WHAT BATTERY TO GET?!?!?!

[UR_Mawm69]

Okay, it'll be probably another year till I actually need to buy a battery for my sh<@>#&tbox but...........

back in the day (meaning 10+ years ago when my trucks/building shit was my life) Optima's were the beezkneez. "forever and always"


i made 2 trays for 2 optima's in my truck.

and now........... they're dog shit supposedly and mine are depleted. (big word Jakey! good job!..... i think that's the right word?) and no one has anything good to say about them. unless you buy brand new ones, that are like 69 years old, and unless you buy them from Epstein....... and unless you put one more unless in there.



i understand that ill need to build new trays/boxes for whatever batteries i get, but no biggie there.

WHAT BATTERY IS THE "nowadays/2025 beezkneez"..........?????????? or, really......... could someone please predict the future and tell me what battery will be the beezkneez in 26'????

 

[Tree trunk]

Curious to this as well, bought a brand new yellow top for the Chevy 1500 at work and it crapped out in just over a year.

 

[Tree trunk]

I’ll probably get the Kirkland or auto zone brand so I can get the warranty,

Probably Kirkland so it gives me an excuses to go to Costco and get the mega sized bitchen sauce tub

 

[geNius]

Curious to this as well, bought a brand new yellow top for the Chevy 1500 at work and it crapped out in just over a year.

I had 2 Red tops and a Yellow top take a shit in 2 different vehicles in under a year, and bought 2 DOAs in the process. This was around 20 years ago, and I never looked back. I haven't had any problems with EnerSys Odyssey.

 

[Exploder_M]

I’ll probably get the Kirkland or auto zone brand so I can get the warranty,

Probably Kirkland so it gives me an excuses to go to Costco and get the mega sized bitchen sauce tub

That 100% money back or refund from Costco just recently changed. I was talking to the guy about 4 months ago and they don't do that anymore because too many people were abusing it. He said now it's prorated, you might want to look into it and ask them about it.

I posted this above in the "AGM VS conventional wet cell battery" thread as seen below. There is a lot of good information in there regarding batteries.

Thread 'AGM VS conventional wet cell battery'

Dec 31, 2024

Hi guys, so I'm getting ready to do a SAS on my 1988 Toyota pickup with a 22re and I want to address my battery situation. It's a traditional car battery and there is a bunch of corrosion coming out of the fill holes and spilling onto the fenders causing rust and I just hate it ( no performance issues tho ). Also knowing that my truck is going to be doing some cool shit I've heard that they can tend to spill on steep inclines and rough terrain. I'm also going to have a winch and lights so I'm not sure if that right there is going to warrant the upgrade. my questions being what do you guys...

• 88WhiteTurd
• Replies: 13
• Forum: Electrical Tech

 

[Kellyex1450]

look no further, Kirkland makes the best Batteries, socks, toilet paper, hearing aids and of course tempura shrimp. a true one stop shop.

 

[dwphoto]

look no further, Kirkland makes the best Batteries, socks, toilet paper, hearing aids and of course tempura shrimp. a true one stop shop.

This forum continues to deliver

 

[Fenix Motorsports]

Lithium (NOCO, etc) is where its at, pricey though. That being said, all my stuff has SLA because I'm cheap and own too many things with engines and wheels.....AGM (Odyssey?, etc.) would probably be the least I would put in an offroad truck/car though since the last thing I want is battery acid flying all over the place if the truck gets inverted for any amount of time.

 

[84Prerunner]

Odyssey
But lithium is fucking cooler. Very tempted to get a Noco but I’m poor.
Weve installed several at the shop. Even the 2lb one for the Honda generator would easily start a 351 bronco (test confirmed)

 

[UR_Mawm69]

I had 2 Red tops and a Yellow top take a shit in 2 different vehicles in under a year, and bought 2 DOAs in the process. This was around 20 years ago, and I never looked back. I haven't had any problems with EnerSys Odyssey.

just had to google "DOA" batteries to get a price for w/e batteries they were and...................
TOTAL FACEPALM.GIF right here. hahaha

 

[SaltyMethods]

Get the Kirkland brand. They pro-rate their batteries, so every year or two, I take mine in, pay $10-$20 and they give me brand new ones. I usually do it right before a big trip to make sure my batteries are F-R-E-S-H.....

