Power Wagon Family
I Hate Off Camber
Great pics! Thank you since there is extra room does it move around at all or is it held down good?
Jeep Battery Upgrade
- Thread starter Power Wagon Family
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Power Wagon Family
I Hate Off Camber
I got my group 35, and went to put it in and the negative terminal is lose 
not bad but i can wiggle it back and forth by had a little. Any suggestions? I did not try the positive because I figured it might be the same. The stock clamp just does not get tight enough. I dont really want to change my terminals. I would not mind leaving it a little loose in a car but a jeep that bounces around off road I would like it tight. I thought of some type of shim but just kind of wondering what I could do. If someone out there did change there terminals please let me know what you got. Thanks
not bad but i can wiggle it back and forth by had a little. Any suggestions? I did not try the positive because I figured it might be the same. The stock clamp just does not get tight enough. I dont really want to change my terminals. I would not mind leaving it a little loose in a car but a jeep that bounces around off road I would like it tight. I thought of some type of shim but just kind of wondering what I could do. If someone out there did change there terminals please let me know what you got. Thanks
jeep-N-montero
Expedition Leader
There are many folks on here who have left their fridges plugged in for 3 days with a standard battery and their rig starts right up for them. As for Optima batteries having issues, I can guarantee that this is mostly due to improper charging/user error. A buddy of mine works at a battery shop and they get Optimas in all the time that an owner thought was "bad", the shop PROPERLY charges and tests them and then resells most of the batteries, I have 3 of these batteries and all are going strong. Most people who install an Optima or other sealed/AGM battery setups do not have an alternator strong enough to keep up with the needs of the battery, this in turn slowly kills/drains the battery to the point that the owner thinks the battery is "bad" when the reality is they killed their battery out of ignorance after the monkey behind the sales counter failed to educate the buyer.
bryson
New member
I agree that Optimas and other AGM batteries are more picky about charging out of the vehicle. But, while in the vehicle, AGM batteries do not place your charging system under any more load than a standard battery does - They do not take more "juice" to charge, and your alternator does not care what kind of battery it is hooked to. In fact, because of their construction, AGM batteries are said to have enhanced discharge and recharge efficiencies over typical flooded cell batteries. Read here: http://www.batterystuff.com/kb/articles/battery-articles/battery-basics.html
The facts are that people who have run Optimas in their vehicles for years without issue, are having issues with the newer ones. And most of these people are smart enough to make sure the charging system/method are not to blame. Newer Optimas are not the same as older ones.
Do you really expect the "monkey" behind the sales counter to educate you? They have a lot of parts for sale in those parts stores, and the monkeys can't possibly know all the ins and outs and proper whatevers for every part they sell. In most cases, I think it should be the buyers responsibility to educate themselves.
Maybe the fact that you expect to be educated by monkeys explains your ignorance.
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Has anyone tried battery terminal shims?
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/ac...post-shim/_/N-25hn?itemIdentifier=257147_0_0_
It looks like they might do the trick for you, but I don't have any experience with them. If they are lead and you can get a nice tight fit, I don't really see any problems with them other than making sure to keep track of them when you remove your cables.
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/ac...post-shim/_/N-25hn?itemIdentifier=257147_0_0_
It looks like they might do the trick for you, but I don't have any experience with them. If they are lead and you can get a nice tight fit, I don't really see any problems with them other than making sure to keep track of them when you remove your cables.
Trail_Blazer
New member
I have had three Jeeps and 6 optima batteries with no problems. First, I'd recommend you go with a dual battery system. You don't want to drain the primary battery with the fridge. National Luna has refrigerators with battery monitors, if you really are against getting a dual setup.
I run a Rugged Ridge dual battery tray with one red top (main battery) and one yellow top (accessories battery) on my 2011 JKUR. The battery tray is well made and offered the best design currently on the market. I would have liked to use a design like Mainline Overland did in his rig, but I didn't have access or the fabrication tools or the time, so I bought.
The National Luna Dual Battery Management system is the best and it's running fine. It even has a feature to tie the batteries together to jump start the system if the primary battery drops below cranking levels. I run all my accessories, with the exception of the winch, off of the accessory battery (yellow top). I have connected them through an Spod, another expensive, but recommended accessory. I run only the base car through the main battery (red top).
