My Truckie won't start! Can you give me a jump?

[Weave]

Here's my friendly neighborhood mechanical posting for the month. For some unexplained reason many folks come up to me at truckstops and ask me if I can jumpstart their "dead" batteries. Guess what? In 8 out of 10 instances there is nothing wrong with the batteries at all. When I get an open end wrench out of my toolbox and tighten down all their loose battery cables, their truck fires right up. Especially common on batteries where the cable is secured with a bolt that threads into the battery terminals. Remember this when you hear that clicking noise...

 

[geo]

also should replace battery every 18 months or so with all
up and down use on the battery. drawing the battery down with
items you may use. other thing to do is get a genset and
this will keep you up and running plus cool and warm all at the same time. i like my proheat ice call al at 877 628 4328
also get a deep cycle battery to take care of running other
items you may have on the truck

 

[Weave]

The best replacements are Interstate and NAPA (Exide). My trio of NAPA 950's are over two years old now and still crank up the engine pretty fast, but I don't have a lot of accessories in my sleeper and I usually idle all night when it's cold out or else I don't want to come out of my sleeping bag. I know the Gensets (I call them lawnmowers) keep you charged up and save a ton of money in the long run by not having to idle. My next truck will have one. I've been told by WendyCal to stay away from the Onan Aux though.