 

[UR_Mawm69]

put in an offroad truck/car though since the last thing I want is battery acid flying all over the place if the truck gets inverted for any amount of time.

THIS is the main thing with Optima batteries i thought. no "acid" to spill out.

are there any other gel batteries that everyone would recommend?

*EDIT*
i guess thats what this thread is for. hahh

Lithium (NOCO, etc) is where its at, pricey though. That being said, all my stuff has SLA because I'm cheap and own too many things with engines and wheels.....AGM (Odyssey?, etc.) would probably be the least I would put in an offroad truck/car though since the last thing I want is battery acid flying all over the place if the truck gets inverted for any amount of time.

 

[exp24]

Fot the guys that have bad luck with Optima batteries, are you letting them sit with no trickle charger? I have 1 for the trailer 2014 date still good, charge it once per month

 

[84Prerunner]

Take care of the battery, it’ll take care of you.
I’ve had odysseys go 15+ years, never had a cared for optima die less than 5yrs.
Neglect and abuse a battery and you’ll kill it in a week.

 

[95Bronco]

Replaced the Bronco's 2018 yellowtop last year. 6 years is doing pretty good in AZ where batteries go to die. I don't keep on a charger but use a remotely switched disconnect religiously so it's always isolated. The Optima shaped hold down also slows my change to a different battery, but I do think lithium will be the way to go w/o needing dual batteries.

 

[84Prerunner]

Replaced the Bronco's 2018 yellowtop last year. 6 years is doing pretty good in AZ where batteries go to die. I don't keep on a charger but use a remotely switched disconnect religiously so it's always isolated. The Optima shaped hold down also slows my change to a different battery, but I do think lithium will be the way to go w/o needing dual batteries.

What battery did you go with?

 

[95Bronco]

What battery did you go with?

Just another Optima Yellowtop because I was too lazy to change the hold down in the rear of the Bronco for a different shaped battery. Plus it died w/o warning at the gas station while topping off before loading on the trailer for a weekend trip. Had to grab one at Autozone. Hope to be more proactive with my battery choice next time.

 

[Tree trunk]

Fot the guys that have bad luck with Optima batteries, are you letting them sit with no trickle charger? I have 1 for the trailer 2014 date still good, charge it once per month

The optima at work was used daily, maybe just a bad batch

I’ve only used an optima blue top in my boat and it lasted 7ish years, I swapped for a freshy because we were doing a lake Powell trip and didn’t want a potential dead battery in a super remote area.
that optima lived on the trickle charger 80% of the time though.

I’ve also had good luck with interstate battery’s in my diesels, 5+ years- but those are on the trickle charger when not in use.

Also had a pair of yellow top optima’s in my trailer that the solar would keep topped off. Eventually swapped to lithium when the yellow tops would only take a surface charge.

 

[blue oval]

Somebody needs to make a decent AGM battery with the same footprint as Optima. I think they would do well. I'm in the same boat of being forced to get another Optima because of poor planning and an existing mount. This one I've been better about trickle charging so we will see. I did notice Optima is owned by Johnson Controls now and my experience is they ruin a good brand, at least in the security industry.

 

[desert_steve]

Fot the guys that have bad luck with Optima batteries, are you letting them sit with no trickle charger? I have 1 for the trailer 2014 date still good, charge it once per month

-One battery I absolutely neglected and it sat dead/dormant for months before I tried to bring it back.
-Another battery only lasted a year or 2 (cant remember exactly) under normal conditions and in a truck that was driven on weekends. No reason it shouldve died IMO since Ive put lead acids through much worse and they were fine.
-Yet another one died suddenly and unexpectedly and that one was regularly on a maintainer. Same as the one above, just a POS battery IMO.
On the flip side, I had a red top that was in my p/u when I bought it, and IIRC it lasted me 12+ years w/o any issues.

Bottom line is that when the one thats currently in my p/u dies, I'll be swapping a costco AGM into it since the battery tray will accept it. Unfortunately, the tray in my 4runner is going to need some fabrication/work though before I can fit any other kind of battery in there.