Battery question

I've narrowed it down to for my new battery;

duralast gold or a optima yellow/red.

I heard though optimas arent good for DD's. And that is what i use mostly my truck for, a DD

 

ummm optimas are just fine for DDs if you mean daily drivers. i have the biggest one they make ony i got it in the blue top and not yellow. the blue top gives you the extra posts which is nice. other than that the yellow and blue are identical. i have a winch so i wanted to go as big as possible. i got 75 amp hours with 900 cold cranking amps.

the optimas are an awesome battery and there is no reason they would perform differently in your daily driver. they do not suffer from memory loss or anything like that. thier deep cycle batteries are not like your usual deep cycle battery. they are designed to be used as a sufficient starter battery too.

go to this site. http://www.1st-wholesale-batteries.com/ they have a great FAQ section as well to educate you.

 

I can honestly vouch for Optima they are good batteries

I have a red top Optima that is 13 years old in my 01 taco
Before I put it in my 01 when it was new, I had it in my 98 Taco for 2 years

 

never bought a optima, aren't they really expensive? I have a regular red top duralast and it is holding up well for my daily driving needs. I don't think battery brands are important. I think johnson controls make most of the automotive aftermarket batteries here and the "brands" that you are buying are the different labels. only thing that would be different would be choice of lead acid, agm cell, gel, whatever they have nowadays.

 

$270 OPTIMA Batteries High Performance 35 RedTop Sealed AGM Car, Truck and SUV Starting Battery, 720 CCA, SAE Terminal, Maintenance Free, Versitile Mounting

http://www.amazon.com/Optima-Batteries-8020-164-Starting-Battery/dp/B000MS9VZK

 

Had a yellow top in my jeep it worked great. Just have a walmart cheapo in my Toyota and it was a 1/4 of the cost and starts my truck just fine. (Don't have to worry about cold mornings here)

 

aren't the duralast reds like half the price? I don't know, I'm not too familiar with battery prices nowdays.

I found an article on JC http://bestbatterytips.com/tags/who-makes-duralast-batteries/

I heard nothing but great things about the optima gel cells so if you can afford it or if its the same price as regular lead acid batteries, go for it.

 

I havent bought one in 13 years but when I did mine was like 85 bucks back then

 

If you're open to other options, I've run Interstate batteries in my vehicles for years, and never had a problem with them. I'm currently running an MTP-24F in my Tacoma, which sits outside. (No issues yet - 2.5 Colorado winters and counting...) It's one of the most powerful commercially available (1000 CA / 800 CCA) and comes with a 30 mo free replacement / 85 mo pro-rata warranty. I think I paid less than $120 for it.

 

I have the red top and it works fine for a daily driver and I didn't want to have to worry about running a winch and Daylighters at the same time.

 

Thru the years I always found that the battery you use was less important than the condition of your charging system, so long as your charging system isn't overcharging or undercharging the battery, most will give you very good service.

 

I used the Optima red top in my car before i took it off the road. Great battery, I love it.. Got it about 5 years ago and it still works great even after just sitting on the garage floor for almost 2 years in between untouched. My dad now has it in his DD back home and is more than sufficient. Can be mounted in any position because they are a dry cell type. More resistant to weather extremes and vibration as well. My Taco still has the factory battery in it and has worked flawlessly through the winters since 06

 

i personally would not buy an optima again - i've had 3 of them. used to be a very loyal optima user. their quality in recent years has gone down, in my opinion, and their price has gone up. they are not the same battery they once were since they were bought out. again, that is my opinion based upon my personal observations - especially based upon the very last yellow top i bought, absolute piece of junk. optima actually changed the warranty on the yellow top, it used to be longer, then got shorter (24 months), now i believe it is still only 36 months. there have been numerous threads here about optimas discussing their value. search just a little and learn.

the last battery i bought was a sears die hard platinum. it is made by odyssey and costs $200. i don't think you can buy better than odyssey, and their 4 year free replacement, 100 month pro-rated warranty backs that up. compare that to optima.

the flip side to this debate is to go buy a "cheapo" battery at costco (kirkland brand) or, say, wally world because those batteries are actually made by one of the several major battery manufacturers like johnson controls that make everything else out there (interstate, napa etc.), and perhaps represent the best "value" period. if you buy a $60 battery that lasts 4 years, that beats the $200 battery that lasts for 8 years. i think this may be the route i go when i need my next battery.

good luck with your decision.

 

I will probably go w/ a duralast platinum when I go to buy a new a battery here soon.

They are AGM batteries like optima's at about $80 cheaper, and they have the same warranty (3 year replacement.)

 

I run the duralast gold . That is one awesome batterie!! My first one lasted me 5 years.Here in the Arizona heat that is pretty damn good. I was a loyal diehard user for years. But autozone is more conveniently located. In my opion these two batteries are eqal to each ather. I would use the diehard if I couldnt get the duralast. Dont know much about the optima! Just what I hear. Never hard anything bad.

 

Got a Duralast Gold quit on me after a year, but under warranty. New one is just fine so far the coldest it's been here this year is 15 degrees F and it starts up everytime. By the way when you buy a cheap battery you get what you pay for, just my 2 cents.

 

I had a napa legend battery after 9 months the plates inside wore down and a cell went bad.I was told this from the manager. Im not an extreme wheeler but I spend more time Offroad than on I put in a Optima yellow 34/78 and have not had any problems. My guess is the cell went bad from vibration and wash board roads.

 

I've ran a red top Optima in my 03 Taco for 2 years and it was in my Bronco for a year before that. I love the battery, but the thing doesn't fit worth a damn in my Toyota. The bracket is not compatible so I have it bungee-ed to hell.

 

Went Red Top Optima this past Fall. I was concerned about my truck cold soaking overnight at work (mid shifts) here in Alaska. Survived a 3 to 4 week long sub-zero cold snap with no issues...first time I've gone this route...so can't speak to the longevity at this time. Hope it lasts a long, long, time as the price was $194 at my local NAPA.

 

I'm a Wal-Mart battery man... They will exchange with no questions asked up until the last day of the warranty...