You can also look at ways to minimize the drain on the main battery. I swapped out the crappy MOPAR OEM headlights for Trucklights (LED) and the fog lights for Rugged Ridge Dualies. I changed the overhead light bulb for an LED light, and I plan to replace the tail lights with LED tail lights. All of the light improvements have produced fantastic illumination differences and minimized the electrical requirements.
The last thing I'm planning is to swap out the OEM alternator with a more powerful one. It's important to ensure that your alternator is producing sufficient charge to power your accessories and recharge your batteries.
I'm also considering a solar panel for the Gobi roof rack similar to what Mainline Overland did with his. I recommend you check out his build thread in the forum. If you're not considering a dual battery setup or a refrigerator with battery power monitoring, I'd recommend a good set of jumper cables. Good luck!
JEEP = "Just Empty Every Pocket"
I run a Rugged Ridge dual battery tray with one red top (main battery) and one yellow top (accessories battery) on my 2011 JKUR. The battery tray is well made and offered the best design currently on the market. I would have liked to use a design like Mainline Overland did in his rig, but I didn't have access or the fabrication tools or the time, so I bought.
The National Luna Dual Battery Management system is the best and it's running fine. It even has a feature to tie the batteries together to jump start the system if the primary battery drops below cranking levels. I run all my accessories, with the exception of the winch, off of the accessory battery (yellow top). I have connected them through an Spod, another expensive, but recommended accessory. I run only the base car through the main battery (red top).
You can also look at ways to minimize the drain on the main battery. I swapped out the crappy MOPAR OEM headlights for Trucklights (LED) and the fog lights for Rugged Ridge Dualies. I changed the overhead light bulb for an LED light, and I plan to replace the tail lights with LED tail lights. All of the light improvements have produced fantastic illumination differences and minimized the electrical requirements.
The last thing I'm planning is to swap out the OEM alternator with a more powerful one. It's important to ensure that your alternator is producing sufficient charge to power your accessories and recharge your batteries.
I'm also considering a solar panel for the Gobi roof rack similar to what Mainline Overland did with his. I recommend you check out his build thread in the forum. If you're not considering a dual battery setup or a refrigerator with battery power monitoring, I'd recommend a good set of jumper cables. Good luck!
JEEP = "Just Empty Every Pocket"
Trail_Blazer
New member
Optima Terminals - Bad Connections
On my 2011 JKUR, there was a spacer between sides of the connect, on the screw. I took it out and the connectors fit fine on my Optima batteries. You could always replace the connectors with better connectors with more terminal connection points. Unless you are running another setup, like an Spod, you will end up with quite a few wires connected to your terminals.
Just a thought!:ylsmoke:
I got my group 35, and went to put it in and the negative terminal is lose
On my 2011 JKUR, there was a spacer between sides of the connect, on the screw. I took it out and the connectors fit fine on my Optima batteries. You could always replace the connectors with better connectors with more terminal connection points. Unless you are running another setup, like an Spod, you will end up with quite a few wires connected to your terminals.
Just a thought!:ylsmoke:
Don't use your OEM battery for the fridge. It will fail. When I bought my ARB fridge, I ran it on my stock 2012 JK's battery. Surprisingly, it would last 3 to 4 days without hitting the low voltage cut-off. At the time, I was waiting for a company that went out of business to deliver a dual battery tray that I ordered. Suffice to say that months passed and they never delivered, and about 2 months later, my OEM battery would barely make a day without leaving me stranded. The deep-cycling from the fridge killed its ability to hold much of a reserve. Had to pop in an Optima D34. Optima is a superb battery. The battery of choice for the U.S. Armed Forces. That says a lot.
I now have dual batteries on my 2012. Will put up a thread soon to show the solution. I think this is the way to go, but a single Optima D34 does last 3 days and can crank up under any conditions with an ARB 50qt fridge. In cooler weather, 5 days is possible.
I now have dual batteries on my 2012. Will put up a thread soon to show the solution. I think this is the way to go, but a single Optima D34 does last 3 days and can crank up under any conditions with an ARB 50qt fridge. In cooler weather, 5 days is possible.
Power Wagon Family
I Hate Off Camber
I used the battery terminal spacers RYNOMAR suggested and just needed one on the negative side to keep it nice and tight. I am liking the Die Hard Platinum and will most likely do another one on my Tentrax for all of the electrical goodies going on it.