Your probably on the last legs of your battery. When I was living in New England, more specifically in central MA. and southern NH., the batteries in my trucks would only make it to about the three year mark. At that point, they had a problem turning the engine over on the sub zero mornings.
I always looked at the radio clock and when it lost it's time due to low voltage, I knew it was time. The other sign was the engine would turn over slow. So you have a couple of indicators showing up before you get stranded some place.
The other thing that is important is to make sure your battery terminals are clean and free of any corrosion. A poor connection at the battery connection will cause all sorts of problems.
A simple check with a volt meter can show you how things are doing. Like before you even start the truck up, check the idle battery voltage. After you start the engine, check the battery post voltage, not the cable connection. Then leave one wire from the meter on the negative side of the battery post and go to the battery connection on the plus side of the cable connection. Then go to the plus battery post and make sure the reading is the same. Then swap out the meter connection on the negative post to the negative cable connector. Then move the plus connection from the battery post after looking at the reading to the plus cable connector and take the reading.
Just some tricks I have learned over the years. You never can tel if there is a poor connection at the battery unless you go through the steps I spelled out above. But the battery needs to be pulled down like right after starting the vehicle so there is a high current flowing in trying to charge the battery back up. What your looking for is a difference in voltage between the battery post and the battery cable connection.
There is another series of tests that I do to make sure the alternator is functioning correctly. But that is for another time. Let the group know if you find a problem prior to the battery dying on you.
