Battery for 360

[Faltura]

I have a 72 F-350 with a 360. The battery is going bad on it and it is a 550 cca.

Should I replace it with the same cca or go up to 600-700?

Does anyone know what the original equip battery was?

[ToughOldFord]

You can never get too good a battery, go as high as you budget will let you.

Original size was a 24F. A 65 fits in the box nicely though.

[wildcard]

Don't quote me on this, but a mechanic once told me the battery needed to have at least as many cca as the engine cubic inches.

[3406kris]

The rule of thumb is supposed to be double the cubic inches to get the CCA. So, a 360 should have 720CCA. Not very scientific, but it works. If you aren't driving the truck on any arctic cold days, a 600cca battery would work fine. It doesn't take much juice to crank a low compression engine.

[Redcap]

Get the highest CCA battery that fits in the space.

[QC]

The original battery in these trucks was probably about 450 CCA, vehicles didn't have nearly the electrical load back then as they do now.
A high CCA battery is OK if you use your truck regularly, but if it sits a lot, a lower CCA like the 550 you have will hold a charge longer.
I should qualify that by saying higher CCA's in the same size battery. A group 24F-550 will hold a charge longer than a group 24F-700 because it has a higer acid to lead ratio.

[Faltura]

Thanks for that input.

I was thinking that the the higher amp batt may be too much for the electrical system that was only designed for 450 or so.

[clemm17]

More battery the better. Buy the best one you can afford in your size. I llike industrial batteries. I like to run my Ford on a CAT battery, but I have had good luck with John Deere as well.

[71PA_Highboy]

I always put in a 27F.

That was the size they used for the 428CJ, and it is the biggest that fits in the tray (almost like they made it that way...

Anyway, not all stores carry a 27F so look around... as for CCA... that is a personal choice as it will affect price, but higher is better...

hth,

Eric