Ducky's Dad
Explorer
My old setup gave me the choice of one or two batteries in the winching circuit, so that I could hold out the house battery to start the truck if necessary. My new setup gives me the choice of one, two or three batteries when winching (or charging), and I can pick which of the two house batteries to add to the winching circuit if I want to hold one of them in reserve. I have a solenoid isolator (Painless Performance) to isolate the primary battery from the house batteries, and I have a manual "Off/1/2/Both" switch (Blue Sea Systems) to select or isolate the house batteries, with National Luna monitors on all three. The new alternator is nominal 270 amps but tests at 285 amps max output, everything is wired with 3/0 pure copper welding cable and soldered copper lugs through a 3-post 600amp bus bar (Blue Sea Systems). My lights won't dim unless I turn them off.I'm guessing you must use only one battery (your starting battery) to do your winching? (which would better-support your argument for AGM) I have two batteries in parallel for my winching, the current being split between two batteries makes any difference in battery HCA/CCA ratings much less significant.
These trucks came with a high capacity FLA Grp 65 battery, and a Grp 65 AGM drops right in. The Grp 31 takes a bit of shoehorning so some guys have just gone with Odyssey 65s (I think they are 1750s). The guys with Odyssey 65s replacing their FLA 65s report better performance and faster recovery with the Odysseys. This battery issue goes back to about 2006. Dodge spec'd a really big winch (listed as 12,000# with a Dodge P/N) but all the components seem to be from the Warn 15,000# units. The battery deficiency revealed itself fairly early, even with the stock 160amp alternator. Around 2009(?) Dodge went with a 180amp alternator as standard, then they started offering dual alternators as a factory option. Some of these trucks get used real hard.But now you're comparing a "big" AGM battery to a "factory" battery... You really should be comparing your grp-31 AGM to a grp-31 FLA if you want to be more fair about it.