Typical engine battery life, replace proactively before a major trip?

[Marion Carter]

My Wrangler is now 6 years old and we are planning a big down to Panama. My engine battery is has been fine with no issues and I'm pushing 38,000 miles on the truck. What I would like to know is how long do these batteries typically last? I would hate for the battery to die down there on road.

Is there a typical time when people replace these as a safe guard or ??

 

[smritte]

Projected L/A battery life is four years. Depending on where you live it can go up or down. Cold weather lessens life fast. Its not uncommon to have them go only 3 years. If the battery goes dead, it pulls life off fast. If it went dead 3 times its pretty much toast.
You can have a battery at 70% of its capability and it will still start the vehicle. This make people think the battery is still good. With that in mind people will claim 8-10 years on a battery. The problem would be how long you can pull power from it without the engine running. This part is effected the most.

Personally, I would change it. If all its doing is starting the vehicle then you don't need anything fancy. If your powering things for any amount of time with the vehicle off, now's the time to upgrade it

 

[Marion Carter]

Oh good to know, thank you. I will get that swapped out. Are there any batteries that are better than others for turn over power or longevity?

 

[smritte]

AGM's "can" live longer. I will only run AGM's in my off road vehicles. My preference is Odyssey. Yea their expensive but unless you keep running them dead, their hard to kill.
Mine can be run lower then standard batteries and have more power for the size.

Another reason I choose Odyssey is the warranty. I can warranty them at 4 wheel parts. They have stores all over my area. That's something to keep in mind.

 

[Cole Barth]

Trip like that, 100% I would swap out the battery with something new.