*Best* Battery?

[saburai]

Hi Gang,

I've decided to stick with a single battery in the stock location for the moment.
I'm not opposed to trimming the tray it it's absolutely necessary.
Which is the best one that I can fit for maximum performance?
How about a budget option vs. $$$ not an object?

Many thanks...

 

[99wj]

an "optima red top", is the way you wanna go, its a little expensive, but its really not an option, its the best battery out there, especially if your gonna run a a winch or a welder.

 

[off.track]

actually you want the yellow one of you run winch etc.. red top is nice but once i ran it down to dead, it hasn't been worht of ********.
optima is made by interstate batteries and they have outlet store. it's cheaper there then anywhere else.. about 10% difference.

regardless of brand name, i'd still go with a gel one.

 

[winkosmosis]

The yellow top is good because it's rated for a lot of deep cycles... 100 or 200 IIRC. The red top is rated for only 5 deep cycles.

 

[OverlandZJ]

Been reading of quality issues on Optima batteries of late, quite a few threads here and elsewhere recommending the Odyssey sold rebadged at Sears as a DieHard Platinum.

Cheaper and better warranty through Sears vs the Odyssey.

 

[getlost4x4]

i have a yellow top in my commander with a 160 amp alternator. works great for me and i have not had a problem at all. i run a 9000# Tmax winch off it.

 

[99wj]

hmmm, maybe i have been missing the good stuff all this time, looks like i need to go out monday and get a optima yellow top

 

[getlost4x4]

get the yellow top at Costco.

i paid $150 for mine there. everywhere else i looked they were 250.

 

[dirty Bakers]

Optimas are junk Once its dead yellow or red you can't jump it you have to CHARGE it. just get a maintenance free deka.
thats my two cents

 

[mdnky]

Sears discontinued stocking the Optima batteries in 2007 for a few reasons. One of them had to do with failures (high-rate on red tops), which brought about their introduction of their Platinum line. Sadly, they (Optima) have gone down-hill in the past few years and aren't worth the $$$. Of course, that's a personal opinion so take it as such. I'd personally buy a DieHard Gold / SUV battery before a red top for use when major power draws aren't a factor.

The Platinums (mfg'd by EnerSys, who also does Odyssey and Naval submarine bats) are pretty good options and the warranty is hard to beat for when major draws are a factor. It's 4yr full, then an additional pro-rated out to 100 months [aka 48/100]. Price is up there at about $190. Their Gold (Johnson Control) is 36/100 for $110 and their SUV (same MFG as platinum, EnerSys) is 36/100 for $118.

Interstate has a few good options, but those are usually their premium line and the same or more $$$ as the DieHard ones. If you do get an Optima, make sure it's a yellow top. The red top is nothing more than a traditional "start" battery. It's not a "deep-cycle" style battery, where the yellow-top is. Blue tops are a bit hairy since they're intended as marine batteries. Some are "start" service, some "deep-cycle", some both. Depends on the group size.

Also, Optima recently changed their warranty structure (02/01/09.) See their site for more details ( http://www.optimabatteries.com/optima_products/warranty/index.php )

Basically they increased the yellow tops from 12 month free replacement to 36 months (includes audio use or severe service, deep-cycle use.) Basically made it the same duration as the red top. One very important thing to note, which supports my statement about the red tops above being nothing more than a standard starting type battery, is:

Abusive service / Deep Cycle Applications / Car Audio : Not Covered
(found under the new red top warranty section)

General use off-road could enable that clause, but it definitely would be enabled if used for winching purposes. The mere presence of a winch on the vehicle is enough depending on the area and the retailer.

So, in a nutshell. Go with a DieHard Platinum or a yellow-top Optima, the Odyssey, or similar. Stay as far away from the red top as possible (no longer an issue since they have same warranty now, just a price difference.)

 

[peekay]

I never understood why people consider the "premium" battery, e.g. Odyssey, Optimas, etc., to be better than the average standard battery, especially since the former costs 2-3 times as much. My feeling is that it's all hype and money down the drain. I haven't yet found one person who can not only articulate a reason, but actually has empirical evidence to prove it. I don't believe for one second the claim about better vibration resistance. My quad and dirtbike uses a standard sealed wet cell battery. The vibration experienced on those bikes cannot even be compared to the vibration on a truck/suv.

Moreover, if you want to winch, get a deep cycle battery. If you need to deeply discharge the battery, get two 6v golf cart batteries. Otherwise, your average Walmart special is fine for just starting purposes. At the end of the day, only like 3-5 companies produce 98% of all batteries, e.g. Johnson Controls. The extra cash is better spent on better tires, etc.

 

[Scott39]

Deka also makes good motorcycle batterys. I have used one in my Harley the last 5 years, and it still works great even through Colorado winters, and I never plug it in.
I do have two yellow tops Optimas in my Dodge Cummins that ar 7 years old, and still working great.
I killed two red top Optima`s welding with them.

Optima batterys got bought out a few years ago, and there quaility went down hill.

 

[getlost4x4]

i've had the sears platinum batteries in a nissan 300zx with a 100 amp alternator. all this car ever saw was highway travel, just used the headlights and stereo on that car. that battery was horrible, it would not hold any charge and died within 6 months. sears would not warranty the battery. i'll never by another sears battery.

i got a walmart battery for the car and never had a battery problem again.

as far as i can tell you, the yellow top i bought has been perfect. i think a lot of the battery problems have to do with the way people treat and use their battery. you can't expect a battery to keep up with a winch and other accessories if you have a crappy little alternator.

 

[I Leak Oil]

I use dual Orbital's. Haven't had any issues with them for a few years now. I did have the joy of experiencing a standard lead acid battery fall apart inside. It was on our '95 XJ. Was not fun diagnosing exactly what was wrong as the battery showed it was charged and putting out the required voltage. Started off with the alarm going on and off in the middle of the night. My neighbors loved me.....:sombrero:

 

[Antichrist]

it would not hold any charge and died within 6 months. sears would not warranty the battery. i'll never by another sears battery.

I'd be interested in hearing the reason they gave for not honoring the warranty since a warranty is a contract.

Peekay, there are several reasons why AGM batteries are better, it just depends on if the reasons are important to you or not.
- Less sensitive to vibration
- Even "sealed" batteries outgas and can lead to terminal corosion, AGM's don't
- Can be mounted in any position
- Size for size they are generally more powerful.
- Longer warranty, at least with the Platinum.

As for the Diehard Platinum, I haven't compared them all to Odyssey, but this one:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02850090000P
is exactly the same as:
http://www.odysseybatteries.com/battery/pc1500.htm

Now, there are people who will claim that the Platinum is a lower quality version of the PC1500DT, but the specs say different. I also called Enersys (the people who make both) and they confirmed that they are exactly the same battery and have all the same specs, even the specs that Sears doesn't list.

I like Exide Orbital batteries as well.

As for the OP request for a "cheap" alternative that's good, before I used Exide about 8 years ago, my family had been using Diehards for the last 40 years or so. Between the number of years of use, and number of vehicles using them, hundreds of "battery hours" with almost never a problem. I only had one that died before the warranty was up, but there was only a very few months left so didn't get a lot on the prorated time.