battery recommendation

[Mccool]

Hello all,

I'm in the market for a new battery for my tundra. It's basically stock with a 12v fridge.

I see most here recommend the sears diehard platinum 31m battery. I was all set to go with this recommendation, but it is currently unavailable on the sears website. Does anyone know if it will be available again any time soon?

If not, does anyone have any other recommendations?

Thanks in advance

 

[amocaT]

The Sears 31m is made by Enersys. Enersys is also behind Odyssey's 31M-PC2150. It's more or less the same battery. Sears is discontinuing the Platinum line, I would probably stay away even if you find one for warranty reasons.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

I have an '08 Tundra and it will take a Grp 31M with the stock holddown. I put a Northstar 31M in mine because it was the biggest battery I could fit into that space. Stay away from the Odyssey 2150/Sears PM1 (same battery, different label), not because of warranty because if a Sears PM1 fails, Odyssey will warranty it (they did it for my first one when Sears would not step up). The reason to avoid those batteries is the goofy charging and maintenance routines that they require to stay healthy, just not worth the trouble. Sears is supposedly switching over to Northstar for their high-end AGMs but I have not seen them in the stores yet. The Sears Gold AGM battery is not the high-end AGM that you probably want. That leaves other lines like Optima and Deka and a few others. According to my local battery purveyor, Deka has some spotty quality and a short warranty. My own research showed that the Optima Blue 31M has lower capacity than the Odyssey or Northstar, but is also available at a substantially lower price if you shop around. Be aware that the Optima Blues come in both starting and dual purpose/deep cycle versions, even in the ones with the marine studs. Be sure you get what you think you are getting in an Optima Blue because even some of their dealers are confused. I am on my fourth Odyssey 2150/PM1 in my main truck, with a lot of headaches and great tech support from Odyssey; great company, very helpful. But because of the issues with those batteries, I went with the Northstar for the Tundra. The Northstar is the same size as the Odyssey, similar price, similar amp-hour capacity, same CCA, slightly better reserve capacity, and does not need the dedicated high-amp/high voltage charger that the big Odyssey seems to require (at least according to Northstar). I do like the smaller (Grp 34) Odysseys and have had very good performance from them, same with the newer Grp 34 Optimas (not so much with the old ones when they shifted production to Mexico). The new house batteries in my main truck are Optima Blues, and they replaced an Odyssey Grp 34 that is still in perfect condition after seven years of off-road use. My other vehicles are all running either Odyssey or Optima 34s, no issues.

If you want to run a fridge in a Tundra with a single battery, Northstar 31M seems to be the way to go.

 

[4x4junkie]

Hello all,

I'm in the market for a new battery for my tundra. It's basically stock with a 12v fridge.

I see most here recommend the sears diehard platinum 31m battery. I was all set to go with this recommendation, but it is currently unavailable on the sears website. Does anyone know if it will be available again any time soon?

If not, does anyone have any other recommendations?

Thanks in advance

I used to be a big fan of the Delco Voyager deep-cycle, but like a lot of batteries it seems, their quality went down the crapper some years back. I recently noticed CarQuest now has a battery (#DP27M) that might be similar to the old Voyager (has lead-calcium grids and made by the same company anyway-- East Penn) for around $120. If it's anything like the old Voyager, that's a damn good deal (these may be the next set of batteries to go in my Ranger pickup).
I still have one of the two Voyagers I bought back in 2004, shows 12.82V, and still starts the truck with authority (the other recently developed a shorted cell... seems like when batteries get this old, it tends to become more sudden when they finally do quit).

Another option you might look at is Costco.
$80 will get you a battery that's close to 100Ah, which is a pretty darn good deal even if it only lasts 4 years or so (it'll likely last much longer if you nurture it with a good long top-off or conditioning charge @ 14.6V for 12-24 hours every few months). Price is about the only thing that makes Costco's batteries stand out though (they're made by Johnson Controls)



Edit:
Scratch CarQuest

Just went there to buy two of theirs... They are no longer East Penn/Deka units, their batteries are now supplied by (who else? ) Johnson Controls (I can buy those same POS's at Costco for $40 less than CarQuest wanted)

So the search continues.


.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

East Penn is Deka.
Johnson Controls is Optima.

Some of the guys who have been frustrated by the quirks of the Odyssey 2150 31M have just started buying big deep cycle flooded lead acid batteries at WalMart and replacing them every couple of years.

 

[Mccool]

Thank you all for the information, looks like I'll skip the PM-1.

The Northstar sounds like a good fit, even if the $400 price tag is hard to swallow. I'd really prefer to avoid a dual battery setup, so in the end it will probably be worth it regardless.

Thanks again

 

[NikonRon]

I went through 2 of the Sears PM-1 batteries, each went bad after just a year, and that was with keeping them on a maintenance charger.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

I went through 2 of the Sears PM-1 batteries, each went bad after just a year, and that was with keeping them on a maintenance charger.

Which charger?

Did Sears cover the warranty?

 

[trailscape]

I've started with the Diehard Platinum 35 as my main battery for 3-4 years ago and it worked fine (still does today). I had a new Optima D34/78 in an old jeep that I sold so I put that in as an auxiliary. Three years later, that's still running my fridge with a 100w panel keeping it charged. Both are smaller batteries, but seem to do the job.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

The smaller batteries work better but don't have the capacity. That's why I switched my house batteries to a pair of Optima 34s. Still use an Odyssey 2150 as my primary battery.