Hello all!
Wife will be taking delivery of a RT soon. When we test drove it I inquired about the battery, as I could not find under the hood. I'm OK with it in the spare tire area, but I have almost never seen a battery tray not turned to a corroded mess from the battery chemicals.
Would'nt a gell battery be a better choice for the spare tire tub?
Any one else had any problems/concerns?
One more little tib bit, when testing the car we had the sales lady drive us to a Chrysler dealer to try a Pacifica (wife's money her call on which one). We were at a stop light with my 8 & 10 year old sons with me in the back seat. A rusty, white S-10 blazer pulls up and does the bad muffler reving up and then the "I want to race lurch". It was raining and we were in a AWD V6, and she could not believe he wanted to race. She obliged, and waxed him.
My sons were in their first street race in Magnum!
All that was said was "That was COOL".
There also happen to be a big billboard with the Red Hemi Magnum at the intersection we started from. The sales lady let him go at the next light, didn't want to break the law again.
Any input would be appreciated.
Can't wait to get this car!
Jeff in Minnesota

 

Battery in the trunk has been a German thing for years - just like RWD. We have a 1998 C280 and have had no problems. BUT! you do have to buy a sealed battery WITH a vent tube and you **DO** have to be sure the vent tube is properly connected!

 

The battery is in the trunk not only for better weight distribution and lower center of gravity, but also to keep it away from the engine heat, which kills batteries. I was pleasantly surprised to find it there!

 

via500 works for me.
I could not tell if the stock battery was sealed and vented as you say it should be.
If it not, I believe the tub will corrode.
Agree/disagree?
What about a gell battery?

 

It's sealed alright. Today I just swapped my order still in BG status for a Magnum on Lou Fusz's lot and I checked the tube while I was going over my car. It's in the front (toward the back seat) and somewhat hidden but it is there. Mercedes had a recall because some tubes were not on right and somebody over in the EU had a battery explode in the trunk. IMO the best part is the sealed case and as somebody said above it's a lot cooler back there. When we bought a replacement battery for our C280 we got a sealed one (with tube port) at AutoZone so we never considered anything else.

 

Thanks for the reply! I can sleep now and dream about the day we take delivery of a MAGNUM!
How can I sneak a muffler/resonator swap without my wifey catching on? (It is going to be her car).

 

Do it before she knows its in or she will endlessly gripe at you. LOL

 

or better yet, give her your car...and you take the Magnum....yeah yeah, I know fat chance of that

 

No such luck, I'm driving a '97 F150.

 

One one for sure for the wife to catch on is to replace with a Flowmaster 40. It's sounds great but the drone inside is killer. Im swapping it out for a Flowmaster 50 Sat morning. Here a soundbyte from my install> Flowmaster 40 on 3.5. This is just on the 3.5L single. I hate to hear what a dual setup on a 5.7L would sound like.