Is it Panasonic battery best? Or..Optima?

I've got a Duralast GOLD from 2004 that is STILL running great on another car. As someone else mentioned, AZs are EVERYWHERE - very convenient - battery probably cost about 70 or 80 at the time.

I've got a John Deere battery in a tractor that is now fifteen (yes 15) years old. It leads a hard life with no effective suspension, bouncing around on a tractor with no suspension, operating in triple digit heat, random extensive periods of non-usage... I'm seriously considering one of their larger tractor batteries in my car or truck next time around. They are not made by Deere as I understand it but made to their specs with some special anti vibration features supposedly.

I owned my previous Toyota truck for about 25 years. I used a number of the basic cheapo AutoZone batteries over the years. They used to run 29 and later 39 bucks and conistently lasted about 4-5 years.

ACDelco's premium batteries are VERY good in limited experience - have great reviews too (google it).

I know Optimas are popular in various online auto forums - too rich for my blood and I can't complain about the 3 brands mentioned above anyway.

 

May be they have best warranty and price, but I did not have any good experience with Duralast before... First was only good for one month in my old Nissan truck, another only last for two years... If someone says that Optima blows, I think Duralast sucks...

I would like to put battery in my truck and forget about it for ten or more years. Panasonic would be best but I don't know where to get it. At least It doesn't suck and doesn't blow, if you know what I mean.

 

^ Get a panasonic from China, that's where they make them. http://www.panasonic.hk/ha/english/list_65.aspx

Optima's are made in Mexico now.

Odyssey's are stamped "made in usa". I think I'll try one of those next time.

 

My last Optima lasted 10 years in my 1996 Taco,
so I have an Optima in my 2012 Taco.
(my only pic of it)

 

I'm using a diehard platinum,
Pretty much an odyssey battery but half the price. It's made by odyssey.
950 cca, 135 reserve capacity. If I set up dual battery I'll be getting another diehard platinum.

 

I guess I'm not the only fan of Panasonic batteries. My wife had an '01 4-runner that we sold in March, 2012 with the original Panasonic battery in it. I ran into the guy that bought it a few weeks ago; he said the damn thing is still working. Her new 4-runner has the same battery. The factory battery in my Taco lasted 3 years.....

 

Scroll all the way down that page and it has the ones that look like what Toyota uses and they are made in japan. Wish we had a source for these.

 

For more information on car battery explosions, please see Section 14.3 in the Car and Deep Cycle Battery FAQ on www.batteryfaq.org. Was the engine running when the explosion occurred or when he attempted to start the engine?

 

Heat kills batteries and cool reduces their performance. Sealed wet "Maintenance Free" batteries are not going to last as long in hot climates like Texas, because you can not replace the lost water.

 

IMHO, most internal battery explosions are caused when the electrolyte drops below the top of the plates. This is especially common in hot climates where distilled water need to be added more often. It is my understanding that the dealer does not maintain the battery under prepaid maintenance. I would bet that that some of the quick oil change places do not either. I periodically check the electrolyte levels in my wet batteries, add distilled water, and externally fully recharge them to get rid of any excess sulfation.

 

i built several competition quality audio systems, gel-cell is best of course, for cheapest hard core route, find one thats made for an electric wheelchair or for offshore marine use or similar that will fit unless you running serious amps for audio, or wench, or high power inverters, I.E.
for semi normal use an optima should be fine. otherwise look into dual batt system with trickle charge, etc. i bought a batt not too long ago from an auto parts store strictly out of need (was on the road for work, went dead), with a 3 farad cap and with the oddball trd sport with the 130A 27060-0P020

still drops to about 10v when i crank up the volume,

cheers,
disco


just a curious type question, how many normal, like dura-last type batteries would people here actually use? my cousin owns american trucking group, AKA united trucking and on top of the obvious using tons of batts for the trucks he is a 'green' fenatic, meaning the dealerships are self supporting, use solar power and battery banks, l.e.d. lighting, even hydroponic gardens to grow food for lunches and has a 'petting zoo' of goats and stuff to eat food waste and the waste water is super heated and filtered through ponds with fish and algae or something like that to make it pure then reused. his latest thing was he bought the facility that recycles those batteries you sell to recycle, they remanufacture them and of course use them in the trucks and for power at dealerships, etc , but they also sell them to like auto-zone and stuff. if its worth it, i can probably get the normal ons, not the gel-cell deap cycle ones at a pallet at a time for like $60 each, just curious


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if your ever on I-10 passing though gulfport, ms, the main dealership is right off I-10, its the most self supporting place, if ya walk up and ask about the systems they will GLADLY show them off, they live for that stuff, lol

 

My whench killed my stock battery pretty fast so I went and bought myself the biggest baddsst diehard that I could. 1150CCA's of no worries under heavy winching loads

 

Starting batteries are designed for thousands of shallow discharges. IMHO, an isolated deep cycle battery would be a better choice for winching in a dual battery configuration. Gel cell battery is a better choice for deep discharges, but proper recharging can be problematic for some gel cells.

 

Been using this battery for nearly 4 years now, never a problem.

 

Has been used to power a ReadyWelder for trailside repairs to fix my crawler..

This thing is huge next to my yellow top . That yellow top in the picture is 2 years newer then my diehard and is crap compared to it. Can't count on my fingers how many times that I needed to recharge/jump start the yellow top. I even have a quick disconnect battery terminal for storage and it still discharges not connected