70 size battery in a v8 WG Grand Cherokee?
cheers
Wardy

[roscoea26]

My 2002 WG would only take a European style battery, I'm pretty sure that the terminals on the N70 will protrude too high and the bonnet may touch them when you try to close it.

[Hanna]

G'day Wardy,

Seasons Greetings to you as well mate!

I just replaced the battery in mine before Christmas and found that they are a special size. They are based on DIN sizing, which are shorter (in height) than most of your standard 4x4 batteries. When I checked there were 2 different batteries recommended for my model GC and a separate one for the "European version" (2000-on). Whichever the bigger one was (DIN 77 maybe?) it would not fit in my battery tray, and would definitely not work for me as I also have the LPG computer taking up some of the space at the front of the tray.

The one that was in mine was a DIN 65 which matched your measurements from memory and so I replaced it with one of the same size. They are only rated to 580 CCA, but when the guy tested it before fitting it was showing a healthy 635 CCA. Plus the previous battery had been in there for at least 4 years and it never really had a problem cranking the engine, so I went with it and so far it has been great.

FYI - I got my DIN 65 at Rabbas Radiators in North Geelong for only $139 with a 2-year warranty: http://www.rabbasradiators.com.au/index.php

They are a distributor of Lion batteries and also have a range of deep-cycle batteries going very cheap too - I bought a 105 Ah AGM for the camper trailer for only $219 the week before my Jeep battery died...

For comparison, I priced the same size battery at the Autobarn up the road and they wanted $270 for the Century and $200/$219 for the Supercharge standard/heavy duty batteries. I'd spent enough on batteries for the week that I thought it would be worth taking a punt on the Lion at that price.

I found this thread which may also be of use for sizing: http://www.ausjeepoffroad.com/forum/....php?p=1290884

By the way - we have to catch up for a 4x4 session now that I'm not scraping the WJ's belly on everything anymore! How's your Aussie Jays camper trailer treating you? Mine has now got 12V power and has been to Fraser and back, it has been great...

Cheers,
Hanna

[timbotrog]

I installed an Optima Yellow Top D34 in September 2011. It has been brilliant.

750CCA and 55ah current to draw from.

I got a Waeco CFX-50 fridge on Boxing Day and as a test ran it for 12hrs straight in the car overnight.

The Grand didn't even bat an eye at how easily it started next morning.

The only thing is it's a bit short for the battery tray so it took as little tinkering with the cables to make things fit. About 5 minutes work in reality.

I'll probably get a 2nd unit soon when the drawer system is finished.