Battery Replacement Recommendation

There really ought to be a dedicated thread (or wiki?) for each part. Anyway, Consumer Reports really likes Walmart batteries; they're not the best batteries, but apparently they're the best for the money.

 

Consider a Deka Battery, manufactured by East Penn, made in the US and family owned.
http://www.eastpennmanufacturing.com/divisions/transportation/#applications

 

Looks like the closest place to buy these is 2 hours away. Also there don't seem to be any prices listed. How much are they? Why are they better than, say, the EverStart?

 

Alright, I'm learning a lot about batteries today, so I figured I'd share what I've gleaned so far.

First off, batteryfaq.org (which @Shadetree keeps plugging; did he write it?) says that "For…off-road operation…it is best to use a spiral wound AGM [Absorbed Glass Mat]…battery because there is no shedding of active plate material since the plates are immobilized." This is supported by the fact that (according to several forum posts around the 'net) the military uses Optimas in a lot of its equipment.

The problem with this is that the only spiral-cell AGM battery I can find to actually purchase is the Optima. This may be because Optima has the patent in North America (according to a random Internet poster). BatteryFAQ mentions several other brands, including the Exide Orbital, none of which seem to actually exist as a purchasable product. The Optimas are also at least $200. Worse, which has been mentioned over and over here and in every other forum I've looked at, Optimas have apparently plummeted in quality in the last fifteen years or so (they were purchased by Johnson Controls, who otherwise seem to make decent batteries, in 2000). (Although…maybe they've gotten better? Probably not, given that that post is talking about a change in 2009.) Optima, of course, denies any decline in quality.

However, regular (flat plate) AGMs seem to have most of the benefits of spiral wound AGMs; they are resistant to vibration (if perhaps not as much so as spiral-wounds) and will not spill acid when tilted or inverted—indeed they can be installed upside down. As @Chuy pointed out, Deka, specifically the Intimidator, by East Penn Manufacturing, seems to come highly recommended in various truck and off-road forums, and, even better, is noticeably cheaper than the Optima. So for now, that's what I'm looking at to replace the red-top Optima that the previous owner of my Taco had installed, but has now apparently died.

 

I can't seem to ever find 24f at wally world. Ill probably end up getting an interstate battery when it comes time.

 

You should be able to order one. It might even be fresher.

 

great info, thanks

 

It's one of the few things you can't order from them online. I actually asked an associate in the store and I just got a blank stare, ha.

 

I'll be damned. Right on the page I linked, it says, "Shipping not available." Makes sense, I guess, as shipping flooded batteries is complicated because they might leak. Still, I'm surprised that you can't special-order it in the store.

 

Yup. I've had an instock alert setup for about 8 months now. No dings yet

 

I recently got an Interstate battery from my local Coscto for our 4th gen 4Runner for under $100 (24F). We went to Durango CO this past weekend where it snowed like crazy and the temps were below freezing all four days. The engine started up with easy every time. And since it's from Costco, they take back pretty much everything so I'm not worried about any warranty issues.

 

Batteries are the luck of the draw. Any brand can give impressive service; that same brand can fail all too soon.

Don't shop brand. Shop warranty.

 

Battery technology is really not that much different among the similarly priced brand names. In those situations I tend to support the "little guy", or a US company, or independent manufacturer. In other words, I avoid the profit-oriented behemoth companies whenever I can.

 

Nothing wrong with that, but that by itself isn't enough for me to spend $80 more. However, the fact that apparently the Intimidator is a highly-rated AGM battery much more suited to off-roading than a standard Walmart battery, is.

 

Mine came stock with a 27F (OR model). I’ll be going with an AGM 27F that has almost as good specs as the 31M. 190 RC vs. 205 RC. Probably X2 Power because of the longer warranty. I have an almost new 27F non AGM in it now that I’m waiting until it dies. It’s only 1 year old so I may be waiting awhile!

 

https://www.ruralking.com/battery-525-cca-1

 

Uh, no. 525CCA??? That's the shittiest 24 class battery I've ever seen.

 

Calion said: "So for now, that's what I'm looking at to replace the red-top Optima that the previous owner of my Taco had installed, but has now apparently died. "

The previous owner died?!?! OMG

(LOL)

Sorry, I couldn't resist.
John

 

If looking for the best AGM battery look at NorthStar.

Compare group 27:
Intimidator: 900 CA, 580C CA, 175min RC, 2yr warranty.
NorthStar: 1750 CA, 930 CA, 195min RC, 5yr warranty.

It does cost more, but you get what you pay for.

BTW Optima started building the Mexico plant in the early 2000s, shortly after the purchase. Optima still made batteries in the USA as well till 2009, when they closed US production. It is the Mexican plant batteries that are said to have poor quality. For a while both plants were operating, so during that overlap time period it would depend on where the batteries were sourced from for their quality.

Both the Intimidator and NorthStar are made in the USA.

 

Been using Interstate battery and I've had good luck with it.